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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.
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:
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.
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Any by the way, here also are more insightful pages about Jamaica, that will interest you:
Return to Beaches in Jamaica from Rivers in Jamaica
Return to My Island Jamaica from Jamaican Rivers
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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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