“One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.”
Bob Marley
If you’re in Jamaica and you’re a big fan of Bob Marley, you might find it well worth the long, rather expensive trek to Nine Mile, Jamaica to visit the birthplace and resting place of the legendary reggae musician.
While staying in Runaway Bay during our recent Jamaica trip, we hired a driver to take us to Scotchies to sample what we heard was some of the best jerk on the island. While driving to Scotchies, our driver Rodney asked if we were going to make the trek up to Nine Mile. He proceeded to tell us about the tour and then said for an extra $100, he’d take us up himself.
We’d already looked into taking a tour through our hotel or renting a car and driving up ourselves, and honestly, $100 seemed like a pretty good deal for a private ride there and back so we agreed. It turned out to be a great decision.
From Scotchies (close to Ocho Rios) it was a little more than an hour and a half drive to Nine Mile. The drive was scenic, passing through several small towns and incredibly lush Jamaican mountainside – a stark contrast from the busy tourist areas and a part of Jamaica that many people don’t get the chance to see.
Rodney was a good tour guide – full of information about his country, and stopped whenever we wanted to take a picture or just check out the view. We were so glad we didn’t rent a car and try to find Nine Mile on our own. There weren’t many signs and the roads were quite windy and bumpy.
Shortly after arriving in the town of Nine Mile, we pulled up to two massive gates which opened up to let us in and then quickly shut behind us.
From the parking lot, we walked up to the gift shop to pay our entrance fee (about $19 pp) and made our way up to meet our tour guide.
Before the tour, we were given the opportunity to enjoy some food or a beverage in the bar and we opted for a specialty Bob Marley shot (we got to keep the shot glasses). Our bartender masterfully layered our glasses with red, yellow and green and then lit them on fire!
We were instructed to stick a straw in the glass and suck it right down, which we did, and thankfully the flame extinguished itself before ingested!
Shortly thereafter, we met our tour guide who led us and two others to our first stop – a room containing many of Bob’s awards, including gold and platinum albums, paintings of Bob and a piano he used to play.
From there, we moved to a stage where we enjoyed some music from local musicians.
And then through another gate and up to the house where Bob Marley lived…
It’s requested that shoes are removed prior to entering the house and mausoleum.
Entrance to Bob’s childhood home
The room mentioned in Bob’s song “Is This Love”
We’ll be together, with a roof right over our heads,
We’ll share the shelter, of my single bed.
Mt. Zion Rock or Pillow Rock – a place Bob would sit to read his Bible and get inspiration for his songs. Pillow Rock is mentioned in his song “Talkin’ Blues”.
Cold ground was my bed last night
And rock was my pillow, too.
Bob was laid to rest inside one of the mausoleums on property along with his guitar. At the request of his mother, his half-brother was laid to rest with Bob.
All in all, we spent about $172 to drive to Nine Mile and take the tour – which is less than we would have spent on a larger tour. ($100 taxi, $36 entry fee, $26 for two specialty shots, $5 tip for musicians, $5 tip for tour guide)
Although the Nine Mile experience is a bit expensive, we felt the opportunity to see the places that influenced the reggae legend and learn more about the man who stood for peace, respect and freedom was… priceless.
Find the Bob Marley Mausoleum on our Jamaica Map
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