Boston Bay Beach
Port Antonio, Portland Parish, Jamaica
Boston Bay sits just east of Port Antonio in Jamaica, widely credited as the birthplace of jerk cooking, with jerk huts lining the road behind a beach that also happens to have some of the most consistent surf on the island's north coast. Locals rent boards and give lessons right on the sand, and the annual Jerk Festival draws crowds here every July.
A genuine cultural landmark as much as a beach, with real surf and the island's best jerk right on hand, though the jerk center itself has become enough of a tourist draw that it can feel like a stop on a circuit rather than a hidden spot.
Eat at one of the roadside jerk huts rather than a formal restaurant, since that's where the tradition actually started, and the chicken and pork here set the standard for the rest of the island.
There's free roadside parking along the main road through Boston, with changing rooms available for a small fee.
The beach is a short, flat walk from the road, easy to reach, though facilities are basic outside of the changing rooms.
The dry season from December through April brings calmer conditions, while the wave season for surfing tends to pick up later in the year, alongside Jamaica's June through November hurricane season.
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