Green Island probably isn't a name on your Jamaica shortlist yet. Sitting on the island's northwest coast in Hanover parish, it has long lived in the shadow of Negril and Montego Bay. That's changing fast: the small coastal community just landed fifth on Tripadvisor's newly released Winter Travel Index for fastest-growing international destinations, measured by year-over-year search growth. It sits alongside names like Quebec City, El Cortecito in the Dominican Republic, Virgin Gorda and Costa Rica's Playa Avellana.
The catalyst is easy to pinpoint. In 2024, Princess Hotels and Resorts opened its first two Jamaican properties here, side by side on the same stretch of coast — and together they added more than 1,000 suites and villas to a town that previously had almost no international hotel recognition. Suddenly, travellers searching for a bookable Jamaica resort by name were finding Green Island.
The two resorts serve very different crowds. Princess Senses The Mangrove is the adults-only option, with 401 suites plus 14 overwater villas — a rare room category in Jamaica that puts it in the same conversation as the region's established overwater stays. Suites come with private infinity pools, direct swim-out pool access or private outdoor terraces, and guests can also use facilities at the resort next door, which widens the dining options considerably.
Families, meanwhile, get Princess Grand Jamaica. It has 590 suites, including family and master categories plus an upgraded Platinum tier, spread across nine restaurants covering Jamaican, Mexican, Italian and Asian food, with eight bars and a casual food truck thrown in. The activity lineup is the real selling point for parents: a water park with slides, a kids club, multiple pools, and courts for tennis, pickleball and basketball. It's the kind of place where you can fill a week without booking a single excursion.
Why does this matter if you're planning a winter sun trip? Jamaica's all-inclusive market has traditionally clustered around Montego Bay, Ocho Rios and Negril, so a genuinely new resort area gives you the familiar all-inclusive formula with less congestion and a coastline most visitors have never seen. It also means couples hunting adults-only stays and families comparing kids-friendly resorts can now shortlist the same little town for opposite reasons — and both searches lead to Green Island.
If Tripadvisor's search data is anything to go by, expect this corner of Hanover to get busier. Booking before the trend fully catches up — especially for an overwater villa — looks like the smart move.
