Jolly Beach

The Jolly Beach area draws a wide range of British and American holidaymakers, including families and singles. Resorts are a mix of large all-inclusives (which draw the majority of visitors) and smaller hotels.

Jolly Beach is a fine stretch of powdery soft sand, but if you are willing to travel a few kilometres south, Darkwood Beach is almost deserted during the week (though popular with locals on weekends), and Johnson's Point/Crab Hill beaches, a bit further south, are even nicer, with calm water for swimming and even a few good beach bars for refreshments.

The Jolly Harbour Marina has some good shops, including an outlet of Quin Farara for duty-free tobacco and liquor, but most of the island's shopping opportunities are concentrated in St John's, or at Nelson's Dockyard in English Harbour. Duty-free bargains abound in the shops of St John's Heritage Quay, though the most charming of the island's stores can be found in Redcliffe Quay, also in St John's. Cedars Pottery in Buckley and Rhythm of Blue Gallery in English Harbour are two locally owned shops that produce their own high-quality wares.

The Jolly Beach area has the best of the island's three casinos, the Grand Princess; its Liquid disco is one of the island's hot spots. The King's Casino is north, in St John's. Castaways is another popular (and sometimes raucous) beach bar in Jolly Harbour, but most nightlife is concentrated in the English Harbour area, where the best bars, pubs, and discos can be found. Sunday-afternoon barbecues at Shirley Heights Lookout start in the afternoon but continue well into the night with reggae and steel-pan bands, drawing a mix of both locals and visitors.