Catamaran cruise Montego bay

Catamaran cruise stop highlights

It’s probably impossible for you to visit Montego Bay Jamaica and miss out on visiting Margaritaville Montego Bay. It opened in 1996 by two Jamaican natives to bring an atmosphere that is entertaining, fun, exciting and a great place to hang out for both locals and visitors. Here are the top five reasons why Margaritaville Montego Bay is such a well loved destination:

1. Popular hot spot. Margaritaville, Jamaica is known as the place to have some fun on the Montego Bays “Hip Strip” and has now become a melting pot for most Jamaica vacations. Because of the owners’ experience in real estate and restaurant management, they knew exactly what the typical customer needed. It has slowly gained fame as a place for locals and visitors to just kick back and chill. Regardless of age or gender, Margaritaville Montego Bay can guarantee that you will have a good time.

2. Great music. What Jamaican vacation would be complete without the right music to inspire? At Margaritaville in Montego Bay, you will enjoy the latest reggae, dancehall and soca music with special guest DJs from all over the world. Dance the night away to special tunes with Caribbean beats and authentic Jamaican music. An after dinner lounge called the Blue Beat Jazz and Martini Bar was also launched to play live jazz on certain evenings and cool music every night. Margaritaville Montego Bay even has even had guest artists such as Run DMC, P. Diddy and celebrities such as Cindy Crawford and Tiger Woods!

3. Water fun. Water activities happen every day in Margaritaville Montego Bay. The popular attraction in the Montego Bay location is the 120ft waterslide that starts at the roof of the building and goes into the beautiful crystal clear Caribbean Ocean below. In addition, there are two large trampolines that you can jump on and dive into the ocean, crazy fun!

4. Local classes. Weaving is quite popular on this side of the country, and Margaritaville has been gracious enough to offer special classes on basket weaving. Anyone can learn how to weave baskets, cans and home décor with skilled and experienced Jamaican instructors. You do not only make the most out of your Jamaican vacation, you can even go home with some handmade crafts.

5. Great Food and Drinks. Take a visit to the bar on the downstairs area and you can have your choice of over 52 different flavored margaritas, hence the name “Margaritaville”! Oh, and they also has a signature 22 ounce bong of beer that they are well known for. In addition to the great drinks, you can choose from an amazing menu of fajitas, salads, pizza, the world famous Cheesburger in Paradise and some local Caribbean food as well.

Doctor’s Cave Beach

It began in 1906 when Dr. Alexander James McCatty generously donated his beach property to found a bathing club in Montego Bay. The Club got its name because it was used by Dr. McCatty and his friends, who were mainly from the medical profession and, at that time they entered… Read more The History of Doctor’s Cave Beach 

“Doctor’s Cave is the most beautiful beach I have ever stepped on! Its my paradise! Great opportunities to snorkel or just spend the day relaxing. There are lifeguards on duty to make everything super safe for you. Highly recommended!”

Montego Bay is the capital of the Parish of St. James and the second city in Jamaica. When Columbus sailed into the area in May 1494, he was the first European visitor.

He made friends with some of the local Tainos, who called the Bay ” El Golfo the Buen Tiempo”.The Spanish began to settle in Montego Bay after 1510 in the area of the Fort and they called the Bay “Bahia de Mantega” because of the large quantities of pigs’ lard they exported to their colonies in South America and the West Indies. With the British occupation of Jamaica in 1655, St. James was among the second group of Parishes founded in 1671. Montego Bay was a small town for the first part of the 18th century, and up until 1788 was exempt of taxes, but this soon changed.

Some time after 1720 a Captain Jonathan Barnett sub-divided a portion of his sugar cane fields and created Charles Town, with Charles Square now called Sam Sharpe Square, and Barnett Town. This resulted in the rapid expansion of the town and its commercial waterfront, as during this time most trade and communication was by sea.

Fort Montego, which is about half a mile from Montego Bay, was built on a small bluff overlooking what was then Meager Bay, and River Bay (both these bays have now been filled in for highway and town expansion). The Fort was one of many built along the coast to protect the major shipping ports of Jamaica from invasion by French and Spanish forces and pirates that roamed around the Caribbean Sea. In 1752 the Fort was reported to be in very poor condition, and historian Edward Long reported that in 1760 one of the guns exploded killing the gunner while the Fort was celebrating the British capture of Havana. In 1779 the Fort underwent extensive renovations and the platform, paving, parapet wall and the powder magazine with its buttresses were built.

Today you still can find fortresses, Great Houses and other remnants of the colonial days.