Beach
Seven Mile Beach
Long Bay, Negril, Westmoreland
The long sand beach that runs the length of one side of Negril, and the reason most people choose the town at all.
Why go
It is a continuous stretch of sand and shallow water with the town arranged along it, which is a different shape of beach holiday to a resort with a beach attached.
You can walk it. That is the part people underestimate: the beach is the route through this side of Negril, not a place you sit at the end of one.
Where it fits
This is one of Negril's two coasts and the other is the West End cliffs. Which of the two you are near shapes the trip more than the hotel does.
It suits a longer stay better than a short one. The pace of the beach is the pace of the town, and a couple of days is not long enough to feel the benefit of that.
Good to know
The name overstates it
The main stretch along Long Bay runs about four miles rather than seven. Bloody Bay continues north beyond it, which is where the rest of the name comes from.
The water is shallow a long way out
Which is most of why it suits families and swimmers rather than surfers.
It is a public beach with private frontage
Hotels and bars line the landward side for most of its length. Walking the sand is normal here; walking through a property to reach it is not.
It faces west
Sunset happens over the water from the sand, which on this coast is not something you have to go anywhere for.
Our take
Our view: this is the best argument for Negril and also the best argument for staying longer than a weekend. If you want a beach that is the town rather than a facility of a hotel, this is the one on the island that most clearly is that.
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