A YORKSHIREMAN'S TRAVEL GUIDE
Runaway Bay, Jamaica
December 2023
First Thoughts
This trip was on another level – the first time leaving the continent of Europe since 2017, and since starting this travel blog. It was also my first family holiday to be included on this blog, as the trip revolved around visiting my brother, who had moved to Kingston, Jamaica to study in 2022.
We decided that for this Christmas, we would stay in a villa with my brother and his fiancée in the town of Runaway Bay, on the Northern coast of the Island. The other five of us (me, sister, mum, dad and aunt) would fly out from Manchester Airport to Sangster International Airport to meet them and spend the last two weeks of 2023. This time, I was not in control of the trip and intentionally went into it with as few expectations as possible, not looking up the places we'd go so I'd get as much of a surprise as possible.
Jamaica has been called 'the world's least populous cultural superpower'. An ex-British colony, and member of the Commonwealth, Jamaica shares a first language and a King with the UK. I had a certain 'idea' of Jamaica as a country going in - Bob Marley, Usain Bolt, Cool Runnings, Port Royal, chicken, marijuana, Red Stripe beer and a nice flag. I wanted to see what else formed part of Jamaican culture that I wasn't so aware of.
Days one and two
Day one (which I decided to name the mega-day) began with my dad driving the five of us to Manchester Airport, where we left the car, and after the usual considerable wait time in the airport, we were on our way. With the planning of this holiday being almost completely out of my hands, I had decided mainly to research a couple of interesting places to go, but apart from that, allow the majority of Jamaica to be a surprise.
The flight with TUI took roughly nine and a half hours, but unfortunately due to technical difficulties it was nearly impossible to get more than ten minutes into any one film provided, which left me to read an entire book and a half, and occasionally, when necessary, talk to my family and nearby strangers. We touched down in Montego Bay, the second city of Jamaica and the nearest to our destination, where my brother and his fiancée planned to meet us coming out of arrivals. Unfortunately, Montego Bay was organised chaos, with no real coordination at customs, disabled queues to exit crossing directly over non-disabled queues to exit and more. In total, it took us over three hours to get out of the airport.
My frustration with the less-than-ideal journey must have been evident as when I was asked if I was looking for a taxi by a nice man in Arrivals, I told him “NO. I JUST WANT TO GET OUT”, to which he said “Oh, ok” and sheepishly backed away. Despite it being dark and roughly 7 pm by the time we exited, we were still hit with a typical wall of heat, and a huge crowd of people waiting patiently for arrivals. We collected our rental car, and between that and my brother’s car, we headed from Montego Bay to Runaway Bay, roughly an hour and a half’s journey. Our accommodation, Olcam Lodge, was huge, with five bedrooms, a pool room, balconies, and a small outdoor pool around the back. After being shown around by the owner, we settled in for a hot chocolate, and when we realized that it was 3 am UK time, we all headed to bed.
The following day was spent feeling pretty jetlagged. In the afternoon we headed to the supermarket in Runaway Bay, where we managed to find most of what we wanted, including a British delicacy; a can of Baked Beans, which we could use later in the week to put towards a full English Breakfast. It was here I first became aware of the variation in currency - £1 is 198 Jamaican Dollars. I also managed to obtain some alcohol; due to the country being home to the beer Red Stripe, the drink can be found in many flavours, including Sorel, Lemon and Watermelon. Naturally, I took one of each back to the lodge to try. On the way back to Olcam Lodge we stopped at a suit tailor (my brother and his fiancée were to marry whilst we were over there) for my brother to try a suit, my brother’s fiancée showed me the first of several Marijuana shops I would see in Jamaica. Whilst weed is technically illegal in Jamaica, it grows there, and is sold for medicinal purposes, and just like back home, occasionally for…less medicinal purposes.
Photos:
- Top left: Myself boarding the plane at Manchester Airport.
- Top right Our arrival at Sangster International Airport.
