Reggae Falls & Longboarder Bar and Grill

New Year’s Day Road Trip – Reggae Falls & Longboarder Bar and Grill

 We rang in the New Year with a road trip. I felt like doing something a little different, and I also wanted to find an opportunity to try out my newly acquired GoPro camera (which I was very excited about). So I turned my eyes east to St. Thomas. St. Thomas is often referred to as the forgotten parish, and I hadn’t been out there in a while. I had been seeing pictures on Instagram of a new place named the Longboarder Bar and Grill and been interested. While we were at it, I figured we could try to find Reggae falls, also in St. Thomas which has had a recent revival in popularity.

Heading out from Kingston, St. Thomas is very dry and dusty and not very scenic to be honest. Then you pass the town of Yallahs, bend a corner and start to see green. If you’ve never been very far into St. Thomas, approaching from Kingston, you may never know how green and lush the parish can actually be.

It was nice to see the roadside waterfall at Roselle flowing again; it had practically dried up during the very long spell of drought we were just emerging from.

Longboarder Bar and Grill

Finding the Longboarder Bar and Grill  is relatively easy as they are on the main road. It should take roughly an hour to get there from Harbour View. If you have gotten to Morant Bay (which is about 5 minutes away from Longboarder), then you’ve gone too far.

This side of the island is popular with surfers . Longboarder had a surf shop set up with gear rental as well as lessons on offer.

There is a very chill, laid back atmosphere. The tables are placed in a lovely setting, underneath a tree that spreads low and wide.

We had mojitos made with fresh mint grown on property. We literally saw the bartender pop over to their garden patch to get the mint after we ordered. I wasn’t really in the mood for fish so I had a burger. The patty was a good size and tasty. While we waited for lunch, we walked around the property a bit and took sappy couple selfies to pass the time.

From their IG page I see that ever so often they have events such as cooler parties and bonfire nights. I’m going to try to make it out to one some weekend

Website: The Longboarder Bar
Instagram: @thelongboarderbar

Reggae Falls

We then started to make our way out to Reggae Falls, or Hillside as it is known in the community.  Upon approaching Morant Bay, bear left at the Goodyear roundabout and continue all the way to Seaforth town bridge. Do not cross the bridge, but  bear right and you will eventually start to see signs. If you are ever unsure, no shame in stopping and asking for directions from a passerby. The closer you get, they more likely they know that it is Reggae Falls that it is you want to get to  before you even get a chance to ask them.

On the final stretch of the drive before arriving at the falls, you will have to cross a fording. I would probably be a little chicken doing it in a car, but there were several cars on the other side so it seems you can make it over in one piece.

We parked and then walked upstream towards the falls. Along the way there were several little pools that people were enjoying chilling out in. The water was nice and cold, refreshingly so. Of course I forgot my water shoes, that I had bought only a couple weeks before. I would have been much more comfortable walking upstream to the falls had I had them.

We weren’t the only ones with the idea to come out that day. Several groups of people were out and about, having a swim, or even a riverside barbecue in one case.

Reggae Falls is not a natural water fall, but rather the remnant of an old dam project. Nevertheless the site is well worth visiting.

After enjoying the falls for a little, we found a little pool for ourselves, relaxed and tested out my GoPro. I was pleasantly surprised by the clarity of the underwater images.

Tips:

• You may want to bring along water shoes.
• Up to when I visited, Longboarder accepted cash only.
• Keep right at the Seaforth bridge