Montego Bay Food and Entertainment: Scotchies Jerk, the Hip Strip Nightlife, Appleton Rum Estate, and the Craft Market
The food and entertainment culture of Montego Bay ranges from the authentic wood-fired jerk at Scotchies to the resort entertainment complex of Margaritaville, the open-air nightlife of the Hip Strip, and the day trip to the Appleton rum distillery in the beautiful Nassau Valley.
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Jamaican Jerk: Scotchies and the Authentic Experience
Scotchies Jerk Centre on the main road between Montego Bay and the airport is considered by most food writers to be the finest jerk experience in Jamaica, where the whole pigs and chickens are cooked over pimento wood on the traditional jerk pan grill with the scotch bonnet and allspice seasoning in the original country style. The outdoor picnic table setting, the festival and bammy accompaniment, and the jerk from the wood fire rather than a gas grill define the authentic experience.
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Margaritaville: The Resort Entertainment Complex
Margaritaville Montego Bay on the Hip Strip, the Jimmy Buffett-branded entertainment complex with its waterslides, cliff jump, swim-up bar, and party atmosphere, is the most concentrated expression of the Montego Bay resort entertainment formula and the most popular single entertainment venue on the Hip Strip for the cruise ship and resort visitor population seeking a full day of water park and beach club experience in a single venue.
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Night Life: The Hip Strip After Dark
The Montego Bay Hip Strip after dark hosts the range of resort nightlife from the rum bar and jerk stand for the budget traveler to the beach club and live music venue for the package tourist and the casino at the Iberostar Rose Hall for the gamblers. The Jamaican nightlife character, which combines the reggae and dancehall music tradition with the Caribbean party culture and the rum drink culture, is most accessible in the open-air venues of the Hip Strip.
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Craft Market: The Souvenir Circuit
The Montego Bay Craft Market adjacent to Sam Sharpe Square is the primary souvenir shopping destination, with vendors selling the Jamaican craft products including wood carvings, Blue Mountain coffee, rum, hot sauce, and the Bob Marley-related merchandise that dominates the souvenir economy of a music-defined culture. The craft market bargaining culture requires patience and the willingness to negotiate without offense.
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Appleton Rum Estate: The Day Trip
The Appleton Estate rum distillery in the Nassau Valley of St. Elizabeth, accessible from Montego Bay in approximately two hours by road through the Cockpit Country, is the finest rum tourism experience in Jamaica, with the distillery tour explaining the sugarcane growing, molasses production, pot still distillation, and the aging process of the premium Appleton Estate blends that are among the finest rums in the Caribbean. The Nassau Valley landscape of the rum estate is itself one of the most beautiful in Jamaica.
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Jamaican Shopping: Duty-Free and Local
The duty-free shops of the Montego Bay Hip Strip and the adjacent shopping plazas offer the standard Caribbean duty-free products including rum, coffee, cigars, and jewelry alongside the locally produced crafts; the downtown Montego Bay market area, while less comfortable for visitors, offers local produce, fresh fish, and the full range of Jamaican street food at the prices paid by the local population rather than the resort premium.