Farquhar Beach is a fine-grain black sand beach located in a tiny fishing village on the south coast of Clarendon, Jamaica. Located just under 90 minutes from Kingston, I stumbled upon this beach on my recent visit to Cherry Hill River and the Milk River Hotel & Spa. It’s more of a fishing beach than a recreational one, and it’s also a great spot for affordable seafood but we were perhaps too early as nothing was cooking yet. That being said, here’s everything you should know about Farquhar Beach.
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How to Find Farquhar Beach
Farquhar’s Beach is located 86km west of Kingston along the south coast in Clarendon, Jamaica. It is located near to the community of Milk River, and next to the St. Mark’s Fishing Village, a squatter settlement which received some much-needed aid from local and international charities in 2003. These charities equipped residents with starter homes, a basic school and motorboats. Back then, the community was without piped water, electricity and health services, but from the looks of it, I don’t think this has changed two decades later. Driving through this village to get to Farquhar Beach was a sobering reminder of the poverty which exists in Jamaica.
That being said, the beach is free to visit but there are no restrooms, changing rooms or other amenities available. What you’ll find on the beach though are numerous boats, and wooden and thatch shacks which serve as homes and cook shops. The road to get there was rough and remote with cows and goats wandering across it, so proceed cautiously. There are also some limestone caves along the road in which pottery shards and pictographs have been discovered. These date back to the Tainos, Jamaica’s indigenous people.
Exploring Farquhar Beach
I visited Farquhar’s Beach on a Sunday afternoon after leaving the Milk River Hotel, and there was very little activity on the 400m stretch of coastline. A few children frolicked on the shore under the watchful eyes of their mothers, but that was about it. The waves were rough as is typical of other south coast beaches I’ve visited: namely Gut River Beach and Alligator Pond Beach (Sea Riv). I couldn’t help but feel nostalgic about my two years living in Mandeville when I was first introduced to these dark sand beaches. The water is quite clean too, but may appear dirty because the strong waves will stir up the dark sand. After a quick stroll and some pictures, we decided to call it a day as we were hungry and it was HOT!
Wrap Up
There you have it, a look at one of Jamaica’s last remaining free beaches– well, not if JABBEM and the citizens of Jamaica get our way! The Jamaica Beach Birthright Environmental Movement (JaBBEM) is a grassroots community organization which is leading the fight to repeal the 1956 beach policy which facilitated the privatization of Jamaica’s coastline. It wasn’t until 2020 when I visited Trinidad & Tobago that I realized it’s not normal for an island to force citizens to pay in order to access our birthright, the beach! The best of Jamaica’s coastline, 99% of it, is hidden behind fences and hotel walls. This has to change; enough is enough. Anyway, have you ever heard of Farquhar Beach in Clarendon, or would you like to visit? Sound off in the comments section below! If you liked this post, you may also enjoy:
- Salt River in Clarendon
- Cherry Hill River in Clarendon
- Milk River Hotel & Spa in Clarendon
- St. Toolies River (Clarendon/ Manchester)
- Bull Head Mountain in Clarendon, the geographical centre of Jamaica
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