Rick's Café

Rick's Café is the most famous bar in Jamaica and one of the most recognisable in the Caribbean. It sits on the edge of the West End cliffs and draws a crowd every evening for the sunset and the cliff jumpers. Locals and tourists of varying bravery go off ledges at 3, 5, and 10 metres into the deep water below; the professional divers who go off the highest point are worth watching. The drinks are tourist-priced and the place fills quickly — arrive an hour before sunset to get a cliffside position.

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A story
Rick's Café opened in 1974 when American Rick Hoyle arrived in Negril and set up a bar on the cliffs. The cliff-jumping became an informal competition almost immediately; today professional divers go off the highest ledges — around 10 metres — while tourists attempt the lower ones. It has been name-checked in travel writing ever since and is arguably Jamaica's single most famous bar.

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