Port Antonio

About Port Antonio

Port Antonio is a regional capital in Jamaica. GeoNames lists a population of 14,400. Local time follows the America/Jamaica time zone. [1]

The nearest larger airport is Norman Manley International Airport (KIN), about 45 km away. [1]

Port Antonio is northeast of Kingston and east of Ocho Rios. From Kingston to Port Antonio, you would have to fly into Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston and from there possibly take a cab; or take the cheaper route and rent a car from Island Car Rental Ltd Company located in Kingston. If you’re coming from Ocho Rios you can either take a cab, drive east on Highway A4/A3 or take a flight from Ocho Rios private airport. (Wikivoyage) [1]

Jamaica has cruise ship ports in Ocho Rios, Montego Bay, Port Antonio, Falmouth and Kingston. [1]

The six resort areas named by the tourist board are Kingston, Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Negril, Port Antonio and the Central and South Coast. [1]

The tourist board's scenic itinerary takes in a coffee tour at UCC Craighton Estate, lunch at EITS Cafe and an afternoon at Holywell before the transfer to Port Antonio. [1]

Rio Grande rafting is fifteen minutes from the Port Antonio pier and takes two to three hours. [1]

Port Antonio gets more rain than anywhere else on the island. [1]

The Port Antonio Marlin Tournament takes place each October. [1]

Text marked Wikivoyage is from https://en.wikivoyage.org/w/index.php?oldid=5062329, licensed CC-BY-SA-4.0; changes: trimmed to the opening paragraphs. CC BY-SA 4.0

Port Antonio: what to know

The Titchfield Peninsula, the oldest part of town and declared protected National Heritage in 1998, divides the East Harbour from the West. Nine historic sites, from Musgrave Market to the 1888 lighthouse on Folly Point, make up a 2.5-kilometre walk that starts a five-minute stroll from the marina. Navy Island is seven minutes across the western harbour by boat, and Fort George above the harbour dates from 1729. Port Antonio is home to the Errol Flynn Marina. Five minutes' drive from your ship, Folly Ruins are the remains of a mansion whose roof collapsed in the 1930s, and local legend says a millionaire built it for a wife who broke his heart. [1][2][3][4][5][6]

For a bed in town, the Jamaica Palace Hotel is the largest in Port Antonio, set on five acres above Turtle Harbour. [1]

At the Boston jerk centre the vendors sell fish, lobster, jerk pork and chicken, sweet potato, roast breadfruit, festival and soup. Go hungry. [1]

Take a boat to Monkey Island from San San Beach or from the Blue Lagoon, a national monument in the heritage trust's care. [1]

Reach Falls lies at Manchioneal, about forty-five minutes east of Port Antonio, and it is where the waterfall scene in Cocktail was filmed. Closer in, Somerset Falls is twenty minutes out on a former plantation, where water pours over boulders into caves and pools in a narrow, misty gorge. [1][2][3][4][5]

If you want less time on the water, the Rio Grande also has a shorter ninety-minute raft run. Either way, settle in: this is a trip for doing nothing in particular. Away from the rafts, Crystal Springs is a recreation centre of a hundred and fifty-six acres, with fishponds, a river, picnic grounds and a garden. The Nonsuch Caves have a story to go with them: they were found again in 1957, the story goes, by a goat that had lost its way. [1][2]

These two visits are about the stories, so go ready to listen. Up the Seaman's Valley road, Moore Town, once called New Nanny Town, is the oldest settlement in the valley and the headquarters of the Eastern Maroons. A Colonel governs the town, and the tour begins at the museum and includes a hike to Nanny Falls. [1][2][3][4]

Charles Town is a separate Maroon community, on the Buff Bay River just outside the town of Buff Bay. Its museum tour includes the songs and dances of the Windward Maroons, and beside the museum is the Asafu Yard, where the Maroons meet for festivals. Taste the saltfish rundown and callaloo, or buy a bag of Busta Backbone, an old-time sweet. The Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park arranges tours to the Maroon communities at Scott's Hall, Moore Town, Charles Town and Bowden Pen. [1][2][3]

Highlights

• At Frenchman's Cove you can enjoy the beach and the river. [1]
• Reach Falls spills down a rock face into a mostly shallow, clear pool, with emerald pools to swim and caves to explore. [1][2]
• The Blue Lagoon is the island's largest spring-fed lagoon, where ice-cold fresh water wells up from underground to mix with the warm sea. [1][2]
• Rafts on the Rio Grande once carried produce to the coast until Errol Flynn popularized the activity for pleasure, and the classic trip takes two or three hours. [1][2]

Facts

• The Titchfield Peninsula, the oldest part of Port Antonio, separates the East and West Harbours. [1]
• The Titchfield Peninsula was designated protected National Heritage on 16 April 1998. [1]
• A walking route of two and a half kilometres from the marina takes in nine historic sites, from Musgrave Market to Folly Point Lighthouse. [1]
• Folly Point Lighthouse is a masonry tower built in 1888. [1]
• Portland has two harbours, and Navy Island sits in the western one. [1]
• Navy Island is about seven minutes from Port Antonio by boat. [1]
• Fort George, above the harbour at Port Antonio, was built in 1729. [1]
• The Errol Flynn Marina at Port Antonio handles visiting yachts. [1]
• Folly Ruins are what is left of a mansion whose roof collapsed in the 1930s. [1]
• The legend attached to Folly Mansion is that a millionaire built it for a wife who broke his heart, and that the house was left to fall. [1]
• The Jamaica Palace Hotel is the largest in Port Antonio, on five acres overlooking Turtle Harbour. [1]
• At Boston you can get fish, lobster, jerk pork and chicken, sweet potato, roast breadfruit, festival and soup. [1]

Source: guidebook:jamaica@e9d2829. Checked Sun Nov 08.