5 hottest bars in Jamaica

Your typical dive bar would be set down a seedy alleyway and frequented by surly locals. This isn’t one of those. Rick’s have been serving sundowners on the cliffs of Negril for over 40 years and the only dives you’ll find are the ones you’ll take yourself! So have a rum-based Jamaican Me Crazy and jump 35 feet down into the crystal waters below. More choice of drinks are served from bathtubs and there’s live music galore.

West End Road, Negril   Tel: +1 876 957 0380

They must have seriously inventive bartenders to come up with that drinks list! Set in the heart of Montego Bay, this buzzy bar is open day and night – pumping out fun on two decks above the sea - as well as a spectacular 120ft waterslide that winds right through the bar and into the sparkling Caribbean Sea below. There’s even a Jacuzzi and a late-night disco. What more could you ask for?

Gloucester Avenue, Montego Bay   Tel: +1 876 952 4777

It must take a special bar for so many glossy mags, including Vogue, to have used it in their photo-shoots. This is that bar. A beach bar built out of driftwood, miles of white-sand beach on either side, swaying hammocks, shady gazebos and night-time bonfires and a luminous lagoon. All of this would already make it THE place to visit – but, amazingly, it even makes Jamaica’s best Daiquiris! Now you can’t argue with that!

Falmouth, east of Montego Bay   Tel: + 1 876 954 4371

Okay, so you’ve explored the tourist haunts, you’ve bought the knick-knacks, you’ve got the tan. What next? Experience real Jamaican nightlife with the locals. Hit the island’s north coast and hunt down the Roof Club. This really is a dive bar. The sound is ear-splitting reggae and that smell in the air is half Red Stripe, half ganja! This isn’t for the faint-hearted but a lot of fun for the adventurous.

Port Antonio   Tel: + 1 876 715 5281