Jamaica & James Bond
Ian Fleming, the mastermind behind the creation of the James Bond character and novels, came to Jamaica as a naval intelligence officer in World War II and fell in love with the island that he would make his home.
The novelist built a house on land by the sea that he bought in 1946 in the town of Oracabessa on the north coast of Jamaica. He called his new home Goldeneye and there he would live, marry and write his Bond novels in the years to come.
Today, Goldeneye, which was named after a secret World War II military operation, is a luxury hotel comprising villas and beach huts within a stone’s throw of the Caribbean sea.
The tropical setting of his adopted Caribbean home inspired his writing.
“Would these books have been born if I had not been living in the gorgeous vacuum of a Jamaican holiday?” Fleming asked rhetorically, “I doubt it.”
The first James Bond movie ever filmed “Doctor No”, starring Sean Connery as 007, was shot in Jamaica at various locations including Harbour Street in Kingston and the Liguanea Club which is located literally across the street from The Courtleigh Hotel and Suites and the Jamaica Pegasus.
Other locations in the town of Ocho Rios such as Laughing Waters, Roaring River and the port feature in the film.
In “Live And Let Die”, starring actor Roger Moore, one of the famous scenes from the movie showing Agent 007 running across the backs of a number of crocodiles was filmed at the Jamaica Swamp Safari Village in Falmouth, only about 20 minutes drive from the Holiday Inn Resort Montego Bay.
Other scenes were shot at the Green Grotto Caves in St. Ann and at the Cinnamon Hill Golf Course in Rose Hall. Rose Hall is also the home of the Holiday Inn Resort.
Finally, the most recent Bond flick “No Time To Die” which is actor Daniel Craig’s final movie in the role of the British agent, also featured Jamaican locations. These were sites in and around the eastern coastal resort town of Port Antonio such as the Ken Jones Aerodrome, a private beach named Coco Walk and the Market Square area of the town.
The late Ian Fleming’s love for Jamaica has inextricably linked the island, the James Bond novels and movies together forever.
Do you want to explore this history? Would you like to see for yourself why Fleming became enamored with this beautiful, lush green isle? Perhaps you could visit some of these famous locations.
Feel free to speak with our tour desk or guest services to organize a customized tour of various locations, or a trip to the Jamaica Swamp Safari Village or maybe a few rounds of golf at Cinnamon Hill.