{"id":501744,"date":"2026-01-08T16:52:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T16:52:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/501744\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T16:52:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T16:52:12","slug":"the-caribbean-island-where-locals-cant-access-the-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/501744\/","title":{"rendered":"The Caribbean island where locals can&#8217;t access the beach"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b id=\"the-battle-for-jamaica's-beaches\" class=\"sc-d16436d-0 gnUCoQ\">The battle for Jamaica&#8217;s beaches<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">For many international travellers, Jamaica is synonymous with white-sand beaches and swaying palm trees. In 2024, a record 4.3 million tourists flocked to the island, and while many came to splash in its gin-clear waters, these same beaches are increasingly inaccessible to Jamaicans themselves. Of the island&#8217;s 1,022km of shoreline, just 0.6% is public and freely accessible to local residents, according to JaBBEM.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;Our cultural ties to spaces have been decimated,&#8221; Taylor said. &#8220;They&#8217;re transferring our natural resources to foreign entities.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The privatisation of Jamaica&#8217;s beaches has been unfolding for the past seven decades, but as the number of gated resorts and foreign-owned developments have multiplied in the past five years, the closure of locally beloved places like Mammee Bay has accelerated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Today, only <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/jis.gov.jm\/minister-bartlett-highlights-need-to-reduce-imports-to-retain-more-of-tourism-dollar\/\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 iCaRzc\" rel=\"noopener\">40% of Jamaica&#8217;s $4.3bn (\u00a33.2m) tourist revenue<\/a> stays in Jamaica, and all-inclusive beach resorts are booming. By 2030, 10,000 new rooms are expected across the island, many of which \u2013 including a 1,000-room Hard Rock Hotel and the 1,350-room Moon Palace The Grand in Montego Bay \u2013 are located on the coast and will further restrict Jamaicans&#8217; access to their own shoreline.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1765809022_894_grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 gUePlo hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/p0msnjq7.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Alamy Jamaica is filled with all-inclusive beach resorts that only allow access to the beach for paying guests (Credit: Alamy)\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA\"\/>AlamyJamaica is filled with all-inclusive beach resorts that only allow access to the beach for paying guests (Credit: Alamy)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The battle for Jamaica&#8217;s beaches For many international travellers, Jamaica is synonymous with white-sand beaches and swaying palm&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":501745,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[51,50,52],"class_list":{"0":"post-501744","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-stories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115860520809071292","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=501744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/501745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=501744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=501744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=501744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}