16 Best Sights in Jamaica

A popular natural attraction that is an eye-catching sight: 600 feet of cold, clear mountain water splashing over a series of stone steps to the Caribbean Sea. The best way to enjoy the falls is to climb the slippery steps in a swimsuit (there are changing rooms at the entrance), as you take the hand of the person ahead of you. The entrance, which looks like one for an amusement park, is usually crowded, especially when cruise ships are in port, but it is well organized. It's easy to make arrangements and get trusted guides who will offer bits of local lore while showing you where to step. After the climb, you exit through a crowded market, another reminder that this is one of Jamaica's top tourist attractions. If you can, try to visit on a day when no cruise ships are in port. Always climb with a licensed guide at Dunn's River Falls. Freelance guides might be a little cheaper, but the experienced guides can tell you just where to plant each footstep—helping you prevent a fall. Ask for a guide at the Dunn's River Falls ticket window. Official licensed guides are inside the Dunn's River Falls property, not outside the gate. They should be able to show you credentials if asked. If you arrange the tour through a resort or cruise ship, the guides provided will be licensed.

About a 20-minute drive inland from Falmouth, this estate on more than 2,000 acres provides a sense of Jamaica's rich history as a sugar-estate island, incredible views of the Martha Brae River, and loads of fun. An adventure park offers zip-lining, river tubing, a great house tour, access to a colonial village, an aviary, swimming pool, challenge course for adults, and kids' play area with its own challenge course. Guests may get a taste of Jamaica at the Appleton Estate Jamaica Rum Tavern and Jablum Cafe or enjoy spicy goodness from the Walkerswood Jerk Hut. Adventure park passes entitle visitors to all estate activities.

A direct link to the past this imposing great house has stood since 1735 on the Barnett Estate, a 3,000-acre plantation owned by the Kerr-Jarrett family for generations. Mangoes, sugarcane, and coconuts are still grown on the property. Jamaican cuisine is emphasized in the recently revamped "Taste of Jamaica" tour. The great house and its environs have also been renovated to replicate the splendor of the sugar estate in previous centuries. The tour includes a cane pressing and sugar boiling demonstration, and rum tasting and lunch are available at an additional cost.

Steeped in lore, Blue Lagoon is one of Port Antonio's best-known attractions. The azure waters of this spring-fed lagoon are a contrast to the warmer waters of the ocean. How deep is it? According to legend it's bottomless, but it's been measured at 180 feet. There is no fee to access the lagoon, but there are unofficial guides who offer their services and try to make you believe that there is an entry fee. Also numerous vendors have set up at the entry hawking their wares and creating a noisy juxtaposition to the peaceful natural scenery of the lagoon.

The reggae legend was born and is buried at Nine Mile, in the parish of St. Ann, and today his former home is a shrine to his music and values. Tucked behind a tall fence, the site is marked with green and gold flags. Tours are led by Rastafarians, who take visitors through the house and point out the single bed that Marley wrote about in "Is This Love." Visitors also step inside the mausoleum where the singer is interred with his guitar, and there is a restaurant and gift shop. It is best to take a guided excursion from one of the resorts. If you're driving here yourself, be ready for some bad roads, and the hustlers outside the center are some of Jamaica's most aggressive.

A short drive east of Port Antonio is this destination for lovers of jerk pork. The recipe's origins go back to the Arawak, the island's original inhabitants, but modern jerk was perfected by the Maroons. Eating almost nothing but wild hog preserved over smoking coals enabled these former slaves to survive years of fierce guerrilla warfare with the English. Jerk resurfaced in the 1930s, and the spicy barbecue drew diners from around the island. Today a handful of jerk stands, known as the Boston Jerk Centre, offers fiery flavors cooled by festival (like a Southern hush puppy) and Red Stripe beer.

Coyaba is a word from the Arawaks, the original inhabitants of Jamaica, meaning paradise. Learn about Jamaican heritage and history at the museum, and then discover what makes Jamaica a natural paradise through a guided 45-minute tour through the lush 3-acre garden and also see the beautiful waterfalls and stunning views. The complex includes a crafts and gift shop and a snack bar, and Mahoe Falls is a good spot for a quiet picnic or swim.

On Titchfield Hill, this fine example of elegant 18th-century Victorian architecture has period decor and furnishings. It's also next to other architecturally interesting buildings on Musgrave Street. Interested guests may choose to spend the night for $50 to $170, depending on the room category.

To combine a cultural experience with lunch, stop by these stalls with names like Johnny Cool No. 1 and Shut's Night and Day, which offer local specialties. For just a few dollars, buy jerk chicken, curried goat, roasted fish, or mannish water (a goat's-head soup and reported aphrodisiac). Faith's Pen, one of several similar roadside places offering jerk, is 12 miles (19½ km) south of Ocho Rios.

This museum is dedicated to Jamaica's military history. Exhibits include plans of the forts built around Kingston in the 18th century, as well as information, weapons, medals, and uniforms of the West Indies Regiment and the Jamaica Infantry Militia.

High in the misty Blue Mountains you can visit the source of some of the best coffee in the world. In this rarefied air where time seems to have stood still, you can tour the factory that was built in 1923 and witness coffee processing from planting to distribution. The tour takes about an hour and includes a sample.

The artists represented may not be household names, but their paintings are sensitive and moving. You can find works by such Jamaican masters as painter John Dunkley and sculptor Edna Manley, and visitors are introduced to the work of contemporary Jamaican artists through events such as the National Biennial and the National Visual Arts Competition and Exhibition, staged each July and August, respectively. Guided tours (J$3,000 for groups of up to 25) must be booked in advance.

There's not much left of the 17th-century fort besides a wall and four cannons that still look out to the sea. Two of the cannons were brought here to protect the bay from the French, and the other two once protected nearby Mammee Bay (where the French did attack).

In the small community of Belmont, this simple white-concrete building contains the grave of reggae great Peter Tosh (born Winston Hubert McIntosh), who was murdered in Jamaica in 1987. Together with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, Tosh formed the seminal reggae group the Wailers in 1967. In contrast to the Marley memorials in Kingston and Nine Mile, Tosh's burial place is quiet and uncrowded.

This small beach has beautiful blue water. Monkey Island, just offshore, is a good place to snorkel (and, sometimes, surf). Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking (no fee); toilets. Best for: snorkeling; swimming.

Originally called Santiago de la Vega (St. James of the Plains), this was the island's capital when it was ruled by Spain. The town, declared a national monument by the Jamaica National Heritage Trust, has a number of historic structures, including the Jamaican People's Museum of Crafts and Technology (in the Old King's House stables) and St. James Cathedral, the oldest Anglican cathedral in the Western Hemisphere. Other historic sites include the Old Barracks Building, built in 1791 to house military personnel. Although in disrepair, its facade of brick and native stone is still imposing. The Phillippo Baptist Church honors a local hero, the Reverend James Mursell Phillippo, a missionary who led the fight for emancipation of Jamaica's slaves. His grave is in the church's graveyard. The Iron Bridge at Spanish Town was built in 1801 of prefabricated cast-iron sections imported from England. The bridge, said to be the oldest such bridge in the Western Hemisphere, has recently been restored and carries pedestrians across the Rio Cobre.