Discovery Bay travel guide

Discovery Bay is a town in Saint Ann Parish on the northern coast of Jamaica. The city is also know locally as Dry Harbour Bay, because it sits in the shadow of the Dry Harbour Mountains in St. Ann. There is a dispute as to whether Christopher Columbus first landed in Discovery Bay or Sevilla la Nueva (east of Discovery Bay) in 1494. Near to the city are Puerto Seco Beach and several historic sites, such as the Green Grotto Caves and Columbus Park. Visitors to the Green Grotto Caves can see relics of the native Taíno Arawak lifestyle there. It is said that many Spaniards escaped the English invasion of 1655 through secrect passages in the caves with the help of Arawaks and African slaves, in exchange for their freedom.
The city of Discovery Bay sits on a bay of the same name. The bay was originally named Puerto Seco (Dry Harbor) by Christopher Columbus because, unlike the neighboring Rio Bueno bay, there are no permanent rivers flowing into it. However, groundwater does enter the bay through deep cracks in the basement limestone, especially on the geologic fault line that runs through the ship channel and on the western side. The salinities of the submerged springs are greater than 20 parts per thousand, yet they cause a marked difference in temperature and salinity in the shallow western back reef. (...) more…