Welcome to the Guava Jelly Guide to Ocho Rios, the online resource of Ochiful wonders to make your visit a little more colourful and joyous, however short your stay!
Time to spread the love, this Guide has been lovingly prepared and well seasoned with fresh ingredients and added spice from a small but impeccable team of ‘in the know’ Jamaican friends and collaborators.
Dedicated to the good (and some of the bad) people of Ocho Rios, our key aim is to increase visitor awareness of lesser-known but tourist-friendly businesses, putting downtown Ochi on the map and supporting the local economy!
We are particularly proud of Ochi Insiders, a very cool and first-of-its-kind feature. This ever-expanding Q&A series highlights some of the wonderful local business and leisure folk who keep the town rolling. Look out for a few new faces joining us in 2024!
To read an Insider Profile, please click on a carousel image below or view them all in the GALLERY OF FAME.
So we present Ocho Rios not as some ‘paradise’ but as a living, lively, working part of real Jamaica in which the ‘vibe’ is contagious and your custom is always appreciated — and if the search for paradise is the thing, there are plenty places of outstanding natural beauty to plunge into and ‘fulljoy’ in and around the town too.
Jamaica has enticed seekers of rum and relaxation since the dawn of man, but the tourism boom began to really blossom in the middle of the 20th century as lovers of exotica from North America began to discover this captivating island arcadia for themselves.
Once at most a humble fishing village on the north coast, Ocho Rios swiftly prospered into one of the island’s main destinations for incurable pleasurites, entrancing a good many of the ‘rich and famous’ too with its boundless vigour and outright Ochiness.
Today the ‘official’ emphasis is on the more spruced-up ‘touristy’ west end of town — but there is much more to do than browsing ‘duty free’ plazas or just lounging on the sand slurping piña coladas (wonderful though the latter may be).
For a taste of local life beyond the gates of an ‘all-inclusive’, or if you’re off on a traipse around town till your cruise ship toots you back on board, we say get your bearings, get out there and “Shake hands with the whole of Ochi!”
Something new to capture your interest… our potted OCHI HISTORY. Additions welcome!
Meet your date, join a crusade, or sleep off the ganja by the CLOCK TOWER.
Our beautiful ZOOMABLE MAP pinpoints the location of businesses we recommend.
View our updated, if you will, ‘spiritual union’ of the PLACES of WORSHIP in Ocho Rios.
Gorge yourself silly on the local Jamaican cuisine at our favoured OCHI EATERIES.
The Sounds of St Ann — a decidedly small guide to some of the LOCAL MUSIC.
Bounding from bar to bar is a whole mess of fun… these are our BARS of CHOICE.
A visitors’ guide to the sort of WIGGLY BUGS you may encounter if you’re not careful.
Say Hello!
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