Saint Mary
Saint Mary Geography & Climate
Geography
Saint Mary occupies a stretch of Jamaica’s north-east coast and the hill country immediately behind it, covering around 610 square kilometres.
The coast
A succession of small bays and headlands rather than a single sweep of beach, with river mouths at frequent intervals and black or grey sand where the rivers deposit volcanic and alluvial material. Cabarita Island sits in the bay at Port Maria, and there are reefs offshore at several points, best developed at Oracabessa where the sanctuary has allowed them to recover.
The hills
The land rises quickly inland into steep, forested limestone and shale country, cut by deep river valleys. There is very little flat ground, which is why settlements string along the coast road and the ridge tops.
Rivers
Unusually numerous. The Rio Nuevo, Wag Water, White River and Pagee run north off the high ground, short and steep with good year-round flow and a series of falls and swimming holes. They flood hard after heavy rain.
Toward the mountains
The parish’s southern edge climbs toward the island’s central range, and the road through Castleton follows the Wag Water gorge up into the hills — one of the more scenic drives in Jamaica.
Cabarita Island
A small wooded island a short way off Port Maria, uninhabited and reachable by boat from the fishing beach. It shelters the bay, which is why the town grew where it did, and it is the parish’s most recognisable piece of coastline.
Soil and rain
Wet, fertile and green: the windward side of the island catches the trade winds, which is why this is banana and cocoa country rather than cane.
Climate Patterns
Saint Mary sits on the windward, wetter side of Jamaica, and that governs everything about its landscape and its agriculture.
Temperature
Warm and steady throughout the year, with coastal highs of 28 to 31°C and nights around 21 to 24°C. Humidity is high. The inland hills are several degrees cooler, and a night in the high country needs a blanket.
Rain
Between 2,000 and 3,000 millimetres a year in much of the parish — two to three times what Kingston receives on the other side of the mountains. The north-easterly trade winds arrive loaded with moisture off the Atlantic and drop it as they are lifted over the rising ground, which is why this side of the island is green and the southern plains are not.
Seasons
Two wetter peaks, in May and again from September to November, with a drier stretch from December to April. Even the dry months see showers, usually brief.
Hurricanes
The season runs June to November and peaks between August and October. The exposed north coast takes storm surge, and heavy rain in the hills brings landslides and washed-out roads — which is often what actually disrupts travel here.
Landslides
Steep slopes, deep soils and intense rain combine to make this landslide country. The inland roads are cut into hillsides that regularly give way after a heavy spell, and repairs are slow; the practical effect for a visitor is that an inland route which worked last month may not work today.
Sea
26 to 29°C year round, with the calmest water from December to April.