SeaGarden Beach Resort
SeaGarden Beach Resort is what a Jamaican family-owned all-inclusive feels like in the middle of Montego Bay. The property started life as The Chatham, a name its fine-dining restaurant still carries, and the staff are warm rather than scripted; plenty have been there for decades. Its strongest asset is a private beach club across Kent Avenue, reserved for in-house guests, with two white-sand beaches, lifeguards every day, no vendors and snorkeling in the protected Montego Bay Marine Park. Note the timing: Hurricane Melissa (October 2025) shut the resort, it reopened part of its rooms on September 1, 2026, and the company told the Jamaican press in September 2026 that the remaining rooms should be back by about February 2027, alongside upgraded guestrooms, a new lobby lounge, extra rooms under construction and a new beachside restaurant planned for 2027.
Things to Know
- Partially open (100 of 214 rooms) - full reopening Feb 2027
Traveler Insights
Pros
- +Jamaican family-owned and operated, and it shows: many staff have worked the gardens and bars for decades, and returning guests talk about being greeted by name
- +Private beach club reserved for in-house guests only, with two beaches (a livelier South Beach with the grill and jetty, a sheltered North Beach for loungers and watersports), lifeguards every day and no vendors at all
- +Snorkeling straight off the sand in the protected waters of the Montego Bay Marine Park, with non-motorized watersports included in the rate
- +A few minutes by taxi from Sangster International Airport, so early flights and late arrivals cost you almost nothing in transfer time
- +More to do than its size suggests: an outdoor pool plus a child-friendly pool, tennis courts, a fitness centre, a games room, an on-property disco and a different show most nights, from mento bands to a fire show
- +Jamaican cooking done properly at The Jasmine, with ackee and saltfish, festival and callaloo at breakfast, plus jerk chicken and pork over the coals at the beach grill from 11am to 5pm
- +Wine is poured from actual bottles rather than boxes or jugs, something all-inclusive veterans on traveler forums single out
- +Rooms carry four-poster beds and mahogany furniture built in the resort's own carpentry shop, which gives them more character than the usual chain fit-out
Cons
- −Still partly a work site: Hurricane Melissa (October 2025) knocked the resort out, it reopened only part of its rooms on September 1, 2026, and the rest are being returned in stages through about February 2027
- −Rooms that have not yet been through the post-hurricane upgrade show their age, with older bathrooms, thin walls and some reports of patchy hot water
- −Street noise from Montego Bay's nightlife carries into the property on weekends, and older windows do little to block it
- −The beach club sits across Kent Avenue from the hotel, reached by the Bamboo Walkway with security seeing you over, so it is not a step-out-of-your-room beach
- −Both fine-dining rooms, The Chatham and Italian L'Albero, carry an additional charge, so the included dining is really The Jasmine buffet and the beach grill
- −Food quality swings: the fresh fish is the best thing some guests eat all week, while others report it dry and overcooked on the same trip
- −No kids club is named anywhere; families get the child-friendly pool, family shows and lifeguards, not supervised children's programming
Day to day, this is more of a resort than its old reputation suggests. The included rate covers The Jasmine (Jamaican buffets three times a day with themed dinners), the Beach Bar & Grill (jerk, burgers and rum punch from 11am to 5pm), the pool bar, snack bar and a piano bar in the evening. The Chatham (international, a la carte) and L'Albero (Italian) are the two paid extras and need reservations at the front desk. Beyond the beach there is an outdoor pool, a child-friendly pool, tennis, a fitness centre, a games room, an on-property disco and nightly shows. Rooms come in six categories from garden-level Standards to the Bohemian Suite with a kitchenette, all with air conditioning, Wi-Fi and a mini fridge. The weak spots are the older rooms, thin walls, weekend street noise and a kitchen that can be inconsistent.
