Little Ochie

Jamaica’s Best Seafood (So Far)

If you want tasty fish, just drop down to the coast and drive 118 km west from Kingston. Descend the hills into the town of Alligator Pond, guide your car through the street markets, and stop when you get to the throng of people ordering garlic lobster and grilled fish. You’re at Little Ochie.

Popular enough to be specifically called-out on road signs, Little Ochie sits on the south coast of Jamaica and offers fresh-caught lobsters, snappers, sea puss, and shrimp by the pound. You can have your meat jerk, grilled, roasted, or fried with green onion, ginger, onions, scotch bonnet peppers, and spicy vinegar.

The locale is beachy, with old fishing boats repurposed as eating rooms with thatched roofs and broad circular tables. Red Stripe flows, nearby hawkers chop and sell sugar cane, and the day we were there Little Ochie was setting up soundsystems for a big holiday bash. Many families had also set up for the day, grilling over open fires, listening to reggae, and generally having a chill time.

We ordered three grilled fish and some curry shrimp, which came out hot, saran-wrapped down onto what looked like Fiesta Ware. Sides of festival, bammy, and tomatoes were delicious and the seafood itself was generous and well-cooked.

It’s not a major detour on the route from Kingston to Treasure Beach, and if you’ve got a few extra minutes or hours, it’s highly recommended. Generous portions of fish can be purchased for around $2,500 JMD (about $18 US).