Bays and headlands are two coastal features which are closely related.

These
features are always established on the same coastline. Bays are water bodies
(either fresh water or salt water) which are bordered by land on three sides, and
the water regions are referred to as gulfs. Headlands are land bordered by either
salt or fresh water on three sides; these lands are referred to as capes. Bays are
made up of soft rocks while headlands are made up of hard rocks. Bays are water
bodies located on a land next to the sea or a lake located between two headlands.
Bays are usually formed where weaker rocks like clay and sand are eroded leaving
a band of harder rocks. Bays and headlands are formed where the parallel bands
of harder and softer rocks are perpendicular to the coastline.

Characteristics of Headlands and Bays

Bays and headlands usually form on a discordant coastline, where the coastline
has bands of rocks with varying resistance which run perpendicular to the
coastline. The differing resistance on the coastline to erosion results in the
formation of the bays and headlands. Hard rocks like granites can resist the wave
which causes erosion resulting in the creation of a peninsula (a raised land mass)
while the softer rocks like clay are easily eroded thus creating bays. Headlands are
characterized by intense erosion, steep sea cliffs, rocky shores and high breaking
waves. Bay has less wind activity and less wave activity than the regions with
water outside the bay.

Formation of Bays and Headlands

Headland features are formed on various harsh coastlines with bands of rock
which have an alternating resistance which runs perpendicular to the coastline.
Headlands are usually formed when the ocean attacks a part of the coastline with
alternating bands of soft and hard rocks. Soft rock bands like clay and sand tend
to erode faster than resistant rocks like chalk. This will leave part of the land
protruding out into the ocean, and this land is referred to as a headland, and the
region where the band of soft rocks has been eroded away from right next to the
protruding headland is referred to as a bay. The process of erosion which occurs
during this formation includes hydraulic action, attrition, and various types of
weathering. Continuous attacking of the materials and waves from the ocean on
the cliff will cause soft rock erosion, thus leaving some parts of the land
protruding. The bay forms in places where less resistant rocks or soft rocks like
clay and sands have eroded leaving a band of more resistant rocks like granite,
limestone, and chalk where headlands form. Wave refraction, which occurs on
the headland, concentrates wave energy on the land, and this leads to the
creation of stacks, natural arches, and caves.

List of headlands of Jamaica:

 Half Moon Point

 Morant Point
 Palisadoes
 Portland Point
 South Negril Point