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One of Jamaica's most beautiful stretches of beach could all but disappear in the next 30 years, experts have warned.

Hundreds of thousands of tourists a year make the journey to Negril on Jamaica's Western coast, famed for its postcard white sandy beach, clear turquoise waters and laidback lifestyle.

But the stretch of palm-fringed shoreline known as Seven Mile Beach is under severe threat as its sands are slipping away every year due to erosion and rising sea levels.

The beach in better days: Seven Mile Beach in Long Bay, Negril, which could disappear within 30 years

A drop in the ocean: a local rakes a thin strip of sand separating beach cottages in Western Jamaica

Every morning groundsmen with metal rakes tend to Negril's resort-lined shore in an attempt to repair the daily damage.

Some sections, however, are barely wide enough for a beach towel and the Jamaican National Environment and Planning Agency says sand is receding at a worrying rate of more than a metre a year.

'The beach could be totally lost within 30 years,' said Anthony McKenzie, a senior director at the agency. 

Locals fear they will have to find a new nickname for the seven mile stretch of land, one of the top destinations which brings in millions of dollars from tourists in a country where a quarter of all jobs depend on tourism.

'If the water takes over this beach, well, that's the end of the tourists,' said Lyn Dennison who owns a beach side jewellery stand.

Already message boards and thread on sites such as TripAdvisor have spring up, written by worried travellers who aren't sure whether there will be any beach left by the time their holiday is booked.

September 2014: the tide gnaws away - up to a metre a year - at resort lined 'Seven Mile Beach' in Caribbean

Barely room to swing a cat: some sections are barely wide enough for a beach towel and locals are panicked

Negril - thought to be named after the black cliffs to the south of the village - was for years an isolated fishing outpost after Spanish explorers arrived in 1494.

It wasn't until the 1950s and 1960s that it became a resort location, drawing ferries to drop off passengers in the bay then let them wade ashore to camp or stay with locals.

Lured by the idyllic scenery, relaxed atmosphere and cheap marijuana American hippies, party goers and more sober-minded travellers woke up to the area's charm. Resorts such as Sandals and the Grand Lido sprang up and the number of annual visitors grew from about 40,000 in 1980 to more than 400,000 in 2012.

Now, there's certainly a note of panic in the air as the environmental and economic impact of the shrinking coastline concentrates the minds of the local population.

Another option for Negril? A seawall in The Turks and Caicos Islands which prevents sea damage to properties

Drawn by palm fringed shores (left) the number of annual visitors grew to the village of Negril from about 40,000 in 1980 to more than 400,000 in 2012 as they work up to the charms of the area

Fearful of losing their main attraction, some hoteliers are pressing the government to refill the beach with dredged sand, a pricey step many experts say will only be a temporary fix.

Jamaica is also planning to build submerged breakwaters to absorb wave energy and slow loss of shoreline, costing almost £3.4 million ($5.4 million) in grants from a U.N. climate change convention.

This project, which one study estimates could cost as much as £48 million ($77 million) over 80 years, offers a glimpse of what may lie ahead for other similar Caribbean coastal locations.

These islands, many already heavily in debt, will be faced with the choice of trying to armour shores with seawalls and breakwaters, or conducting a costly retreat from seas that the UN-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says could rise by nearly a metre by the end of the century.

The future? A breakwater already in place in Helengeli, Maldives similar to what might be used in Jamaica

Some are sceptical of seawall tactics. 'For many beaches, adaptation measures such as bringing in sand and creating seawalls will only slow the inevitable, and at a significant and continual financial cost,' said Jason Spensley of the U.N. Climate Technology Centre and Network.

Beaches across the area are being transformed by a number of factors: shoreline development; surges from increasingly intense storms; coastal pollution that affects marine life and crumbling coral reefs in warmer waters.

2007: just seven years ago Negril beach looked far healthier. Now it's being transformed by shoreline development, storms, pollution and crumbling coral reefs

The changes are a particular headache for the Caribbean because of its dependence on sea-and-sand tourism - roughly 70 percent of the Caribbean's people and much of its essential infrastructure are situated along coasts.

Ulrich Trotz, a science adviser for the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre believes the area is facing an existential threat. 'We don't have much time. Action now is imperative if the Caribbean is to survive as we know it,' said Trotz.

Uncertain future: geologist Simon Mitchel says there is 'no doubt' hotels will be deluged in coming decades

Environmental experts and civil planners say leaders across the region need to adapt for the long term. City developers could adjust how they zone, improve enforcement of marine regulations and better plan water systems, for example.

Beach front developers could be encouraged to protect dunes and anchor vegetation, better manage coastal pollution and push construction farther back from the sea.

'We just don't seem to be prepared to do any of it. It's as if we do not see what Negril has become, what the dangers to its future are,' said Diana McCaulay, CEO of the non profit Jamaica Environment Trust.

Simon Mitchell, a geologist at the island's University of the West Indies, says governments need to think further ahead. In low-lying Negril, for example, there is 'no doubt' that hotels perched along the beach will be deluged in coming decades, he said.

'We need to be looking 50 years into the future,' he said. 'We can't keep going into places with pristine beaches, immediately put in hotels and then end up with the same problem in 10 years' time because those beaches are eroding away.'