Photos

Continuing on from my series on the shoreline of southeast Jamaica, I begin a series on Bowden Bay, further east along on the isolated St. Thomas coast.

The bay is an extraordinarily scenic deep water bay enclosed on three sides, with a unique and varied character. It is fringed by mangroves and a series of simple, and fortunately undeveloped, beaches with beautiful vistas. In addition to the views of the opposite shore, those vistas include, to the south, the offshore reefs and islands at the entrance and, to the north, the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park. The long high plateau of the John Crow Mountains provides the backdrop in this view.

Weather was stormy when I took this. My image has not been adjusted except for minor post resampling sharpening and cropping of some of the sky. I'll be interested in how it reads once uploaded. I have posted another version as a WS, uncropped but with increased contrast.

Bowden Bay Background: One of the earliest groups of English colonists of Jamaica (actually 1600 white planters from the island of Nevis) landed in Bowden Bay in 1656. They settled close to the wetlands fringing the bay and were stricken by fever during their first few months. Forced to move further inland, they eventually prospered on the fertile plains of the Plantain Garden River, exporting sugar from Bowen Wharf. After surviving an invasion by the French, forts were built at either side of the entrance to protect the bay. In 1795 Captain William Bligh landed at Bowden, delivering breadfruit and other exotic plants to the Botanical Garden that had been founded nearby in 1779.

Despite this colorful history, today, there is little formal activity around the bay. Uses include small communities of fishermen, an oyster culture operation and a small marina catering to occasional sailors and sports fishermen.