4 Best Sights in Falmouth, Jamaica

Located along Falmouth's scenic coast, this is one of the town's only beaches that isn't attached to a resort. The property does have guestrooms available, but most visitors come for the day to enjoy the clean white-sand beach, which offers a water obstacle course, volleyball, and other beach sports, along with changing rooms, showers, a restaurant and bar (you must call ahead to request permission if bringing your own food and drink). Admission includes beach chairs and cabanas, and Wi-Fi is available. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking (free); showers; toilets; water sports. Best for: partiers; sunset; swimming.

About a 20-minute drive inland from Falmouth, this 2,000-acre estate provides a sense of Jamaica's rich history as a sugar-producing island, incredible views of the Martha Brae River, and loads of fun. An adventure park offers zip-lining, river tubing, a great house tour, access to a colonial village, an aviary, a swimming pool, a challenge course for adults, and a kids' play area (with its own challenge course). The Riverside Restaurant & Bar, which serves Jamaican food and delicious drinks and cocktails, and a gift shop in the old sugar factory round out the amenities. Park passes get you access to all activities.

This gentle waterway takes its name from an Arawak woman who drowned herself because she refused to reveal the whereabouts of a local gold mine. According to legend, she agreed to take her Spanish inquisitors there and, on reaching the river, used magic to change its course, drowning herself and the greedy Spaniards with her. Her duppy (ghost) is said to guard the mine's entrance. Rafting on this river is a very popular activity—many operators are on hand to take you for a glide downstream. Admission is for up to two passengers.

With a large sign declaring that “Trespassers Will Be Eaten,” this attraction on the outskirts of Falmouth most fascinates reptile enthusiasts. The village was started as a crocodile farm in the 1970s by American Ross Kananga, who was a stuntman in the James Bond film Live and Let Die. Scenes from the film Papillon, starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman, were also shot here. The property is home to a number of Jamaican crocodiles as well as the Jamaican yellow boa snake. There are other exotic animals from South America and colorful tropical birds in the aviary.