South coast Travel Guide

If you want to catch a glimpse of Jamaica as it was before the tourist boom, head south . Mass tourism has yet to reach the southern parishes - none of the all-conquering all-inclusives has opened here yet, and the beaches aren't packed with sun-ripened bodies - but there are some fantastic places to stay and great off-the-beaten-track places to visit. It takes a bit of extra effort to get here, but it's definitely worth it. The parishes that make up south-central Jamaica are immensely varied; the landscape includes mountains, cactus-strewn desert, lush jungle and rolling fields. To the west, in the beautiful parish of St Elizabeth, Treasure Beach - an extremely laid-back place with decent beaches and some lovely accommodation options - is the area's main draw. If you want to do some sightseeing, you can visit the rum factory at Appleton or the fabulous YS waterfall , or drive around the tiny villages of the attractive Santa Cruz Mountains. Black River is the main town - an important nineteenth-century port that today offers popular river safaris and a handful of attractive colonial-era buildings. New roads have opened up large parts of the south coast in the last few years and it's now possible to drive along large stretches of it without losing sight of the sea. The scenery is often wild and unspoilt down here, though you'll need a car to see most of it; buses and minibuses tend to stick to the main, inland roads, making side-trips down to coastal villages as required.