VOYAGES FOR PIRATES

When they weren’t traveling the high seas in search of plunder, history’s most fearsome buccaneers often dropped anchor in safe ports of call around the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the coasts of Africa.

PIRATE ROAD TRIP IN JAMAICA

Jamaica was once all about the Pirates and was the perfect base for Pirates intent on plundering Spain’s New World treasure ships as they sailed the high seas bound for Cadiz

PORT ROYAL

Many Pirates operated out of the city of Port Royal which is set between the Blue mountains and a sunlit turquoise sea. This once swashbuckling enclave is now a quiet fishing town. Port Royal was destroyed in a 1962 earthquake which left two-thirds of the city underwater. What remains of Port Royal lies at the tip of a 9-mile breakwater road called the Palisades, which partially encircles Kingston Harbor. Port Royal retains sites such as St. Peter’s Church which has the silver communion service claimed to have been donated by Captain Morgan. Beyond St. Peter’s, Fort Charles still appears as it did prior to the earthquake in 1692. Port Royal’s Maritime Museum is rich in tools, dishes, pipes and other archaeological artifacts that were rescued from the sunken part of the city.

KINGSTON

Jamaica’s capital city was founded when refugees fled Port Royal after the 1692 earthquake. You can check out Bob Marley’s former home on Hope

Road which has been turned into a museum featuring his music. Once you’ve finished visiting Bob Marley’s home journey west along highway A1 for about 18 miles (30 Kilometers) to the former Jamaican capital of Spanish Town. The town’s main square is suitably Georgian and includes the remains of the 19th century courthouse. On the west side of the square John “Calico Jack” Rackham, a dandified pirate chief and his female crew, Anne Bonney and Mary Read, were tried in a former courthouse that was demolished in 1760’s. Following the three’s capture in 1720 they were convicted of piracy. Calico Jack was strung up on Rackham’s Cay east of Port Royal and the women were sent to the Spanish Town jail, the ruins of the jail are behind the Old Courthouse.

NEGRIL

Head northwest from Bluefield’s on the coastal A2 to the resort town of Negril and travel to the villas at Rondel Village. It was here that Calico Jack and his female cohorts were captured on Bloody Bay.

ROUND HILL

Beyond Negril, the coastal highway which is the A1 heads north and then eastward to Hopewell, an untidy suburb of Montego Bay. When you approach Hopewell, you will notice Round Hill which is a forested promontory that juts into the western end of Montego Bay’s harbor. The remains of Round Hill Fort sit atop Round Hill, which during the 18th century protected the harbor from pirates. This spot also provides great views of Montego Bay.

OCHO RIOS

As you travel from Montego Bay it’s a 63-mile (101- Kilometer) drive along the stunning North Coast toward Ocho Rios. Outside of Port Maria stands British playwright noel Cowards Firefly. From a nearby point Morgan directed attacks upon passing ships. Coward’s composing room, the “room with a view” looks out over a gun-slit “pirate cabin” that sheltered Morgan behind thick walls and views of Port Maria’s harbor and the lighthouse. There is also a hole in the earth that lead to a tunnel which gave Morgan passage to the sea can be found around Coward’s hillside gravesite. Head back to Kingston since the pirate-related sights thin out as you continue east to Port Antonio.

ST. MARY’S ISLAND

In the late 17th century well armed pirates used the African island of Madagascar as a base of operations for raids on European and Asian ships. Pirate legend says that some of the pioneering thieves set up a utopian colony called Libertatia (also known as Libertalia) where they mingled with native women and organized a democratic government. St. Mary’s served as a vital supply base for pirates like Captain Kidd and Henry Every. An underground shipping arrangement had St. Mary’s based pirates attaching ships carrying exotic goods from India and the locals would sell the booty to crooked merchants in New York and Boston. Some of these raids were the most lucrative crimes in history with Henry Every looting the equivalent of $200 million.

TORTUGA

Tortuga is an island located in the Caribbean as the northwest part of Hispaniola. In the 17th century, it became the first big establishment of the buccaneers. Alongside Port Royal, the island was the strongest and safest buccaneers' port in the mid-17th century, a place from where they launched numerous attacks on Spanish colonies. Tortuga was turned into a fortified stronghold in 1630 and became a prime destination for pirates.

In following period, some of the greatest buccaneers such as Henry Morgan and Francois L'Ollonais launched attacks from Tortuga and became part of island history. From 1670, as the buccaneer era was in wane, the most buccaneers found a new trade like log cutting and trading wood from the island, and many others continued their piracy on the ships of foreign nations. In 1684 a piece was signed between France and Spain, and soon there were no more buccaneers in Tortuga, as well as in the Caribbean.

CLEW BAY

In the 16th century the rugged shores of Clew Bay, along the west coast of Ireland served as the stronghold for Grace O’Malley. She commanded hundreds of men and 20 ships from her base of operations at Rockfleet Castle, or Carrickahowley Castle.

NEW PROVIDENCE

New Providence was located close to the all major American and Caribbean 17th and 18th century trade routes. The island is excellent natural harbor, but it was difficult for large warships to enter. There have never been much people on the island, although there is a lot of fresh water, timber and wild animals. Sitting in the center of well traveled trade lanes between Europe and the West Indies New Providence was a popular gathering place for raiders such as Blackbeard, Stede Bonnet, and Charles Vane.

From a pirate’s den, New Providence became the most important base for anti-piracy operations in the Caribbean in 1718 after newly appointed governor Woodes Rogers declared war on piracy. Woodes Rogers appointed many capable captains to hunt remaining pirates. Some of them, like Benjamin Harnigold, were pirates themselves, but they were forced to become the pirate hunters. As result of their actions, after just three months of active anti-piracy campaign, many pirates were hanged in December 1718. Most of the remaining pirates, left the waters of New Providence, and tried to find new hunting grounds for their pirate activities.

BARATARIA BAY

In the early 19th century famed pirate, Jean Laffite and his brother Pierre led a syndicate of thieves who terrorized ships in the Gulf of Mexico found sanctuary and safe harbor in the swampy islands surrounding Barataria Bay. They plundered Spanish merchant vessels and smuggled stolen goods and slaves to New Orleans. By the 1810’s Barataria Bay was one of the busiest black-market ports in North America.