- Bottom left: Olcam Lodge backyard.
- Bottom right: Jamaica's finest tinned baked beans.
Days three and four
Day three began with a trip out to The Green Grotto Caves, the largest tourist attraction in the Runaway Bay area. The Caves were ‘show caves’, suitable for tourists to be shown around wearing a hairnet and helmet. The caves’ main claim to fame, amongst other things, was that they were the filming location of several scenes in Live and Let Die, a Roger Moore Bond film set on a fictional Caribbean Island. Our tour guide kept it lively and interesting, comedically stating that each member of the tour had given him a different fact about the Caves at a bar last night, whilst he talked through the information.
From there we headed over to the Ultimate Jerk Chicken Centre, one of the many Jerk Chicken-themed stores that I saw on the Island, to pick up some chicken for lunch. Coincidentally, I also never saw any living chickens during the whole trip. From there we went to Runaway Gardens, a beautiful outdoor space in Runaway Bay where my brother’s wedding would take place, before crossing over the main road to see Runaway Beach, where we were quickly approached to buy all manner of things from the owners of temporary shops on top of the sea wall.
Day four was an early start, as we headed out in both cars to Kingston, Jamaica’s capital city, roughly the same size as Manchester or Liverpool. The drive alone had been worth the early start, as we followed the A1/Mandela Highway, an enormous byway which moved between the hills and mountains at the centre of Jamaica, to take us to the southern coast. Taking out the map and looking at Jamaica, I was interested to see that almost every town in Jamaica was named after somewhere in the UK, the USA, or both, apart from a town just north of Kingston, which someone had decided to name Bog Walk.
Our first stop in Kingston was the University of West Indies, where my brother studies currently. We were given a quick tour of the University Museum before a drive around the Mona Campus. From there we went to Hope Gardens, a large botanical garden on the edge of Kingston. Inside Hope Gardens, we also went into Hope Zoo, and it was interesting to see that the only animals kept in the Zoo were animals that could cope with the heat, such as Camels. Coming out of the Zoo, we headed back into the city centre to get dinner at a large food court called Sovereign (Jamaica’s equivalent to something like an Intu) before driving back up north to Olcam Lodge.
Photos:
- Top left: The Green Grotto Caves experience.
- Top right: Runaway Gardens
- Bottom left: Hope Gardens
- Bottom right: Hope Zoo, Kingston
Days five and six
Day five was quiet, all of us being tired from the long day out at Kingston the day before. My Dad and I decided to head down to Ocean View Beach, the private beach area in Runaway Bay, exclusive to villa users. Whilst down there, we were surprised to find that on a reasonably nice day, there was no one else using that area of the beach, no swimmers, no surfers, and no boats. The two ends of the beach were only just marked out, one by a small rusty fence that didn’t reach the sea, allowing people to walk around and enter an abandoned resort to the West, and the other way, a set groynes which may once have propped up a small pier marked the boundary to the public Runaway Beach.
It was at this point that I started to realize that the entire way of life was quite different to anywhere in Europe. Traffic laws and rules were seen more like ‘guidelines’, beautiful tropical beaches were ten-a-penny, so therefore no one used them, food seemed to be either chicken or seafood, and there seemed to be no such thing as licencing for businesses, allowing anyone to set up a stall anywhere and start trading goods. That evening, as I fell asleep, I was joined by a small lizard, who worryingly disappeared between coming into my room and going into the ensuite bathroom to wash my teeth.
Day six involved a lot of preparation for my brother’s wedding, and I set about learning my best man’s speech and tried on my suit for the first time. Together, my dad, my sister and I decided to walk into Runaway Bay town from the lodge for the first time, grabbing an ice cream and sitting on the sea wall. Unfortunately, on our return journey, we realised the hill that took two minutes when in a car was far more challenging when on foot in the searing heat.
