Montego Bay, Ocho Rios or Negril: Where to Stay in Jamaica

Most first-time visitors are happiest in Montego Bay. It is closest to the airport, it has the widest spread of hotels, and it puts both ends of the north coast within a day trip. Pick Negril instead if long beach days and sunsets are the point of the trip, and pick Ocho Rios if you want waterfalls, rivers and ziplines sitting close to your hotel.

We drive all three of these towns every week, so here is the plain version, including how long you will actually sit in the vehicle.

How far is each town from Montego Bay airport?

Almost everybody flies into Sangster (MBJ), so the first thing to sort out is the drive.

• Montego Bay hotels: about 10 to 30 minutes, depending on if you are on the Hip Strip or out past Rose Hall.
• Negril: about an hour and a half along the coast road through Lucea.
• Ocho Rios: about two hours on the north coast highway.

Those are door to door times in a private vehicle with no other stops. A shared shuttle that picks up four or five other families will add an hour or more, and that is a big part of why people reach their hotel tired and already annoyed. Our private airport transfers run straight to your property.

If you land after dark, or you have small children with you, that shorter drive matters more than it looks on paper. That is one honest point in Montego Bay's favour.

Who should stay in Montego Bay?

Stay in MoBay if you have five nights or fewer, if you want a short transfer, or if you like having a real town around you. It is a working city, not only a resort strip, so you get supermarkets, craft markets, restaurants that are not inside a hotel, and the nightlife along Gloucester Avenue.

It also sits in the middle of everything. From a MoBay hotel we can run you to Dunn's River Falls, the Luminous Lagoon in Falmouth, Martha Brae rafting, or Rick's Cafe in Negril, and still have you back the same night.

Doctor's Cave Beach is the swimming beach people mean when they talk about the clear water in MoBay. It is small next to Seven Mile Beach and there is an entry fee, but the water is calm and clean and it is walkable from most Hip Strip hotels.

Who should stay in Negril?

Stay in Negril if the beach is the trip. Seven Mile Beach is soft sand with shallow, calm water for a long stretch, and you can walk it for an hour without running out of bar stools. The West End cliffs are a different feeling again, quieter, with the sunset that people book the whole holiday around.

Negril moves slowly. No cruise pier, no city noise. That is the appeal, and it is also the drawback if you get restless after two days. Day trips out of Negril are longer, so an Ocho Rios waterfall day from a Negril hotel turns into a long day of driving. Most of our Negril guests stay local: Rick's Cafe, a boat ride, horseback riding, and the Blue Hole Mineral Spring inland.

Who should stay in Ocho Rios?

Stay in Ochi if you want to be busy. The attractions are stacked close together. Dunn's River Falls, Blue Hole, river tubing, Dolphin Cove, Green Grotto Caves and the Mystic Mountain rides are all within about half an hour of the hotels, so you can do two things in one day and still get beach time.

It is also the better base if you want Bob Marley's Nine Mile, or a run down to Kingston for the Bob Marley Museum and Trench Town.

The trade off is the two hour drive from the airport, and cruise ship days, when the town and the falls fill up. On those mornings we push guests to start early and be at the falls before the ships empty out.

Can you stay in one town and still see the rest of the island?

Yes, and most people do. With a private driver, a day trip in either direction from Montego Bay is normal and comfortable. From Negril or Ocho Rios you can still cross the island, it just costs you more time in the seat.

The rule we give people: choose your base for where you want to wake up, not for where the attractions are. Getting you to the attractions is our job.

Is it worth splitting your stay between two towns?

If you have seven nights or more, splitting works well. The pairing we move most often is a few nights in Ocho Rios for the adventure days, then a few nights in Negril to slow down before the flight home. We handle the hotel to hotel leg, which runs about three hours with a lunch stop if you want one.

If you have less than a week, stay in one place. Packing twice eats a whole day, and you only get so many of them.

Still not sure which one?

Tell us your flight times, how many nights you have, and if you are chasing beach or adventure, and we will tell you straight which base fits your group. When you are ready, book a tour or set up your transfer, and we will be waiting in arrivals with your name on a sign.