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The Rivers in Jamaica
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Buff Bay River, Portland Jamaica

Mention 'rivers in Jamaica' and I get quite excited - I love 'em! I grew up only walking distance from a small one in my community and so I took every opportunity to take that route when going out.

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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 here 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.

The White River In Ocho Rios, Jamaica

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

RIVER	Km	PARISH
Black River	53.4	St. Elizabeth
Buff Bay River	22.2	Portland
Cabaritta River	39.7	Westmoreland
Dean's River	17.1	Westmoreland
Great River	46	St. James
Hector's River	5.1	Portland
Hope River	19.6	St. Andrew
Lucea East River	12.9	Hanover
Lucea West River	14	Hanover
Martha Brae River	32.5	Trelawny
Milk River	36.4	Clarendon
Montego River	24.1	St. James
Morant River	25.9	St. Thomas
Negril River	15.3	Westmoreland
Plantain Garden River	34.9	St. Thomas
Rio Cobre	50.9	St. Catherine
Rio Grande	34.3	Portland
Rio Minho	92.5	Clarendon
Rio Nueve	24	St. Mary
Wag Water River	36.2	St. Mary
White River	27.4	St. Ann
Yallahs River	36.9	St. Thomas

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

Here are a few more pictures as well.

To learn even more about the rivers in Jamaica, I recommend you read Alan Fincham's Jamaica Underground Caves, Sinkhole and Rivers. You can find the book at Amazon at this link.

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About The Author

A patriotic Jamaican who adore its culture, Wellesley has been using this medium to share what he calls 'the uniqueness of Jamaica with the world' since April 2007.

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