The Rivers in Jamaica
Assorted and serene!

Mention 'rivers in Jamaica' and I get quite excited - I love them! I grew up only walking distance from a small one in my community (Robin's River) and so I took every opportunity to take that route when going outside.

I enjoyed the exciting sound of the rushing waters, but my real interest was in the fishing! [although I never caught a fish]

We have over 100 rivers in Jamaica, although many are unexplored and not navigable. The height of the mountains causes them to run swiftly in deep beds, and their courses are sometimes broken by waterfalls.

The Black River is the largest (widest) river in Jamaica. It is 73 kilometers long, and for 28 kilometers from its mouth it is navigable for small vessels.

Today, there is an increased interest in rafting and other watersport (see sports in Jamaica) activities with our rivers, and therefore, some of the once unexplored rivers are now used for these purposes.

For the most part though, the rivers in Jamaica are still used for irrigation and domestic purposes particularly by the rural folks.

The Rio Minho is the longest river in Jamaica. It rises close to the mainland's geographic centre, flowing generally south-southwest, reaching the Caribbean Sea at Carlisle Bay in the central south coast, to the west of the island's southern-most point, Portland Point. The town of May Pen in Clarendon lies on the banks of the it.

We also have some underground rivers in the limestone region of Jamaica, for example, the Hectors and Cave Rivers.

It is worth noting that the parish of St. Ann, because it is mainly of limestone formation, has no rivers in its interior. When swollen by exceptional rainfall the underground reservoirs sometimes rise to the surface as lakes. It is said that the Moneague Lake (near Moneague in St. Ann) last rose in 1970 but disappeared in 1971.

Three (3) of the most popular rivers used for Rafting in Jamaica are:
The Great River
Rio Grande
Martha Brae River

Here is a list of the 22 main rivers in Jamaica (sorted alphabetically) courtesy of the National Library:

I guess my community river (Robin's River) was too small to make this list :-(

Here are a few more pictures as well.

Any by the way, here also are more insightful pages about Jamaica, that will interest you:

• Scuba Diving in Jamaica
• The Jamaica Travel Guide
• Beaches in Jamaica
• Hotels in Jamaica
• Cheap Hotels in Jamaica
• Local Product/Services

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References:
http://www.discoverjamaica.com/gleaner/discover/geography/features.htm
http://www.everytingjamaican.com/jamaica/geography/

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