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How is Jamaica’s tourism sector faring in the wake of last year’s Hurricane Melissa? Jo Fernández reports
f Jamaica were a person, they’d be strong, bold and colourful. They’d also drink a lot of rum. As an island, it’s blessed with dreamy beaches,
jungle-clad mountains, well-seasoned food and a soul-stirring musical heritage, making it one of the most popular and alluring destinations in the Caribbean. Then, last October, the worst hurricane ever to hit the island tore across southern and western Jamaica. Melissa brought torrential rain, landslides and flooding that caused death and destruction and has left many still living without secure shelter. Tourism infrastructure has been quicker to recover, with room capacity now back to over 80% of pre-hurricane levels. Montego Bay’s hotels were worst affected – several won’t reopen until later this year – so that’s where I started my journey around the island to see how tourism is getting back on its feet.
ENDURING APPEAL MoBay, as locals call it, is home to the Sumfest reggae festival, blissful beaches and a natural harbour framed by hills. I stood on my balcony at the Iberostar Selection Rose Hall Suites surveying much of what brings visitors to the island – shimmering sand lapped by sea as blue and clear as the water in the resort’s six swimming pools. Bleary-eyed from a sleepless 10-hour flight, my breakfast of ackee and saltfish – Jamaica’s national
dish – and a cup of Blue Mountain coffee pepped me up for my journey to Negril. This small resort town is 90 minutes away at the westernmost point of Jamaica. Among the independent low-rise hotels strung along Seven Mile Beach, Footeprints is a contemporary light-filled boutique with warm woodsy touches and a striking skywalk over the courtyard pool. I relaxed into its vibe, sipping punchy rum cocktails on a sunbed, walking barefoot along the beach and eating sweet jerk corn in Blushy’s beachfront grill. Its pared-back rooms let the local culture and scenery do the talking. Late one afternoon, I joined the day-drinking crowds
at Rick’s Cafe. Half an hour before dusk, this clifftop institution fills with people angling their phones toward the mesmerising sky, ablaze as if on fire. Aside from the sunsets, it’s famous for cliff diving – though I wimped out of that challenge, leaving swaggering locals to do handstands before plummeting more than 10 metres from its rocky shoreline into the green sea below.
SMALL TREASURES Two hours southwards along the coast lies St Elizabeth, one of the areas hit hardest when Melissa made landfall on the island. I passed through small communities now awash with roofless homes and bowed-down trees stripped bare by the force of the storm.
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travelweekly.co.uk 28 MAY 2026 27
DESTINATIONS JAMAICA | CARIBBEAN
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