TREASURE BEACH, St Elizabeth — Seven months after lives and livelihoods were devastated by Hurricane Melissa, two boat captains and a bar owner are charting a way forward, hoping that the 2026 Atlantic Hurricane Season will be uneventful.

The three business owners — Denever “Floyd” Forbes of the renowned Pelican Bar, Dennis Abrahams of Captain Dennis Boat Tours, and Ridge Harvey of Captain Ridge Boat Tours — have employed 16 people and are supporting the local economy through community tourism.

Forbes, who has rebuilt Pelican Bar twice, has been rotating his team amid the revival of business.

“I have six staff members working on a three-by-three basis every other week, because it [bar] is not as big as before. Things are not bright like before, but we still give thanks, we have something working with,” he said recently.

Regarding the hurricane season, Forbes recounted his experience with Hurricane Beryl in 2024 compared to Category Five Hurricane Melissa in 2025.

“I am hoping for the best…I wouldn’t want it to come as terrible as last year and the year before, although [Beryl] didn’t really do me anything, but it destroyed people’s things. [Melissa] affected everyone on the south-west coast, Westmoreland felt the pressure of that hurricane,” he said.

Hurricane Melissa sent Forbes picking up the pieces, as scrap wood and board from his structure were strewn along the coastline last October. He rebuilt Pelican Bar within two months of the storm.

The rebuilding was vital to the restoration of community tourism on the south-western coast since boat captains offer tours to Pelican Bar.

“I don’t have much work to give them, but they can work for themselves. They work independently by getting tourists here, by taking them over,” said Forbes.

Recently, American actress and businesswoman Ayesha Curry, who has Jamaican heritage, visited Pelican Bar.

For Forbes, the location is welcoming for celebrities, tourists, and locals alike.

“It is everyone’s home away from home. I am not too surprised for anyone who comes here, because I provide it as everyone’s home away from home, it is a throne, and as long as anyone enters they wear the crown, whether male or female,” he said.

Boat tours to Pelican Bar are offered from Treasure Beach, Black River, and Parottee Bay.

For Abrahams, his tour from Treasure Beach includes taking visitors on the Captain Dennis experience, which includes the Pelican Bar and a beach near Fort Charles.

“I was born and raised in Treasure Beach and have operated a boat tour along the coast here for many years and, of course, I have seen a lot of changes as time goes by. We have now gone through four major hurricanes along the south coast here, and all of them have their different ways in how they approach us,” he said.

“Melissa is one of them that devastated the coastal area all the way from Treasure Beach right back to Westmoreland and beyond, because it came off the water it took a different approach than the rest that I have experienced. Coming off the sea then, there is nothing to shelter us, so everything was exposed,” he added.

Abrahams showed optimism and resilience in speaking on the restoration of his business, which has eight employees.

“I would say we are in a very good spot because of determination, hard work, and what you believe, you can’t let it get you down. When I came out here and saw the damage…everything that I had was totally wiped out. I started to think of ways to rebuild, and I took three weeks to prepare and to start cleaning up and start preparing my rebuilding.

“I wanted to be ready for the December winter tourist season and said if tourists come to Treasure Beach and the rest of Jamaica and want to go out with Captain Dennis, then, of course, I want to be prepared,” he added.

His boat tours are spread across the sea coast and the Black River Safari.

“I have been doing tours now for the past 30 years. I offer the Black River Safari Tour, the Pelican Bar, the Captain Dennis experience. People who want to do just a coastal tour, and if we have good weather we can do snorkelling, so it is a variety of tours that we offer,” he said.

He transported Curry to Pelican Bar during her recent trip to Jamaica.

“She enjoyed it, I find her to be very laid-back, humble, kind, and warm as well as the rest of the guests who were with her. She was very impressed with what we did, and received the service that we had to offer to her,” he said.

He lauded social media influencers for helping to market destination Jamaica.

“There are so many of our local influencers who came out with Captain Dennis and helped to take my business to another level. I am so grateful for our locals who have been there…They help our overseas visitors to understand what Captain Dennis has to offer,” he said.

Like Forbes, Abrahams is keeping his fingers crossed that Jamaica doesn’t have an active hurricane season.

“My hope for Jamaica and the rest of the Caribbean is that, by God’s mercy, we don’t have another hurricane anytime soon, because right now it is hard to prepare for it. We have no control over nature…but what I have to say to people is, ‘Please be prepared. Listen to the media [and] don’t take anything lightly. Be prepared as best as you possibly can,’ ” he said.

“We often hear about bringing food, water, and flashlights into your home. That is not the only way to prepare. You have to be prepared mentally and physically by making sure that you put some extra screw into your roof. Whatever you can do to batten your windows; also, if you are on a low [lying] area and you hear about water, please move inland, don’t take it lightly,” he said.

He is imploring those who experienced Hurricane Melissa’s wrath to educate others on how to adequately prepare for a major storm.

“I would love for the Government and for those of us to demonstrate and to educate people how to be prepared, because someone like me and others who have gone through it recently, please share it with the rest of Jamaica so, God forbid, the other part [of the island] feel or are being threatened [with] this kind of hurricane [they] are able to be better prepared,” he said, adding that the more people are educated, more lives will be saved, fewer injuries will be reported, and post-hurricane spend will be less.

Harvey, whose Captain Ridge Boat Tours operates from Parottee Bay to Pelican Bar and on the Black River Safari, said while tours are ongoing, his challenge is in his native community Parottee.

“I have two people who work with me on the boat tour, so far tours are happening, people are travelling, but we would like to see more people come and visit so that it can help the process of recovery of the economy in Parottee and the Pelican Bar,” he said.

“We give thanks. Parottee is slowly climbing the ladder. The majority of Parottee is full of entrepreneurs. People have their own boat tours or they do fishing, so everybody works for themselves. We got back electricity, but the only big downfall right now in Parottee and everywhere is the running water, and when you have family and little pickney you know water is life,” he added.

He reiterated the challenge of accessing potable water.

“The storm was an earthquake and tornado, so everything mash up. We nah get nuh water. Trucks do come, but as they go up the road and come back they say they don’t have water, and for a big, long water truck, how you don’t have water, or is some favouritism?” said Harvey.

“Some people still don’t have a roof over their heads, but people are getting assistance, so I can’t lie about that,” he added.

Denever ‘Floyd’ Forbes of the renowned Pelican Bar speaking with the Jamaica Observer recently.

Dennis Abrahams of Captain Dennis Boat Tours speaking with the Jamaica Observer recently.

Ridge Harvey of Captain Ridge Boat Tours makes a point while with the Jamaica Observer recently.