James Bond Heads Back to Jamaica

By Matt Turner Apr 26, 2019 10:01am

After months of speculation, it has been confirmed that the 25th installment of the James Bond series will be shot in Jamaica (starting this Sunday). It’s been almost 60 years since the first Bond movie was filmed, and numerous works have been set on the island (Dr. No, Live and Let Die and The Man with the Golden Gun), but there’s much more when it comes to Bond’s connection to Jamaica (to start, Goldeneye was the name of author Ian Fleming's estate on Oracabessa bay; the property now operates as Goldeneye Hotel and Resort, comprising Fleming's main house and several cottages).

In preparation for the upcoming 007 blockbuster, which will be released in April 2020, fans can travel to the locations frequented by the author and his characters. Here are some locations where Bond aficionados can experience the history of the franchise:

Two James Bond films (Dr. No and Live and Let Die) were made near the town Oracabessa where the 12 original James Bond novels were written.
The White River dividing the parish of St. Ann and St. Mary is the location for the river scenes in Dr. No.
The famous scene where Ursula Andress meets James Bond for the first time was filmed at the private beach Laughing Waters in Ocho Rios; other scenes were filmed at the world-famous Dunn’s River Falls.
Several Jamaican hotels have been used as film locations in James Bond films: What is now Cottage 10 at Half Moon resort is the bedroom where Bond spent the night with Rosie Carver.
Couples Sans Souci was used as a location in Live and Let Die; Bond’s hotel room is remembered with a special sign, “D20.”
The iconic voodoo dance scene in Live and Let Die was shot in a restaurant in Ocho Rios in 1973.
Jamaica’s capital city Kingston was a principal location for Dr. No.
The home of Jamaica’s governor general, today called King’s House, was used in Dr. No as the Government House where Bond met UK intelligence at the beginning of his mission.
The Grand Port Royal Hotel, (formerly Morgan’s Harbour Hotel) in Kingston was a film location in Dr. No and features in several scenes of the film.
The Reynolds Pier in Ocho Rios, part of the Ocho Rios cruise ship facility, was used as Crab Cay in Dr. No.
The swamp scenes of Crab Cay in Dr. No were filmed at the dry swamp at Falmouth in Trelawny.
Jamaica was the film location for the fictional island of San Monique in Live and Let Die.
The Green Grotto Caves, a tourist attraction on the north coast of Jamaica, is the location of many of the subterranean scenes in Live and Let Die.
The grounds at Rose Hall Great House, an 18th-century plantation in Montego Bay, were used in the filming of Live and Let Die; a makeshift graveyard was built on the grounds and the scene of the poppy field was shot in the hills behind the house.
In the book, The Man with the Golden Gun, Fleming based the Bond character and plot across many Jamaican locations, including Morgan’s Harbour Hotel, Green Island and Lucea.

For more information on Jamaica, go to www.visitjamaica.com.

James Bond Heads Back to Jamaica

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