Photos:
- Top left: Myself on Ocean View Beach
- Top right: My dad on Ocean View Beach
- Bottom left: My sister and my dad on Runaway Beach
- Bottom right: Car parking in Jamaica
Vision
This is a Paragraph. Click on "Edit Text" or double click on the text box to start editing the content and make sure to add any relevant details or information that you want to share with your visitors.
Days seven and eight
Day Seven was the day of the wedding, which of course had been highly anticipated. From Olcam Lodge, we headed down to the Runaway Gardens that we had visited earlier in the trip. After a shaky start due to some late arrivals, the ceremony went ahead as planned, and I even got the opportunity to pose in some nice photos. The reception was not like that of a British wedding, with the MC deciding to adopt of the tone of a Channel Five TV game show host. My speech went down as a resounding success and the wedding ended on a successful note, before it began to rain, with everyone slopping off due to the wedding being outdoors.
Day eight was Christmas Eve, and after a slow morning, my brother’s wife’s guests left. I spent the morning playing pool, including teaching her parents how to play. I used the afternoon to catch up with emails and messages and catch up with my notebook with memories for this blog. The rest of the day was spent relaxing, swimming in the pool, and getting ourselves ready for Christmas Day. My usual Christmas Eve evening, which would involve hitting the pub, was not implemented.
Photos:
- Top left: My sister and I during the wedding reception at Runaway Gardens..
- Top right: My brother gives the Groom's Thanks during the wedding.
- Bottom left: My brother's wife's parents as I teach them how to play pool.
- Bottom right: Myself on the Olcam Lodge front yard on Christmas Eve.
Days Nine and Ten
Christmas Day was spent mostly in each other’s company at Olcam Lodge. Having exchanged most Christmas presents before we flew, and not having a traditional British Christmas dinner (with sprouts. Despite this, my Mum and Dad got us all matching Christmas shirts, and we spent a lot of time together as a family on that day. My favourite present was from my brother and his fiancée, a Hawaiian-style shirt with a map of the world on it (pictured). I missed out on most of the best of British Christmas television viewing, but I did manage to get to see the new Doctor Who Christmas special due to the show now being available globally on Disney+.
Boxing Day marked a return to normality, and in the morning we headed out to Ocean View Beach, where we enjoyed some relaxation as a family. I decided to head along the beach to explore the ‘abandoned resort’, which I then found out wasn’t abandoned when a security guard came out and told me to leave. From there I decided to put on a wetsuit and explore the small pier that divided the beach the other way, swimming under and climbing over where possible. It was a nice change from the current pace of the holiday to be able to create a small-scale adventure for myself on an object that most people would just walk past. After a good time in the Ocean, and getting sunburn on my face, we headed back to Olcam Lodge.
Once back at the lodge my brother, my Dad, and I stepped up and took on the manly responsibility of cooking a BBQ lunch, comprising of various burgers: beef, chicken and fish, as well as pork sausages. Although all types of meat were available in shops and supermarkets, it seemed that the vast majority of cooked meat in cafes and restaurants was either Chicken or some type of seafood. Overall the BBQ was a success, despite being constantly bothered by the lodge owner’s dogs. After lunch, due to my time in the Ocean, I then came down with heat exhaustion, which took me out of action for the rest of the day.
Photos:
- Top left: My siblings and I on Christmas Day.
- Top right My Aunt on Christmas Day
- Bottom left: Myself on Ocean Park Beach in my new shirt.
- Bottom right: Me 'Groyne-jumping' off Ocean Park Beach.
Days eleven and twelve
By Day Eleven, I was feeling a lot better from my heat exhaustion, which was good, as on that day we headed West in the cars to Falmouth, the next larger town on the coast. Falmouth, named after the town in Cornwall, is the capital of the Jamaican parish Trelawny, and a popular ocean cruise port. Even approaching the town from the road, we could see two enormous Ocean cruise liners in Port at the town, standing out enormously from the small Georgian town. Coming into the town, we stopped at Champion Plaza, and quickly worked our way around the shops there, including All in Gifts and Souvenirs, a shop where you could find Jamaica-branded…everything.
