Travel tips for visiting Jamaica

Best Time to Visit Jamaica

Graced with balmy weather year-round, any time is a good time to go to Jamaica. There are, however, distinct high and off-seasons.

High-season runs from mid-December to mid-April, the peak tourist months, with Christmas and Easter being the busiest weeks. During this time the resort areas are filled with visitors. Off-season runs from mid-April to mid-December and is a time of smaller crowds and greater availability at hotels, restaurants, and attractions, perfect for people who prefer a quieter scene.

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Jamaica's rich history stretches back beyond the 15th century, and includes the settlements of the gentle Arawak Indians (who named the island Xaymaca), Spanish mariners, English conquerors, and Asian migrants, all of whom added to the multi-ethnic heritage of this Caribbean island. Modern Jamaica is the land of reggae and rum, wearing a mantle of roughshod romance that attracts travelers the world over looking to escape the routine of daily life. The landscape is a mosaic of palmed golden beaches and a beautiful mountainous interior.

Once the crown jewel of the British sugar empire, its coastal plains and lofty jungles are still dotted with colonnaded mansions, thriving plantations, and ruins of others that did not survive the slave rebellions. Many of the remaining mansions are now opulent inns flanked not only by the sugar fields, but also by golf courses, while the beaches that once harbored ruthless, notorious pirates now harbor vacationers seeking the perfect tan. And you'll note that music is the heartbeat of Jamaica; nearly everywhere you go you feel its rhythm pulsing through the air, the marketplaces, through the locals and, soon enough, through you. For vacationers with a free and festive spirit, Jamaica is your place to shine!

Approximate Air Travel Time

New York City 3.25 hrs
Boston 3.75 hrs
Miami 1.5 hrs
Philadelphia 3.75 hrs
Los Angeles 5.5 hrs
Chicago 3.75 hrs
Dallas-Fort Worth 3.25 hrs
San Francisco 6 hrs

Areas Within the Destination

Montego Bay

Located on the northwestern side, "Mo Bay" is the second largest city in Jamaica and serves as a tourist capital with its busy international air and cruise ports. It has the greatest concentration of resorts on the island, as well as many beaches and golf courses. Tourists love it for the duty-free shopping, good restaurants, discos, museums, historic buildings, and tours of nearby rum distilleries.

Negril

Situated along Seven Mile Beach, this is one of the best strands of sandy beach on the island, and is known for its carefree atmosphere. The pace is slow, with very little shopping or nightlife. Still, there has been a boom in hotel construction that converted Negril from a hippie hideaway in the 60s and early 70s into a mainstream tourist destination good for families, singles, and couples alike.

Ocho Rios

Christopher Columbus called it "the fairest land my eyes have ever seen." Located in the center of the north coast, its deep-water harbor serves as a cruise port with a dramatic mountain backdrop. Pleasant beaches, several outstanding hotels, a varied nightlife, scuba diving, good shopping, and spas offer visitors the full-range of luxury resort activities. Nearby are the Dunn's River Falls, Jamaica's most famous attraction, where you climb steps carved in stone as a cascading river pours down them!

Port Antonio

"The most exquisite port on earth" was how American poetess Ella Wheeler Wilcox described Port Antonio. Located on the northeastern side of the island, this hideaway harbors lovely beaches, the Blue Lagoon, the Caves of Nonesuch, the Rio Grande raft ride, deep-sea fishing, and an historic town. It was once the banana capital of the world, where the song Day-O was first sung by banana boat workers to pass the time. This is a charming, "tourist-lite" town that retains a sense of nostalgic glamour from the days when silver screen stars took their romantic vacations here. Its picturesquely battered Victorian/Caribbean architecture is the subject of frequent photography.

Topography

Jamaica is a tropical island with a mountainous interior and, along with the rest of the West Indian archipelago, is a part of the summit of a string of underwater mountains. The lofty interior mountains contain over 120 rivers, many waterfalls, and thermal springs. The landscape varies from the beach-ringed, semi-tropical rainforests of the north, to a flat and arid south. Limestone makes up most of the underlying terrain, with dozens of caves that store and naturally filter large water reservoirs.

Climate

Tropical weather dominates the coast, with a more temperate interior climate. Jamaica is sunny year-round, but you may have a few rain showers from spring through autumn. Hurricane season lasts from late August to early November, though strikes are rare and then only last an average of 2 days, with plenty of advance notice to prepare. The mountains can get cool enough to require a light sweater, especially in winter.

Winter Average 75°
Summer Average 80°

Reasons to visit Jamaica

Intoxicating Tropical Beauty

Jamaica is a Caribbean island of exquisite beaches and lush green mountains. Rolling green hills of dense jungle forests and the famed Blue Mountains descend onto sandy, palm fringed beaches. Relax on the beach and simply do nothing, or snorkel off shore where the underwater scenery is as beautiful as that on land.

Vivacious Jamaican Culture

Jamaica is alive with music, crafts markets, great nightlife, and cultural festivities. Music is, of course, Jamaica's claim to fame, and followers of Bob Marley come from around the world to celebrate reggae music. Jamaica is also the spiritual home of the West Indian Rastafarians, who practice a strict oneness with nature, eating only certain foods and growing their hair into dreadlocks.

