1. Summary
This article explores iconic James Bond filming locations across the Caribbean, highlighting the British Colonial Hilton in the Bahamas, various locations in Jamaica, Cuba, and Puerto Rico.
The James Bond books and movies have always been known for their exotic locations, and some of the films helped put resorts like the British Colonial Hilton and destinations like Jamaica on the global tourist map. In the recent remake of the first Bond film, Casino Royale, filmmakers returned to the Bahamas (where scenes for Thunderball, For Your Eyes Only, and The World is Not Enough were filmed) to provide a tropical backdrop for new Bond actor Daniel Craig.
Moreover, Ian Fleming made his home in Jamaica, while original Bond actor Sean Connery has a residence in the Bahamas, on private Lyford Cay. Therefore, let’s explore some of the secret agent’s favorite haunts in the Caribbean:
Bahamas
The British Colonial Hilton in Nassau has the distinction of appearing in two Bond movies: Thunderball and Never Say Never Again. Guests can reserve the “Double-O” suite, order a martini shaken, not stirred, and enjoy a room filled with Bond memorabilia, books, and movies.
Thunderball also featured a Junkanoo parade on Bay Street in Nassau, and the Cafe Martinique was the scene for Bond’s first meeting with movie bad guy Largo and “Bond Girl” Domino. Although the original restaurant was demolished to make way for the Atlantis resort, the cafe lives on at Atlantis’ Marina Village. Other scenes were shot in the Exumas, West Providence Island, and Paradise Island.
Both New Providence Island (where Nassau is located) and Paradise Island also play significant roles in the 2006 remake of Casino Royale. Nassau’s Albany House portrays a beach villa owned by the villain Dimitrios and Bond’s future girlfriend, Solange. The Buena Vista Hotel and Restaurant substitutes for the Madagascar Embassy in the film.
Major scenes for Casino Royale were also filmed at the Atlantis resort and the neighboring One&Only Ocean Club on Paradise Island. In fact, viewers can catch an impressive glimpse of the Ocean Club’s beautiful lobby and a beachfront villa in some of the movie’s early scenes, and an apparent product-placement deal leaves little doubt about which Bahamas resort Bond has chosen for the evening. Additional scenes were filmed at Coral Harbor and Nassau International Airport.
Jamaica
Ian Fleming not only included Jamaica in the plotlines for books like Live and Let Die, Dr. No, Octopussy, and The Man with the Golden Gun, but he also resided on the island. Fleming penned all of his Bond books at his Goldeneye estate, which is now an exclusive clifftop resort in the village of Oracabessa, about a 20-minute drive from Ocho Rios.
No surprise, then, that the first Bond film, Dr. No, was filmed partly in Jamaica (the working title of the movie was “Commander Jamaica”). Scenes were shot in Kingston, and the fictional “Crab Key” was where Bond famously meets Honey Ryder (Ursula Andress) on the beach wearing a white bikini and a diver’s knife. The iconic scene from the 1962 movie was filmed at Laughing Waters Beach in Ocho Rios and at an undeveloped Dunn’s River Falls (almost unrecognizable today). Other Dr. No scenes were filmed at Ocho Rios’ Bauxite terminal (familiar to anyone who has made a cruise-ship stop here), the Blue Mountains, and Montego Bay.
The former Sans Souci hotel, now part of the Couples San Souci resort, appeared in the film as well, as did the Morgan’s Harbour Hotel in Port Royal.
In 1973’s Live and Let Die, the Green Grotto caves in Runaway Bay served as the setting for villain Mr. Kananga’s lair; a bungalow at the Half Moon Bay Club also appears as Bond’s hotel room in the fictional voodoo island of “San Monique.” The famous crocodile scene in the film was shot at Jamaica Safari Village, in Falmouth near Montego Bay, now known as Swaby’s Swamp Safari.
Cuba
Bond travels to Havana in the novel Die Another Day and also explores a secret satellite facility in Cuba in GoldenEye.
Puerto Rico
In the movie GoldenEye, the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico represents the secret facility; 007 fans may recall the scene where Pierce Brosnan’s Bond grapples with a rogue British agent over the facility’s huge satellite bowl. The observatory, which also starred in the Jodie Foster movie Contact, has a visitor’s center open for public tours.
