Treasure Beach, Jamaica

The easy-going, snoozy little community of TREASURE BEACH has become the main tourist centre on the south coast, particularly popular with a laid-back bohemian crowd. It has a wide range of accommodation options, including a delightfully eclectic collection of villas and beach cottages to rent. There are also some great places to eat and a couple of diverting attractions, while the bays boast some pretty beaches. The Santa Cruz Mountains rise up from the sea just east of Treasure Beach and run northwest, providing a scenic backdrop for the village and protecting the area from rain clouds coming from the north. As a result, Treasure Beach has one of the driest climates on the island, with a scrubby, desert-like landscape. This is farming country nonetheless, and you'll see plantations scattered around the area.

Treasure Beach itself is made up of a string of loosely connected fishing settlements. Chances are you'll stay on the long sandy sweep of Frenchman's Bay where tourism has displaced fishing as the main industry, or smaller Calabash Bay, where brightly coloured fishing boats are pulled up on the beach below the newly constructed hotels and guesthouses. To the east, Great Bay remains a fishing village with a smattering of guesthouses and some lovely beaches, while west of Frenchman's Bay the road runs past Billy's Bay, home to several of the classiest villas in Treasure Beach, some shacks and a lot of goats.