Montego Bay: reggae and the coral reef

Jamaica's second city and main tourist gateway, Montego Bay combines beaches protected by coral reef with a little-explored colonial historic center often passed over by typical visitors.

Distances between beaches and center require a taxi.

The Doctor's Cave Beach, opened to the public in 1906 when a doctor promoted its healing properties, remains the most famous beach in the city.

In the historic center, the St. James Cathedral, rebuilt after a nineteenth-century earthquake, preserves memorials dedicated to the colonial families of the area.

Just outside the city, the Rose Hall Great House, an eighteenth-century plantation linked to witchcraft legends about its former owner, is visited with guided tours in period costume.

Toward evening, the Hip Strip district, along the coast, comes alive with live reggae music and stalls of jerk chicken.

The legend of the 'White Witch' of Rose Hall, accused of murdering multiple husbands in the grand estate, remains more a tourist entertainment attraction than a historically documented fact.

Jerk chicken, slow-cooked on pimento wood grills according to a technique originating from Jamaican maroons, is found in more authentic form at street stalls than in resort restaurants.