Exterior of home with garden

Escape to Runaway Bay, Jamaica With These 3 Villas

Runaway Bay on the north coast of Jamaica is said to be one of the island’s most beautiful towns. The town consists of hilly terrain which gently slopes towards charming white sand beaches, pristine reefs and imposing all-inclusive resorts. Runaway Bay is an important tourist hub. It lies 27km away from the bustling resort town of Ocho Rios, and is an hour’s drive away from the island’s largest international airport in the city of Montego Bay. The meaning of the town’s name isn’t clear. Some say it is so-called because of slaves who used the beach to escape to Cuba; others say the name has to do with the Spanish soldiers who fled Jamaica from this beach after invasion by the British. Nonetheless, people would rather pay money nowadays to escape to Runaway Bay; not from! Here are three delightful villas in Runaway Bay at which one can enjoy a great vacation.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle28 Comments
River surrounded by greenery

Calypso Rafting & Tubing on the White River

Bamboo river rafting is one of the most relaxing and scenic tours you can take in Jamaica. There are four main rivers in Jamaica used for rafting, namely the Great River, Martha Brae, White River and Rio Grande. I’d planned to make White River my third rafting adventure, however all the rafts were booked when I arrived! Therefore, I ended up tubing down the White River instead which turned out to be just as fun, if not more. Read on to learn more about this adventure + how to plan your own White River rafting and tubing trips. White River is located mere minutes from the Ocho Rios Pier in St. Ann.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle28 Comments
Girl sipping from coconut on a bamboo raft at Martha Brae

Bamboo Rafting on Jamaica’s Martha Brae: A Complete Guide

Lethe set the bar high for my rafting expectations last year and Martha Brae matched it. Martha Brae is a 32km long river which originates deep in the hills of Trelawny, a parish on Jamaica’s north coast. Bamboo rafting on the Martha Brae is rated as one of Jamaica’s top attractions. During colonial era, the river was used to connect the sugar plantations in Trelawny to the port of Falmouth. Bamboo rafts were used to float sugar and other crops to the coast where they would be shipped to Europe. Today, those identical 30-foot bamboo rafts are used to peacefully float visitors down a three-mile stretch of river through a lush rainforest and under the canopy of bamboo, coconut, fruit and flowering trees. The tour lasts approximately one hour and fifteen minutes, but can be more if you stop to purchase crafts and drinks during the trip.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle28 Comments

Dine & Climb Waterfalls ‘Pretty Close’ to Kingston

Known as the Land of Wood and Water, Jamaica is home to rich biodiversity and over 100 rivers. These rivers create lovely recreational opportunities for swimming, fishing, bamboo rafting and riverside dining. Many Jamaicans enjoy cooking outdoors on woodfire or coal stoves as this old-fashioned means of preparing Jamaican dishes results in better taste. Cooking outdoors by the river is great but eating by or in the river is even better. Pretty Close 1876 offers an authentic Jamaican riverside kitchen and dining experience in Gordon Town, St. Andrew, and I couldn’t recommend it more. I’m also pleased to announce that they’ve reopened in January 2026 since the passage of Hurricane Melissa.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle27 Comments

‘Cyaa Stall’: A Jamaican Dancehall Art Exhibit

Kingston is the capital city of Jamaica, located on the island’s south-eastern coast on one of the world’s largest natural harbours. This vibrant city is home to the most recording studios per capita in the world, and gave rise to six distinct musical genres– namely ska, mento, rocksteady, dub, reggae and dancehall. For this reason, Kingston was awarded UNESCO Creative City status in 2015. Kingston has famous museums which immortalize the origins of our musical genres but our music does not stop there. The Rastafari religion, reggae music and its raunchier cousin dancehall are intimately tied to the fabric of the Jamaican culture and its people. Named for the lyric in artiste Vybz Kartel’s song Dancehall (2015), Cyah Stall is an exhibit which narrates Jamaican dancehall as a musical genre, aesthetic, language and resistance. Here’s why you should catch it if you can.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle19 Comments

Folly Ruins & Lighthouse, Portland

Isn’t it magical that everywhere has a story to tell? Tales of romance, tragedy, wickedness, bravery, cowardice etc. If you’re familiar with my travel posts, you’ll know that I love to give a historical perspective. That’s because the past explains the present– how did a place get its name, why does it looks the way it does now or even just for general knowledge and appreciation. However, history is sometimes the only thing that entices people to visit a place. That, my friends, is how I found myself at the old Folly Mansion (Folly Great House) on my way back to Kingston from the Portland Sea Cliff Resort & Spa.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle25 Comments

The Sea Cliff Resort in Portland, Jamaica (Review)

Portland is easily the most beautiful corner of Jamaica. The parish is home to unspoilt beaches, cliffs, mountains, rainforests, rivers and waterfalls. For an island which thrives on tourism, Portland has been spared from mass tourism by some miracle. The all-inclusive hotel model was introduced to Jamaica by local hotelier John Issa in 1978, but to date, there are still no all-inclusive hotels in Portland. Instead, the welcome alternatives are luxurious waterfront villas, rustic wellness retreats, intimate bed-and-breakfasts and secluded boutique hotels. Before now, my only trips to this parish had been via daytrips which limit the number of places and activities one can accomplish each trip. Thus, when a special occasion came around last December, I traded my usual daytrips for a weekend stay in the parish. Here’s how the Sea Cliff Resort exceeded my expectations.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle19 Comments

Kingston Reggae Garden, Saint Andrew

I’m a city girl with a love for the country and thankfully in Jamaica, the country is never too far away. A short drive of fifteen minutes can land you in lush peaceful 360° greenery, seemingly far away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Every time I visit the country and admire the slow laid-back pace of life, I can’t help but think that this is how we were meant to live. I’m happy to report that I’ve found a new chill spot near the capital city of Kingston, Jamaica for us nature-lovers to unwind and reset. Kingston Reggae Garden is a restaurant, bar and oasis in Golden Spring, St. Andrew which opened in May 2021.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle14 Comments

A Guide to the Two Turtle Bays of Portland, Jamaica

Portland is my favourite place in Jamaica as the parish is home to some of the most breathtaking views I’ve ever seen. This northeastern parish has been spared from the gigantic all-inclusive hotels and over-commercialization of our other resort towns. I find it amusing (– and confusing) that they named two places Turtle Bay in the Manchioneal district of Portland, and they are ten minutes apart from each other. This trip, I visited the two Turtle Bays of Manchioneal so read on for more details and pictures of these delightful destinations.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle19 Comments

Maamee River: A Hidden Gem in St. Andrew, Jamaica

Maamee River is a place I heard of via word of mouth, and I finally took note of the turn off from the main a few weeks ago when I made a visit to Maryland in rural St. Andrew. The Blue Mountains is my favourite corner of Jamaica, but I still haven’t scratched the surface in exploring it even after five years of being more deliberate in discovering every nook and cranny of Jamaica. Having dedicated the next few years of my life to completing a residency, my compromise for long daytrips and weekend staycations will be exploring all the close and accessible parts of the Blue Mountains. Hence, I ended up at Maamee River after work one Saturday afternoon and here’s how it went.

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Rochelle | Adventuresfromelle11 Comments