Portland is known for its natural & tranquil beauty. I’ve been going to Portland ever since I was a child to visit my family & all those years I hated it! It wasn’t until I became an adult that I began to appreciate how lucky I was to have roots in this tranquil haven.
Now that I am older & my great grandmother has passed unfortunately the trips are less. When my bestie decided that she wanted to go to Reach Falls for her birthday celebration at the end of July, I was more than elated!
What started out as a trip of over 20 persons dwindled to 5 very adventurous females ready to explore the unknown. It was all our first times to Reach Falls & we were going by public transport. My bestie was advised to take the St. Thomas route to get to the falls& I want to thank that person because the set the motion for a blessed journey.
While standing at the Texaco at the corner of Duke Street & East Queen Street we saw a Morant Bay taxi & after talking to the driver (who believed we were joking about our destination) we loaded up the seven seater vehicle & headed on our journey. After some negotiation, the driver offered to take us to Reach Falls for $1000 each.
It took us about 2 hours to get to Reach Falls because the road through St. Thomas was horrendous in certain areas. The beautiful scenery made up for the rough journey.
The cost to enter the park was only $500 JMD with a valid Jamaican ID (unfortunately Passports don’t count as valid proof of residence).
Reach Falls is much smaller than it’s counterpart Dunn’s River Falls but it had a nice rustic almost untouched feel.
The minute you enter the property, you feel like you are about to embark on a journey through the rain forest.
Enjoying the water even though it was cold
The water was cold! I was not prepared for how cold it really was but I shouldn’t have been surprised because the temperature seemed to drop as we made our decent to the fall.
The water was crystal clear.
There were 3 lifeguards on duty & my conversation with one of them helped me to deduce that they were all native to the area & basically knew the falls inside out.
The falls itself was filled with its own mystery because it had a cave that was undetectable when you look at the falls. We had to climb a few rocks to get to the entrance. When I realized it was there I was extremely bummed I didn’t have a Go Pro or other water friendly camera to capture it.
Reach Falls didn’t really offer much to climb but the little that I saw was good enough for an adventure.
Above the cave was a little pool area which we dubbed the “Infinity Pool”. From there you had a panoramic view of the swimming area. It was a very relaxing spot which offered its own little “climbing” adventure & a blue hole.
After we left Reach Falls we decided to head to Boston Jerk Centre for some food. My bestie’s friend took the other route through Port Antonio to get to the falls & he mentioned that we had to see a beautiful restaurant he passed on the way to Boston.
The restaurant called the Cliffhanger Restaurant & Lounge is located in Long Bay, Portland. They were recently awarded the Jamaica Observer Food Award The Most Talked About Parish Gem. I was in awe of the view & open set up of the restaurant. I will definitely be back to spend a weekend at the Seacliff Hotel & dine at Cliffhanger.
Check out their Facebook page here & Instagram page here.
At Boston, we decided to dine at Shaggy’s Jerk Centre. I ordered Jerk Chicken with Roasted Sweet Potatoes & a bottle of Ting.
The chicken was jerked perfection & the roasted sweet potatoes hit a spot I didn’t even know needed to be satisfied.
We spent about an hour or two at Shaggy’s before we started the journey home. We made a second supper stop in Castleton, St. Mary for some soup & corn.
Every time I embark on a new road trip, I fall in love with Jamaica a little more.
As usual I tried to capture a mini vlog from the excursion:
#31for31BlogChallenge
Until Next Trek
shannydelioness.com 
Great post! I enjoyed the trip.
Portland is one of the places I’m yet to explore but soon enough my dry land tourist adventures will begin, you’re helping me to add places on my list though! 🙂
Once you start going you will fall in love.