Montego Bay is the capital of St. James Parish and the second largest city in Jamaica by area and the third by population (after Kingston and Spanish Town). It is a tourist destination with duty free shopping, cruise line terminal and the beaches. The city is backed by picturesque low mountains. Popular beaches include Doctor’s Cave Beach and Walter Fletcher Beach, home to an amusement park. Today, Montego Bay is known for its large regional hospital (Cornwall Regional Hospital), port facilities, second homes for numerous upper class Jamaicans from Kingston as well as North Americans and Europeans, fine restaurants, and shopping opportunities. The coastland near Montego Bay is occupied by numerous tourist resorts, most newly built, some occupying the grounds of old sugarcane plantations with some of the original buildings and mill-works still standing. The most famous is the White Witch's Rose Hall which now features a world-class golf course.

Punta Cana is part of the newly created Punta Cana-Bávaro-Veron-Macao municipal district in La Altagracia, the easternmost province of the Dominican Republic. The area is best known for its beaches and balnearios, which face both the Caribbean and Atlantic, and it has been a popular tourist destination since the 1970s. The Punta Cana area has an estimated population of 100,000 with a growth rate of 6%. To the north, it borders the village and beach of Cabeza de Toro, and then the Bávaro and El Cortecito beaches. The nearest city, the 500-year-old capital of the Province Higüey, is 45 kilometres (28 mi) away, and it takes about an hour to drive there. Europeans, particularly Spanish hotel chains, own all but two of the 50+ megaresorts of the Punta Cana tourism destination. 

The Dominican Republic is a sovereign state on the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Caribbean region. Though known for its wonderful beaches, all-inclusive resorts and golfing, it has a varied terrain comprising rainforest, savannah and highlands, including Pico Duarte, the Caribbean’s tallest mountain. For the adventure tourist this Caribbean country offers a diverse countryside comprising tropical rainforests, arid desert expanses, alpine ranges and steamy mangrove swamps. It's a playground for trekkers, mountain bike enthusiasts and water-sport junkies!

Ocho Rios (Spanish for "Eight Rivers") is a town in the parish of Saint Ann on the north coast of Jamaica. Just outside the city, travelers and residents can visit Columbus Park, where Columbus supposedly first came on land, and see maritime artifacts and Spanish colonial buildings. Ocho Rios was once a fishing village but it’s now a resort with a cruise ship harbor and a busy bay beach that’s lined with hotels. Scuba diving and other water sports are offered in the town's vicinity. The name "Ocho Rios" is a misnomer because there are not eight rivers in the area. It is most likely a British corruption of the original Spanish name "Las Chorreras" ("the waterfalls"), a name given to the village because of the nearby Dunn's River Falls - (a famous waterfall and a major Caribbean tourist attraction that receives thousands of visitors each year).

Jamaica is an island nation in the Caribbean, located to the south of Cuba and to the west of the island of Hispaniola. It is best known for its lush topography of mountains, rainforests and reef-lined beaches. Many of its all-inclusive resorts are clustered in the vibrant city, Montego Bay, with its British colonial architecture, and Negril, renowned for diving and snorkelling. Jamaica's climate is tropical, supporting diverse ecosystems with a wealth of plants and animals. Previously inhabited by the indigenous Arawak and Taíno peoples, the island came under Spanish rule following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1494. Named Santiago, it remained a possession of Spain until 1655, when England (later Great Britain) conquered the island and renamed it Jamaica. Under British rule, Jamaica became a leading sugar exporter, with its plantation economy highly dependent on slaves imported from Africa, followed later by Chinese and Indian indentured labour.