Ocho Rios
Waterfalls that run straight onto the beach, caves and old estates in the hills, and Ian Fleming's writing house a few minutes along the coast.
- Arrival
- Sangster International, Montego Bay · MBJ
- To the town
- About 99 km by road from MBJ; 15 km from OCJ
- Private jets
- Ian Fleming International (OCJ), Boscobel
- Best time
- December to April
The city
Falls, gardens and a cove.
Ocho Rios sits midway along Jamaica's north coast, a cruise port with the island's best-known waterfall on its western edge. Inland, the limestone hides the Green Grotto Caves, Shaw Park keeps a garden the tourist board dates to the seventeenth century, and Prospect Plantation tells the colonial and farming story of the parish. East along the shore lies Oracabessa, where Ian Fleming lived in the 1950s.
December to April is the drier half of the year. The rains arrive in May and stay, on and off, until November, the same months as the hurricane season; October is usually the wettest.
- Dunn's River Falls Terraced cascades you climb hand in hand from the sea, stopping in the pools on the way up.
- Green Grotto Caves A run of underground caverns that the tourist board calls steeped in history and legend.
- Shaw Park Gardens Botanical gardens above the town, laid out on land the tourist board traces to the 1600s.
Arriving
A short strip, or the long road east.
The main international gateway is Sangster at Montego Bay, some 99 km west by road. Ian Fleming International, at Boscobel, is far closer: 15 km east of the town and five from GoldenEye.
- Miami 1 h 30
- San Juan 1 h 50
- New York 3 h 35
- Los Cabos 4 h 45
- Geneva 10 h 40 long-range jet
When to go
December to April.
Heat is steady, 29 °C in January rising to 32 °C by July, and the bay is 27 °C or warmer in every month. March is the driest month by far; showers build again from May, and autumn, with October at its peak, brings the heaviest falls.
- 29° J 85 27°
- 29° F 69 27°
- 30° M 27 27°
- 30° A 53 27°
- 30° M 100 28°
- 31° J 122 28°
- 32° J 53 29°
- 32° A 95 29°
- 31° S 127 29°
- 31° O 166 29°
- 30° N 110 29°
- 29° D 103 28°
Where to stay
A private cove and Fleming's house.
Shown for information. We have no arrangement with any of these hotels.
- Jamaica Inn Suites and cottages along a 700-foot crescent of sand, taking guests for more than sixty-five years and selected by the MICHELIN Guide.
-
GoldenEye The estate where Fleming wrote the Bond novels, his own house among its 49 rooms and villas, with one MICHELIN Key.
Where to dine
Where to book in Ocho Rios.
No MICHELIN Guide covers Jamaica. Ocho Rios has one high-end table we could confirm: the nightly dinner at Jamaica Inn.
- The Terrace at Jamaica Inn Signature restaurant, Jamaica Inn Caribbean and international $$$$ Jamaica Inn, Ocho Rios
Elsewhere in Jamaica
More reasons to come.
Flying to Ocho Rios?
Choose how you arrive.
A Business or First Class seat on a scheduled airline, or an aircraft of your own. Tell us the date and how many are travelling, and we reply with one final price, our margin included.