SeaGarden makes the most sense for budget-minded couples and families who care more about a quiet, vendor-free beach and real Jamaican food than polished finishes, and for anyone with an awkward flight time who wants to be on the sand within the hour. It sits in the budget tier for Montego Bay, so it is not a fair fight against Sandals Montego Bay or the big-brand resorts along the Rose Hall coast on rooms or restaurants, and the price gap is far wider than a hundred dollars a night. Doctor's Cave Beach and the Hip Strip are minutes away, and the tour desk arranges Martha Brae rafting, the Luminous Lagoon, Good Hope zipline, Rose Hall Great House and Dunn's River Falls as paid third-party trips.
Common Questions
Is SeaGarden open after Hurricane Melissa?
How close is it to the airport?
Is the beach private, and is it good for swimming and snorkeling?
Is all the food included?
Is there anything to do besides the beach?
How bad is the noise at night?
Restaurants (4)
| Type | Restaurants |
|---|---|
| Buffet | The Jasmine |
| Italian | L’Albero (extra charge) |
| American & grill | Beach Bar & Grill |
| International & fusion | The Chatham (extra charge) |
From the resort's own dining pages. Only restaurants the resort lists are shown. Venues marked "extra charge" are not covered by the all-inclusive rate; the others are, per the resort.
What's nearby
Doctor's Cave Beach10 min walk · 0.5 mi
Sam Sharpe Square5 min drive · 1.7 mi
Montego Bay Cultural Centre5 min drive · 1.7 mi
Montego Bay Yacht Club13 min drive · 4.7 mi
Rose Hall Great House20 min drive · 8.5 mi
Falmouth40 min drive · 20 mi
More things to do (22)
- Mayfield Falls · nature60 min drive · 24 mi
- Hip Strip (Gloucester Avenue) · town4 min drive · 1.4 mi
- Dolphin Cove (Lucea) · adventure park40 min drive · 20 mi
- Martha Brae rafting · excursion50 min drive · 22 mi
- Hampden Estate rum tour · historic site35 min drive · 17 mi
- Dead End Beach · beach5 min walk · 0.2 mi
- Catamaran snorkel cruise from Montego Bay · excursion10 min walk · 0.5 mi
- Walter Fletcher Beach · beach4 min drive · 1.2 mi
- Harmony Beach Park · beach4 min drive · 1.4 mi
- Half Moon Golf Course · golf14 min drive · 7.1 mi
- Bellefield Great House · historic site20 min drive · 5.3 mi
- Cinnamon Hill Golf Course · golf20 min drive · 8.8 mi
- Ahhh...Ras Natango Gallery & Garden · nature20 min drive · 7.8 mi
- Rocklands Bird Sanctuary · wildlife25 min drive · 8.5 mi
- Falmouth Historic District (Water Square) · historic site40 min drive · 20 mi
- Luminous Lagoon night boat tour · excursion40 min drive · 22 mi
- Falmouth Cruise Port · marina45 min drive · 21 mi
- Burwood Beach · beach45 min drive · 24 mi
- Lucea · town45 min drive · 25 mi
- Fort Charlotte (Lucea) · historic site50 min drive · 25 mi
- Hanover Museum · museum50 min drive · 25 mi
- Good Hope Great House · historic site55 min drive · 24 mi
Amenities
Show 1 more amenitiesShow fewer
Seaweed & sargassum
Jamaica gets sargassum, typically worst June through August.See the month-by-month guide →Google Reviews★ 3.9 · 2,804 reviews
“Visited this resort in 2015, was an amazing experience! Food was delicious! Truly loved it! Hopefully I'll be able to come back in the near future to visit again! Stay safe! Praying for Jamaica 🙏”
“Richie Minto was exceptional along with our house keeper Maureen. They were courteous and very willing to assist. Most of the front desk staff tried their best to assist especially Shantel. The grounds man Martin treated us fabulously.”
“had an amazing stay at Seagarden Resort! From the moment I stepped through the door, the staff treated me like a queen. My room (1414) was clean, tidy, and the cleaning lady was very nice, making sure everything was perfect during my stay. The driver...”
Similar Resorts
$$
$$$Royalton Blue Waters, An Autograph Collection All-Inclusive Resort
Falmouth, Jamaica
$$$Currently closedHotel Catalonia Montego Bay
Montego Bay, Jamaica
Temporarily Closed - Becoming a Marriott all-inclusive resort (reopening 2028)