Treasure Beach
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Treasure Beach is public beach in a small village of the same name on the South coast of Jamaica in the parish of St Elizabeth.
The beach has a narrow strip of black and yellow-red sands and is about 600m long. The swimming is good, but since the beach is open, when strong seas are running to the South, small breakers sometimes deter timid swimmers.
The region is isolated from the main tourist areas, and the minor roads connecting with the main highway at Black River or Santa Cruz tend to suffer damage in heavy rain but are usual passable with care. Treasure Beach has been developed with a few small hotels and guest houses serving tourists seeking a very quiet seaside location.
There is a public access to the beach with a small parking area. Adjacent is a bar and showers/changing/toilets but these facilities were not open on a quiet weekday out of season in November. There is no charge for beach access.
There are a few simple restaurants in the village. The presence of tourists attracts a few hawkers to the beach to sell their wares.
Treasure Beach, 2.5 hours from Montego Bay and 3 hours from Kingston, is on the South Coast of Jamaica in the parish of St.Elizabeth. Although shown on maps as a small inland town, the name Treasure Beach is more commonly given to a group of farming hamlets and coastal fishing villages: Fort Charles, Billy's Bay, Calabash Bay, Frenchman's Bay and Great Bay, each with its own unique beach.
The landscape is dry savannah, dotted with trees endemic to the area such as blue-flowering lignum vitae (ironwood), pink and yellow poui. Backed by the Santa Cruz Mountains, Treasure Beach receives considerably less rain than any other area in Jamaica.
Commercial and subsistence fishing, the farming of crops such as escallions, onion, tomatoes, pineapple and melon and low-key, sustainable ,community-based tourism are the economic mainstays of the area.
Isolated by both distance and spirit from Jamaica's main tourist areas, Treasure Beach lacks all-inclusive resorts, large-scale development,chain resorts. numerous beach higglers (or sellers) and is known on island for its. It is known for a full spectrum of small, family-run guesthouses, small boutique inns, and fully-staffed private villas.
Roads are relatively untrafficked countrylanes, some still in rough shape after hurricane Ivan in 2004, but are due for NWA repair by the government. Most villas and touring guides in the area offer private drivers for airport meeting service and roundtrip transfers from Montego Bay/Sangster International Airport, Kingston/Norman Manley International Airport, as well as Negril.
Small local cookshops and rustic beach shack bars serve conch and pumpkin soups, steamed fish, jerk and seafood. A handful of small restaurants, a bakery, a bike rental shop, tiny bars,provision/gift shops and the majority of accommodations are centred in Calabash and Frenchman's Bay. Billy's Bay, Fort Charles and Great Bay offer more quiet and more privacy and more upmarket villas.
Annually in May, the area hosts the Calabash Literary Festival.
Private boatmen can be hired in Treasure Beach for snorkelling, wild dolphin spotting and trips to Pelican Bar, Black River and The Great Morass, Sunny Isle and Alligator Pond/Guts River.
Private drivers can be hired for inlsnd explorations of Middle Quarters for pepper shrimp, YS Falls, Bamboo Alley, Appleton Rum and Lover's Leap, all within an hour.
