The head of the river is at the base of a row of hills that rise more than above the inland edge of the coastal plain. From its head the river meanders south for about, passes under a small bridge carrying the New Hope - Delve Bridge road, then swings east in a clockwise arc round the base of a ridge of the hills before heading south west through sugar cane fields for in a straight, open culvert to a point just north west of the village of Retreat. From Retreat the river arcs clockwise to flow north west out of the sugar cane into an area of swampy ground. After a further it enters a region of small low hills, flowing through a defile in the middle of these for another before emerging to pass under a bridge carrying the Springfield - Sheffield road. Returning to flat agricultural terrain it continues north and west a little further, then arcs anti clockwise round another small hill to establish the westerly tendency which will carry it to the sea. At the end of this section it passes under a small bridge carrying the Springfield - Sheffield road and reaches the south east corner of the Great Morass just north of the village of Sheffield. Over its final the river broadens dramatically as it flows along the southern edge of the Great Morass, gathering water as it goes, finally entering a culverted section and passing under its largest bridge and out into the Caribbean Sea. Along its route the river passes a number of small settlements and named regions including :
Spring Garden
Saint Pauls
Retreat
Top Hill
Negril Spots
Cato
Springfield
Sheffield
Nonpariel
Whitehall
Negril Town
Throughout its length the river falls no more than giving it a very gentle average gradient of about 1 in 200.
Infrastructure
Working downstream from source to mouth the South Negril River passes under:
Two small road bridges carrying the New Hope - Delve Bridge road.
A small road bridge carrying the Springfield - New Hope road.
Five cane field service road plank bridges, north of Retreat.
A small road bridge north of Springfield carrying the Springfield - Sheffield road.
A pipe bridge north of Sheffield.
A road bridge carrying the southern end of the main road paralleling Negril's seven mile beach. This modest structure is the largest bridge over the river.
Tributaries
The South Negril River has no tributaries of any consequence.