Jamaica Reaffirms Public Beach Access in Montego Bay and Ocho Rios

Kingston, Jamaica, 28 June 2026

Jamaican municipal officials in two of the island’s most visited resort towns have publicly reaffirmed their commitment to open beach access, pushing back against concerns that private development is quietly closing off Jamaica’s coastline to residents.

Montego Bay Doubles Down

The mayor and Chairman of the St. James Municipal Corporation confirmed this week that the municipality continues working alongside the Urban Development Corporation to maintain public coastal access. Among the highlights cited was Harmony Beach Park, the expansive waterfront facility that has become a cornerstone of public recreation in western Jamaica. Officials also pointed to the return of Old Hospital Park, including One Man Beach, to UDC management, with infrastructure improvements planned. Plans to upgrade Sunset Beach and Dead End Beach were also described as advancing, with management improvements intended to preserve free public use.

Doctor’s Cave Beach was highlighted as a continued public attraction, even as the parish maintains a mix of free and paid-entry beaches. Officials argued that proper management, far from restricting access, tends to improve the quality and safety of the experience.

Ocho Rios Proposes New Public Options

In Ocho Rios, the Mayor of St. Ann’s Bay highlighted the UDC-operated public beach near Ocean Village Plaza as an accessible coastal option. The municipality has also submitted a proposal to take over management of Little Dunn’s River, with plans to develop visitor facilities and create another public beach in the resort town. Flavour Beach in Runaway Bay was also cited as a publicly accessible stretch of north coast shoreline.

Why This Matters for Property and Land

For years, advocates including the Jamaica Beach and Bay Environment Movement have raised alarms about the steady erosion of public coastal access, arguing that private landowners and resort developers have progressively restricted coastline that generations of Jamaicans once accessed freely. A legal campaign seeking to have public beach rights formally recognised has been gathering momentum.

Coastal land commands the highest premiums on the island. Hotels, villas, and residential developments with direct beach access attract strong interest from diaspora buyers and foreign investors. But if the public right to access that coastline continues to narrow, the social licence for those developments becomes increasingly contested. The government’s stated position, that public beaches are a national asset to be protected rather than privatised, offers some reassurance. Whether that position holds as commercial development pressure intensifies along Jamaica’s north coast remains the more challenging question.