Dr No

Our last free day in Jamaica, and they've brought us to arguably the nicest beach, though it's certainly not the most secluded. Ocho Rios is probably the tourist capital of Jamaica. It seems that this is where the first tourist facilities were developed, and where tours from the U.S. first arrived. Whilst there were no cruise ships in port today, apparently they can have up to five a day berth at the wharf. Judging by the hundreds of souvenir booths around the wharf area, quite a few of the locals rely on selling tacky trinkets for a living.

Considering that thousands of tourists can pour off the boats on any particular day, there isn't a huge range of natural attractions to visit close by. There are some falls a few miles down the road, and when we asked our guide what they were like when 5000 tourists visit on the same day, she just put her head in her hands and groaned. Luckily most of them get bussed to Negril for the day, where they can see the cliff divers and sunset, then go straight back to the boat.

There is a large estate a few miles around the road that was purchased in 1946 by Ian Fleming, who built his house on the top of the cliffs overlooking his private beach. Fleming joined The Sunday Times in 1946, for which he oversaw the paper's worldwide network of correspondents, and he negotiated a contract whereby he could spend January and February of each year at his house in Jamaica. In 1952 James Bond appeared in the first Bond novel, Casino Royale, and for the next twelve years, Fleming wrote all his Bond stories in Jamaica. The first few James Bond novels were modest sellers, and they caught the eye of Cubby Broccoli who raised a small budget to make one of them into a film.

Dr No was the first Bond film made in 1962, and first to star Sean Connery. In the film, James Bond is sent to Jamaica to investigate the disappearance of a fellow British agent, and being such a low budget film they filmed many of the Jamaica scenes on Ian Fleming's private beach, including the iconic scene that ensured the longevity of the franchise - Ursula Andress rising out of the Caribbean Sea in a white bikini sporting a large diving knife on her hip. Incredibly racy for 1962. In 2003, her entrance was voted #1 in "the 100 Greatest Sexy Moments on Screen".

Two other related tidbits. Ian Fleming's house on the clifftops was named Goldeneye, which became the title of the first Bond film made after Fleming's death; and after Fleming's death the estate was sold to Bob Marley. There's a Bob Marley angle to every story in Jamaica.

Spent the day swimming at the beach just off the hotel, and walking around the town. Stopped at the Turtle Gardens for a while. It's really the public park in the centre of the town, which as ponds and other water features where turtles and fish swim. Nice and green and shady.

Had our last evening meal with the group at a local restaurant. The list of things on their menu that they didn't have was longer than the list they did, but when we all found something they actually had, it was nice.