Outdoor Adventures

The warm, clear waters and sandy beaches host a full array of water and beach sports, from volleyball to deep-sea fishing. Extreme hikers are drawn to Jamaica's famous Blue Mountains, climbing through jungles, mountain streams, and waterfalls. Rafting, skiing, sailing, golfing, diving, and horse-back riding round out the roster of island-wide activities, guaranteeing a great time for everyone.

What To Do & See on Jamaica

Birding Tours

Rich in feathered life, this is a wonderful place for birdsong you've never heard before; there are 25 species and 21 sub-species of birds found exclusively on Jamaica, and a total of 256 different species.

Blue Mountains

This is a land of soaring peaks and deep valleys with luxuriant vegetation. Quiet, remote mountain roads wind and dip, and signs are hard to come by, but that's no worry when you're guided by a local expert who takes you through coffee plantations, rum factories, and misty forest trails. The more easily accessed, prime tourist section is the 193,000-acre John Crow Mountain National Park.

Eco-Hiking

This journey through the Rio Grande Valley is an award-winning trek offering varying choice of difficulty through the John Crow Mountains. The paths parallel rambling creeks and bamboo forests, scale the sides of mountains, meander through the fern-laden valley, and lead to hidden waterfalls and tucked away caves. Guides educate you on the use and preparation of indigenous plants and herbs, and point out paw-paw (papaya) that you can pick and snack on along the way.

Get Married!

In Jamaica, you can tie the knot within 24 hours of arrival with hardly any red tape at all, and without a blood test. You can say your "I Dos" at a marriage officer's home, office, or location of your choice. Some hotels will make all the arrangements for you and accommodate special requests. Your honeymoon begins on the spot!

Accompong Town in the Maroon Village

This is the sovereign state of the Maroons, descendants of runaway slaves who escaped to the Cockpit Mountains rather than live in bondage. Here you can learn the history of those courageous people who, by their determination and resistance of capture by the British "redcoats," finally won an unprecedented treaty of independence from a frustrated colonial government.

The Negril Lighthouse

It's perhaps the most distinctive landmark in the region. Built in 1894, it was originally operated by kerosene, but due to modern Global Positioning Systems, it will soon be retired and converted into a museum.

Horseback Riding in Rhodes Hall

Tailored for experts and novices alike, guides take you through banana and coconut groves, high into the hills. A gallop (or trot) along the shore and crocodile-watching are peak moments!

Dunn's River Falls

Hands down the all-time favorite natural attraction in Jamaica. A hand-holding chain of people supports each other up a climb of 600 feet through the same cascading water that Spanish explorers traversed centuries ago. The clear, cold mountain water races over the stone steps and onto the crowds of visitors splashing around at the bottom of the falls or cooling off in the pools that collect along the cascade's way.

Raft the Rio Grande

Rafting as a playtime activity originated here when planters constructed bamboo rafts both to transport bananas and to amuse their families. The rafts glide serenely down river on this two-hour diversion.

The Nonesuch Caves

Hidden among the Seven Hills of Athenry, 600 feet above town and with spectacular views, these caves were discovered in the 1930s and are fascinating to explore.

Dining on Jamaica

From hot to haute, and everything in between, Jamaican cooking is a culinary melting pot that combines a hint of Spanish and English, a good dash of Indian and Chinese, and a wallop of African ingredients that together cook up the Caribbean's most creative cuisine. The Jamaican national dish is ackee and salt-fish - a concoction made from imported salted cod and the fruit of the ackee tree, mixed with onions, peppers, and tomatoes. Jamaican food is a living testament to the island's history and natural abundance. For example, the Arawak Indian cassava is used today as "bammie," a toasted flat cake eaten with fried fish. The Maroons - escaped slaves always on the run from the British after the 1655 invasion - devised a way of spicing and slow-cooking pork that they called "jerking," recognized world-wide as the definitive Jamaican flavor. Breadfruit arrived courtesy of Lieutenant Bligh and the Bounty. The native pimento tree, the source of allspice, is used in numerous Jamaican dishes, and there's a fair bit of intrigue regarding whether it is, or is not, a key ingredient of the famous Pickapeppa Sauce, a recipe that's very closely guarded.

Nightlife on Jamaica

Kick off your evening with rum, the national drink of Jamaica, with which you can mix with just about anything. Try it with coconut water for the ultimate native refreshment and head out to dance and party all night long in the home of reggae! Every town has some degree of nightlife, and it's up to you to choose what you're up for. Small bars with a jukebox, cabaret entertainment, high-tech dance clubs, beach parties and, of course, karaoke, are sprinkled throughout the island. More recently, street dances have become the rage with the younger dance hall crowd. Curiously, given Jamaica's musical heritage, there is a noticeable lack of tourist nightclubs outside of hotels, so rather than you going to the bands, the bands come to you. Hotel club hop and see what's going on, but keep in mind that performances are ever-changing, so it's a good idea to check with your concierge for a current schedule of events and scan the local paper.

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