After picking up a new pair of Jamaica-branded swimming trunks (and leaving the Jamaica-themed bongs, dildos, ashtrays and shot glasses behind) we headed to the famous Falmouth KFC (Jamaica used to have McDonald's until 2005). I’m not saying British KFC is poor, but Jamaican KFC is just better in every measurable way, apart from wait times. We headed into the town centre from there, passing through the busy Water Square, a Georgian square built during Falmouth’s time as a major Sugar producer during its occupancy by the British Empire. I saw a large map of Falmouth, which explained that the town has two docks, one per cruise liner, which only allowed two of the huge ships to be docked there at any one time – however next to the docks there was a shopping area we couldn’t enter, restricted to cruise liner passengers only.
On our way back from Falmouth, we stopped by Stewart Castle, the 18th-century home of a planter called James Stewart. Getting to Stewart Castle was a challenge in itself, as we had to drive down a thin, winding roadway, with abandoned houses and even an entire abandoned bus on either side. The Castle had information boards provided by Jamaica National Heritage Trust – but wasn’t maintained in any noticeable way and there were no staff present onsite either. A far cry from most British National Trust sites, which have reenactors, guided tours, information boards, shops and a tearoom serving tea, coffee, scones and more, as a minimum.
Day twelve was another rest day, this time, my Aunt and My Dad and I headed down to Ocean View Beach to spend some time relaxing. As much as I’d enjoyed exploring the groynes a couple of days earlier, I was in no rush to get sunstroke again, so this time myself and my Aunt walked along the beach to the public Runaway Beach, to get ourselves a beer. Whilst we walked, we noted the stark difference between the almost immaculately maintained private beach, and the messier public beach, which was full of self-employed merchants trying to sell tourists beads, cloth, painted stones, alcohol and even weed.
Photos:
- Top left: Ocean Liner docked in Falmouth
- Top right: Myself, My brother and his wife in Falmouth markets.
- Bottom left: Stewart Castle
- Bottom right: Water Square, Falmouth
Days thirteen and fourteen
On Day thirteen, we headed out to Ocho Rios, the next large town heading East along the coast and the capital of the parish of Saint Ann. Ocho Rios, like Falmouth, was a recognised tourist destination, and a port-town. We stopped on the nearest edge of the town, at a place called Konoko Falls & Park. This was a tourist attraction of many parts, including a garden, a museum, a mini-zoo, an event venue, a bar, a waterfall, an outdoor swimming pool, a viewing point and a nature reserve. At the Mini-Zoo, we encountered a couple of keepers with animals. After I stepped forward to hold the large iguana in my arms, the other keeper placed an enormous Blue-and-yellow Macaw on my head – something they do for entertaining photo opportunities.
We headed down into the park area, walking parallel to the waterfalls themselves, which were gradual, a large stream falling over large rocky features. At the bottom, some of the others and I decided to switch into clothes that we were happy to get wet, and headed up, switching between climbing and walking up the falls. At the top, there was a place to dry off and take some fantastic photographs, as the top of the falls overlooked the town of Ocho Rios and its bay. From the top, we went around the small but informative museum, and then into the Gardens, where we found a stray Machete, and several Jamaican plants, including a suspiciously small Cannabis plant.
After we finished at Konoko Falls, we drove down into Ocho Rios itself, visiting a touristy shopping area called Island Village, situated with the town’s harbour. After looking around for somewhere to have lunch, we decided upon Ocean’s 11 Seafood Restaurant, a great seafood place with another long wait time. Luckily for us, we were kept entertained by the fantastic view of an ocean liner docked in the town’s port, the funny signs around the restaurant, and an enormous school of small, silver fish which inhabited the waters underneath and around the bar. We bought ice cream nearby for dessert, before taking a slow car journey back to Olcam Lodge.
