Doctor's Cave Beach

Montego Bay became a resort town because of this beach. A bathing club was formed in 1906, when the doctor who owned the property gave it over, and the beach has been run by it ever since; in the 1920s a British osteopath wrote about the water here, claiming curative properties, and wealthy visitors began arriving to bathe in it. The name comes from a cave at one end that a hurricane destroyed in 1932. What remains is a well-kept crescent of white sand with clear, calm, reef-protected water, changing rooms, loungers and a beach club, right on the main strip of the town. It is the most convenient good beach on the north coast and priced accordingly.

The landscape

• The beach - white sand and calm reef-protected water.
• The bathing club - running the beach since the early twentieth century.
• Snorkelling - reef within easy swimming distance.
• The Hip Strip - the town's main tourist street directly behind.

When to go

December to April is the dry high season. Cruise ship days fill the beach; check the port schedule if you want space. It opens early and closes in the late afternoon. Mornings are calmest.

Before you go

It is charged, it is busy, and on a cruise day it is very busy indeed. Loungers and umbrellas cost extra on top of entry. The surrounding Hip Strip is a hard-sell tourist street. The reef has declined markedly and the snorkelling is a shadow of its reputation. It is convenience rather than natural beauty that makes this beach worthwhile.

Nearby

Montego Bay's Hip Strip is behind it; Rose Hall is fifteen minutes east.