Legendary Locations: Negril, Jamaica

Rebecca Shore | Feb 14, 2014

Selita Ebanks in 2007 :: Raphael Mazzucco/SI

SwimDaily is celebrating the impending launch of Swimsuit's 50th anniversary issue with this video-a-day series featuring our most memorable shoot locations, hosted by the memorable-in-her-own-right Emily DiDonato.

Be sure to come back daily because we are sending ONE LUCKY READER on the trip of a lifetime to the No. 1 Legendary Location. Go here for more details!

* * *

TO ENJOY the music rooted in Jamaica's history merely head for the water. Whether you are strolling or sunbathing on Negril's Seven Mile Beach or swimming just offshore, music is in the air. During a shoot of models Selita Ebanks and Bar Refaeli on the stretch of beach outside Cosmo's Seafood Restaurant, three different bands wandered past playing such popular folk genres as mento, nyahbinghi and kumina.

Although reggae and dancehall have carried the contemporary sounds of the island worldwide, Jamaicans still delight in these other musical traditions. "When the ancestors came here, these are the songs they played," says Rastafari, the lead singer of the Jamaican folk band Hot Steppa Cultural Group, a local favorite.

The spectacular view also remains much as it was in the early 1500s when the first African slaves were brought to the island by Spanish and Portuguese settlers. The town of Negril is located on the west coast of Jamaica, where the seemingly endless sunsets are a guaranteed amenity at any of the area resorts, including The Caves. This unique retreat—11 cottages, each "planted" in a garden—is perched above a string of grottoes and honeycomb rocks protruding from the sea, the outcroppings covered by marine life. Swim in the aqua waters and explore the rocks and caves below. On the beaches of Negril, nature did the hard work, so all that is left for visitors to do is sit back and enjoy.

Connie Aitcheson