Driving from MBJ to Black River or Treasure Beach

Heading to Negril for 7 days at beginning of March, renting a car as we have so much fun going out on adventures...

I had planned on doing a day trip down to the South Coast but now wifey is thinking we should just drive straight there from MBJ. We get in just after noon, I was thinking we could stop at the Appleton Rum Distillery or maybe YS Falls (or both) on our way down, stay a night near black river, then do the river tour and a trip to the Pelican Bar before heading over to Negril. Maybe we'd even have time to stop at the market in Sav.

Is this doable? Has anyone driven straight through? I'm thinking taking the road through Anchovy, Montpelier, Cambridge and Seaford Town, since it would put us right at YS falls. However, I know that sometimes in Jamaica what looks like a road on map turns out to be more like a trail... :)

Looking forward to seeing some of the South Coast sites, especially after reading Brasi and Manda's reports...

Why the rental?Taxi is easier,may even cost less. Being from Chicago,you are probably used to aggressive driving,but it is a lot different on the rock... We are going to Negril,then Treasure beach. South coast is great.Very laid back,not touristy,much different than Negril. It is my gf's first time in Ja, so i thought I would give her a taste of both,and let her decide for future trips. Enjoy

Its a long trip. Count on a few hours from Montego Bay to Treasure Beach. Same for going from Treasure Beach to Negril, and the roads are not the best. Ideally to do the tours you want, I would arrange an overnight in Treasure Beach. Taino Cove is very nice.

Your directions are great, just be ready to adapt to conditions when you arrive. Cool shade is right about booking taino is good golden sands is also good overnight. Go to treasurebeach.net they have a section on accomodations. Go and find another special ja place in treasure beach. Walk good

It's about 2 hours to TB from MoBay, maybe a bit more. If you have driven in JA before, no issues. If you have not, you MIGHT want to go to Negril first simply because the drive there is much easier. It would be a better "get used to driving in JA" trip than the one through Anchovy (which is a pretty busy road, being the main one used to get north to south on the western end of JA).

BUT, I find driving in TB to much easier than driving around Negril, mainly because there is so little traffic.

I wouldn't count on being able to hit YS or Appleton on the way (arrive just after noon could mean well past 2 when you leave the airport and dark is at 5:30 or so....finding your place in TB in the dark can be a bit of a pain), but play it by ear.

There are places to stay near Black River and Parrottee - both are closer to Pelican/Black River, but TB has a lot more choices in that regard.

limeex2: We rent because of the adventure. Last reach we got a beach cruiser (super cool BTW!) and drove ourselves to a zipline tour near Anchovy and it was one of the highlights of our trip. The guides were blown away that we came by ourselves, and we got to hang around after everybody left and chill with them. Awesome experience. While I'm very used to aggressive driving (I'm usually the aggressive one) I tend to take it much easier when in Jamaica. If we only wanted to do this trip, it might be cheaper for a taxi, but we are also planning on doing Blue Hole, and maybe Little Bay and Lucea. That plus airport transfers and I think it's better to go our own way.

Cool Shade: Thanks for the advice. I think we'll just see how it goes on the way down and stop wherever feels right. Would you recommend staying at Treasure Beach over Black River? I've heard there are some real cool guesthouses near Black River, plus I don't know how much further it will be to TB after all that driving. But I'll be checking our Taino Cove. :)

nige: Perfect. Exactly what I was looking for. I'll ask when we rent the car too, but I like to have a general idea before we get down there. I'll check out tb.net for those hotels. Same question to you. TB over Black River?

Finny we cross posted....since you've driven I'd say yes, go to the south coast from MoBay. TB is a half hour more than Black River so not a big deal. Depending on budget/needs I can suggest some places there.

I have some stories about driving around that area last trip at http://www.travelsinjamaica.com/2010...xperience.html

Isay tb.

I am partial to the area though, my family has a villa in great bay (bluemarlinvillas.com) but listen to any of ohliz advice, she is a font of knowlege in this area.

ohliz: Thanks for your tips. Your driving stories were hilarious! I know the headlight flashing trick, but the link you had in there to deciphing the meanings of different honks was awesome. I will be printing that and bringing it with me :) In terms of budget/needs for a place to stay, I would say small budget. We are paying $85/nt in Negril to give you an idea ;) We don't really need much, safe (I hear everywhere in TB is safe), and close to a bar (I actually prefer local type bars) and somewhere to get a Jamaican breakfast in the morning. That's about it.

nige: I'm thinking TB it will be. Your family's villas look amazing! A little out of our price range for this trip tho :(

Blue Marlin would be fabulous for a group or extended family trip. [hi nige, been a minute since i've seen you around!]

I'd take a look at Irie Rest in Billy's Bay. Have several friends who swear by it and the price is well under $85/nt. There's a friendly fisherman type bar on the beach in Billy's Bay that I hung out at, and there are cookshops in several spots around TB. With a car it doesn't matter as much where you stay, those without cars tend to stay around Frenchmans or Calabash, to walk easily. You can do those or Great Bay or Billy's Bay, or stay inland a bit, even.

I think there is a bar on every bay beach...more than one on Calabash or Frenchmans. I didn't see one at Great Bay but was only on that beach on a Sunday morning ;)

I've only stayed at villas in TB, plus Mar Blue which is NOT cheap. But I would be happy most anywhere there...have also looked at Viking House and would stay there too, nice vibe around the place.

treasurebeach.net is good place to look for places but so is http://treasuretoursjamaica.com/index.cfm - the latter has a few places to stay that the former doesn't (and vice versa).

we are booked in negril for 17 days, we will be going to the south coast,BELMONT , right beside the peter tosh gravesight for an overnighter, paying less than 50 a nite for a beauty guest house, you should plan to stay overnite, if planning the south coast, by the way PELICAN BAR is well worth the trip, so is BLACK RIVER, soon come