Occupying the whole of Gloucester Avenue and stretching north into Kent Avenue, Montego Bay's glittering oceanfront tourist strip builds to a bottleneck around Doctor's Cave Beach during the daytime, with hair braiders, taxi drivers and hustlers shadowing your every move and gift-shops competing for business. At night the action switches to MoBay's most happening joint, Margaritaville, and street vendors stake out jerk chicken stands and carts selling snacks. Gloucester Avenue is home to most of MoBay's tourist hotels and restaurants as well as the best beaches, bars and clubs, so even if you don't check into a strip hotel, you'll spend a lot of time here.

Starting at the roundabout that filters Howard Cooke Boulevard, Queens Drive and Fort Street traffic, the first stretch of Gloucester Avenue is a kind of no-man's land, split in two by an elevated section of a one-way traffic system and bordered by the only sizeable undeveloped beach in town. Fort Street Craft Market is a favorite haunt of persistent hair braiders but a relatively relaxed spot for a bit of bartering. Arranged around steep steps that make a useful shortcut to Sewell Avenue and Queen's Drive, stalls sell the usual array of carvings and t-shirts. Opposite the market, and still popularly referred to by its old name of Walter Fletcher Beach, Aquasol Theme Park (daily 10am-10pm; J$100) has the most comprehensive sports facilities of MoBay's three main beaches. It offers watersports (jet-skis US$50, glass-bottom boat rides US$10, snorkeling US$10; all per half-hour), tennis and basketball courts, and a go-kart track (five laps cost J$150 in a one-person kart, J$200 in a two-person kart). The wide expanse of sand, a decent seafood restaurant, and an attractive decked bar (which stays open until late every night) have made the beach popular with young tourists and the attendant hangers-on as well as Jamaican families. However, it's not the cleanest place to swim after a bout of wet weather.

Though Gloucester Avenue runs parallel to the sea, the sea is mainly obscured by the buildings. The only place to fully appreciate the sweep of the bay is from the strip's only green space, opposite the restaurants and bars at Miranda Ridge; there are a couple of benches from which you can watch the sunset. The bucolic illusion is rudely shattered just past the park at Margaritaville (daily 10am-3am), a mini-lido-cum-restaurant-cum-bar that proudly displays the second-tackiest facade along the strip. (The Coral Cliff Gaming Lounge opposite, with its faux waterfall, must be seen to be believed.) Margaritaville’s bar and outdoor eating deck are built right over the sea; below there's a watersports area with boat berths and swimming platforms. On the roof there's a hot tub, sun deck, and - best of all - a 110ft water slide (US$5 or free to customers) which sluices down into the sea and draws hordes of tourists and locals alike.

Past Doctor's Cave is the diminutive Fantasy Craft Market, tucked behind a row of duty-free stores and offering some bargains. Opposite the market, and with its own driveway off Gloucester Avenue, Cornwall Beach (daily 9am-5pm; J$80) is the most intimate and laid-back of MoBay's public beaches, but it looks a little rough around the edges following its competitors' ritzy face-lifts. It's a young person's beach, with music pumped out from giant speakers and topless bathing common (though theoretically prohibited). It's popular with the gigolo crowd, and female visitors should expect (usually good-natured) approaches. Set under a massive sea grape tree, the central bar is a lovely spot for a drink.

The hotels peter out as Gloucester becomes Kent Avenue (known locally as Dead End Road) at the junction with Sunset Boulevard and continues to hug the coast before ending abruptly at the wall marking the distant section of the airport runway. The adjacent Buccaneer Beach (or Sunset/Dead End Beach) is a thin but attractive strip of public sand; it's popular with Jamaicans, despite the racket of airplane landings and take-offs. The water is shallow and there are no facilities, but snorkeling is good and the view over the bay is fabulous, providing the best free sunset seat in town.

The last of the strip proper, Sunset Boulevard is home to a small complex of forlorn shops and bars, countless car rental outlets and the rather grand Summit Police Station. At the airport roundabout, the boulevard becomes part of Queen's Drive, a fast traffic route parallel to Gloucester Avenue. Pavements are sporadic and walking can be risky, though the views over the bay are fantastic.

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