Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth
Things to do
You do not need a resort desk. The bays are the day. Everything else is a drive you can finish and still sleep at Eliwes.
Where it sits
The villa, and how far the rest is
The dark pin is Eliwes. Everything else is a stop on this page. The bays sit on top of the villa. The day trips spread inland and along the coast. Pick a place below and the map moves to it.
From the villa
Close enough that you are back at the pool before the heat settles in.
A short drive
Smurf's Cafe
Breakfast on Church Street, a short drive from the villa. Locals also call it Dawn's Place, so give a driver that name if Smurf's doesn't ring a bell. Ackee and saltfish is the plate people come for, along with callaloo, mackerel rundown, fritters, pancakes, porridge, and fresh orange juice. Food is cooked to order, so take a number and have a seat. Usually open about 7 to 1, every day. Cash only. The kitchen closes by early afternoon.
A short drive
Frenchman's Bay
The swimming beach people mean when they say Treasure Beach. Frenchman's, Calabash, and Great Bay are the string of coves along this coast: brown-gold sand, a little surf, and no cruise pier. Ask locally if the sea looks rough. The current here is stronger than the north coast.
On Frenchman's Bay
Jack Sprat
The table people on this coast actually mean. Pizza, fresh fish, and a cold drink under the trees, a few steps from the sand. Go for lunch after a swim, or stay until the lights come on.
A boat, then a cliff
Still St. Elizabeth. Neither one needs a tour bus.
Boat from Parottee or Frenchman's Bay
Floyd's Pelican Bar
A driftwood bar on a sandbar, reached only by boat. Lobster, beer, and names carved into the posts. Boats leave from Parottee and Frenchman's Bay. Go in the morning, carry cash, and do not count on a schedule. The villa can point you to a captain.
About 20 minutes
Lovers' Leap
The cliff at Southfield, about fifteen kilometres east. The drop is hundreds of metres and the view runs back along the coast you just drove. There is a lookout and a small place to eat. Late afternoon is the hour.
A day in the car
All of these are out and back. None of them are an overnight.
About an hour to ninety minutes
YS Falls
Seven cascades in a garden valley, with pools you can swim. Lifeguards mark the safe water. There is a gentler spring-fed pool for children and people who would rather not jump. River shoes help. The zip line is there if you want it, not because you have to.
About 45 minutes
Black River safari
Jamaica's widest river, in a boat through the mangroves. The point is the crocodiles on the banks, and the birds if the crocs are feeling private. Morning tours are calmer. Pair it with Pelican Bar only if you like a long day.
Half a day, inland
Appleton Estate
The oldest working rum estate on the island, in the Nassau Valley. You walk the cane-to-cask story and you taste. It sits in the same direction as YS Falls, so some people do both. Book the tour ahead. You will want a driver if the tasting is the point.
On the way north
Bamboo Avenue
The Holland stretch, where bamboo meets overhead and the light goes green. It is not a stop so much as the best five minutes of the drive toward Black River. Someone may be selling jelly coconut at the roadside. Take one.
Under an hour east
Little Ochi
Seafood cooked to order at Alligator Pond, in huts on the sand, some of them on stilts over the water. Pick the fish, then wait. It is a lunch, not a quick stop, and it is the right lunch.
If you are still looking
Evenings are beach bars and a game of dominoes, mostly around Frenchman's, not a nightclub strip. The Breds sports park in Treasure Beach has courts if someone packed shoes, and a zip line if they didn't.
Every other year, usually late May, the Calabash literary festival takes over the coast with free readings and music. If your dates land on it, the villa will already know.