As a child, I visited Negril in Westmoreland, Jamaica many times with my parents, brother and cousins, as it has the most beautiful white sand beaches and cool, clear, warm water and on the west end, people were having fun jumping off various rocks into the clear blue waters.
You see, where we lived in the neighboring parish of St. Elizabeth, had nothing comparable.
At that time, Negril was a little sleepy fishing village.
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Somehow in the 1960's, rich hippies from the nearby USA, heard about it and propelled by the thought of being able to freely enjoy some top quality ganja (marijuana) while lounging on the beach or jumping off 40 foot high cliffs into the clear water below, started to visit.
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| The Negril lighthouse |
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| People from all over the world are still enjoying themselves, jumping off the high cliffs into the clear blue waters today. |
Then they were accommodated in nothing but thatch huts, offered by extremely hospitable people.
The existence of this new hot spot near the USA spread rapidly and soon people from all over the world started to find their way to the exotic village.
That was the genesis of tourism in this most prized section of Jamaica and today, almost all the land on the 7 mile section of the beach is lined with bars, hotels, restaurants while the cliff side is abuzz, offering everything including high end accommodation, non-stop music, partying and fun for people of all ages.
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| The late great Peter Tosh who also hailed from Westmoreland, strongly advocated for the legaling of marijuana and numerous paintings of him with his mantra " Legalize It" are prominent on the wall at Ricks Cafe. |
I had not visited the cliff side for more than a decade and was really impressed with what it had become.
Ricks Cafe which established itself
beside the jumping spot 50 years ago, has been expanding exponentially too. That's the party center of the West end.
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| Boats bring visitors from the beaches to the cliff side to jump off the rocks. |
Negril is definitely now on top of its game and I loved the vibes.🥳
2 comments:
Wow. Rick's Cafe. So long ago. Some memories there. At least 30 yrs. But some good real fun. So clean and innocent. Still friends with some i went there with. Including you. Lol. Looking forward to going back soon
Good morning 🌅It's hard to picture the ganja smoking tourists of yesteryear in the thatched huts against the current high end hotels and bars with tourists sipping piña colada while lounging on beach loungers! Thanks for sharing your recollections 🥰
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