On Day fourteen, my Dad and I took a short walk around Runaway Bay in the morning, taking in the odd site of half-built houses – enormous houses which had only been half-built when the owners moved in, and then they seemed to have remained that way (our best guess was that the owners were saving up to be able to complete the house, and living in what was already built in the meantime). For lunch, we drove to the next town, Salem, to a restaurant called Sharkie’s, famous in the local area. Sharkie’s is built right onto Runaway Beach, allowing waiting customers to walk onto the beach – today the sea was choppy, and the weather was windy, but we still took the opportunity to take some photos with the restaurant in the background. I enjoyed a Shrimp Curry, possibly the best meal of the entire trip.
Photos:
- Top left: Myself and my new friends at Konoko Falls Park & Gardens
- Top right: My mum admires the view at Ocean's 11 Restaurant.
- Bottom left: My siblings and I on the beach outside Sharkie's Restuarant.
- Bottom right: Sharkie's Restuarant.
Days fifteen and sixteen
Days Fifteen and Sixteen were our return to the UK. After tidying the lodge, and saying our goodbyes, we left, bidding adieu to my brother and his wife. On our way to Montego Bay to get our return flight, we decided to stop in Falmouth, where I revisited All in Gifts and Souvenirs, picking up a T-shirt and Socks to accompany my swimming trunks, and making myself look like a naff tourist. We also revisited KFC Falmouth and were treated to an hour and thirty minutes wait time, meaning our amble to the airport had become a frantic dash.
Once we got to the airport, things moved relatively smoothly, until we arrived at our gate, where the plane was delayed for almost an hour. On the plane, our air host announced that our flight would catch headwinds which would shorten our journey, meaning that we could still arrive on time. On the way back, we celebrated New Year’s Day twice, Jamaican and UK time, passing from 2023 into 2024. Luckily the in-flight entertainment was working this time allowing the flight to pass much quicker. We landed at roughly 7.30 am on New Year’s Day, and I had no idea what time, day or where I was, to be honest. I went home and slept.
Although I hadn't done everything I would have had I been on my own or with friends, the trip was still full of highlights and memorable moments - from chopping up raw plantain (a fruit cooked in Jamaica and often served with fried meat) thinking it was banana, and then eating with my muesli, to my dad's fantastic joke relating to Usain Bolt's Jamaican restaurant chain - "What does Usain Bolt's restaurant serve? Fast Food!" - it's a trip to remember for a long time.
Photos:
- Top left: Farewell from Olcam Lodge.
- Top right Ashtrays in All-in-One Souvenirs, Falmouth.
- Bottom left: Tortuga Rum in Sangster International Airport duty-free.
- Bottom right: Meme of the trip
Final Thoughts
This trip has its obvious differences from what has come before and most likely will come after. It being a family holiday, I did not spend as much time exploring the countries’ culture as I perhaps would have on my own. Still, my eye was opened to a new culture, one that was very different to anything else I have experienced. Jamaica meets some of its stereotypes, but on the other hand, is far removed from some of its others. It was nice to spend Christmas away at a place far closer to the equator, where seasons are far less noticeable.
I left the trip intrigued, and open to the idea that there may, one day, be a return trip to that small island in the Caribbean. Hopefully, a trip that allows me to do more of the things I would have done had I been there on my ownn, or with a small group of friends. Maybe even one where I dress up as Captain Jack Sparrow and run around Port Royal, Kingston pretending to fight the British Royal Navy.
Useful Links
https://www.visitjamaica.com/ - Jamaican tourism website
http://www.jnht.com/ - Jamaican National Heritage Trust homepage
https://jamaicatravelandculture.com/index.html - Jamaican travel and culture website
https://www.gov.jm/visit-jamaica - Jamaican government webpage for foreign visitors
http://olcamlodge.weebly.com/ - Olcam Lodge's website
