Back Roads Sav to MoBay Trip Report

Wife and I went to Mobay on Friday and decided to try the back roads route. This would be the Negril- Sav- Mobay road passed Border Jerk. I did a trip report last year saying avoid this route at all costs because of construction. Well, I now have to say, it was a surprising turn of events this trip. We went through Sav to Ferris Cross, turned left up the hill and we were faced with a well paved, wide, clean, almost super highway. It was so very "un-Jamaican", it really caught me off guard. Super, super nice highway from Ferris Cross all the way to Border Jerk, but a few very steep grades. One was 8% for a few kilometers so my little jeep struggled a little. Road turned bad as soon as we passed into Hanover Parish after Border Jerk, but still it wasn't a bad road and got a little better into St. James Parish. It was a good trip to MoBay and would go that route again.

How long did it take? I love going through Lucea but it has been super congested there lately.

id like to try that. we used to rent a car when we could get those topless jeeps a few years back. i like the idea of a small jeep. where did you rent from?

Oh yeah - how bad are the roads? Is a jeep-type vehicle required or can the usual coconut jalopy work?

Yes I have driven that highway many times. It is the best way to get from where I live (which is near Sav) to MoBay. I find it interesting that it is a revelation that the highway exists to people on this forum.

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Originally Posted by rtitle

I find it interesting that it is a revelation that the highway exists to people on this forum.

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The vast majority of visitors are here to view the beautiful sea along the coastal road!
It gives such a wonderful calm start to anyone's vacation.

I, for one, was surprised to hear about the new road. The last trip I made that way has to be nearly 20 years ago. I agree though, it is a beautiful trip.

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Originally Posted by Bnewb

The vast majority of visitors are here to view the beautiful sea along the coastal road!
It gives such a wonderful calm start to anyone's vacation.

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Yes that is true. But it is also true that the vast majority of visitors do not *care* about the island beyond what they need to experience in order to enjoy their vacation. That is the part that surprised me. Actually no it did not. That is the part I wished to comment upon.

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Originally Posted by SLP

I, for one, was surprised to hear about the new road. The last trip I made that way has to be nearly 20 years ago. I agree though, it is a beautiful trip.

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For years while living in St. Elizabeth, I would take that road in buses, taxis and rental cars and it seems that every trip I would get behind a large truck slowly climbing all the steep grades. I dreaded those trips. Compounding the problem was that it seems one lane was always closed as they were putting large culverts or water pipes under the road. Sometimes it took almost 3 hours to go from Black River to the airport.

This last trip, my friends took me both ways to and from the airport on this new road and I was blown away with how smooth and fast it was. The trip back to the airport took less than 45 minutes from Ferris Cross.

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Originally Posted by original spanky

id like to try that. we used to rent a car when we could get those topless jeeps a few years back. i like the idea of a small jeep. where did you rent from?

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The little jeep is mine. I bought it about 10 years ago, and as everyone knows, "the little Jeep" is not really a Jeep but a Suzuki Samurai. It is a lot of fun but the 1.3L engine won't take you anywhere fast.

And Odinson, the back roads trip to MoBay is not on a turkey trail by any means. It's a marked highway and if your vehicle will drive the Negril to Sav road, it'll be OK on this one. Border Jerk might be a great place to stop for lunch. It's is like Scotchie's on the other side of MBJ or maybe like Jerky's in MoBay.