River · Jamaica
Rio Minho
The Rio Minho is the longest river in Jamaica, even though it fits easily on one small island. It runs from the central hills down to the Caribbean Sea at Carlisle Bay.
Picture credit: LuisMAfonso (CC BY-SA 4.0) · LuisMAfonso (CC BY-SA 4.0) · LuisMAfonso (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is the Rio Minho?
The river starts here: Central highlands of Jamaica.
It ends in the Caribbean Sea at Carlisle Bay.
Countries on the river: Jamaica.
The story behind it
The Rio Minho gathers its water in the green hills of central Jamaica and then flows south through the parish of Clarendon. Much of the land it crosses is limestone, full of caves and holes, so part of the water disappears underground and bubbles up again further on. After heavy tropical rain the river can turn brown and rise within hours, but in the dry months parts of the bed are nothing but pale stones. Farmers along it grow sugarcane, bananas and yams, and the flat land near the mouth is one of the busiest farming areas of the island. Egrets stand in the shallows, crayfish hide under rocks, and children swim in the pools. At Carlisle Bay the river slips quietly into the warm Caribbean Sea.
Questions children ask
How long is the Rio Minho?
The Rio Minho is about 92.8 kilometres long. On an island that size it is a real giant, and no other Jamaican river reaches further.
Which country does the Rio Minho flow through?
The Rio Minho flows only through Jamaica, mainly in the parish of Clarendon. It never leaves the island on its way to the sea.
Where does the Rio Minho flow into?
The Rio Minho flows into the Caribbean Sea at Carlisle Bay, on the southern coast. Its last kilometres cross a flat farming plain.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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