Jamaica trip – Sept 13- Sept17
Caribbean tickets are usually cheap during the hurricane season. Yeah, there is a possibility of the hurricane actually hitting the island that you are booked for on the specific dates. However, most hurricanes are downgraded and hardly one or two very strong hurricanes hit the coast of Jamaica. Even during the hurricane predicted periods, the weather there is spectacular. Hopefully you will have some kind of a protection on the vacation package and the flights/hotels can be rescheduled – Orbitz offers some travel protection plans and I think AMEX also has some kind of a travel protection plan. Call AMEX customer service to verify.
Now, here is some information to help you decide on the island. If you are an Indian without a green card, then the best bet for you would be Jamaica – if you do not want to go through the hassle of getting a VISA. Other than that, all the islands are supposed to be beautiful, especially the eastern Caribbean islands such as St. Lucia and St. Vincent. Snorkeling is supposed to be great around the Cayman Islands.
Getting a good deal on the trip would probably be a main concern. So here is how to go about it. Usually cheapcaribbean.com has a good deal. They had really good deals for the last hurricane season. Orbitz and Expedia can also sometimes give you good deals. Be on the look out for an all-inclusive deal. The package includes stay/food/alcohol/all tips excluding bell hop tip, and certain types of non-motorized water sport equipment rentals. The major advantage of buying an all-inclusive package is that you don’t have to spend your precious time in the Caribbean looking for food. You can spend all the time relaxing in the water and sipping a beer. The disadvantage is you tend to over eat and gain at least a few poundsJ
Since I have been to Jamaica, here is some information specific to Jamaica. The Jamaican currency is the Jamaican dollar. The value of the currency keeps fluctuating through the year. This is basically because the main source of Jamaican income is tourism. If it is a high tourist season, then the Jamaican dollar grows stronger against the US dollar and vice versa. When I went to Jamaica, the currency value was like 60-65 Jamaican dollars to 1 US dollar. All the places that I had been to in Jamaica accepted US dollars. The only problem was that you would always end up rounding off numbers and losing some money in the process. Also something to remember, carry a lot of dollar bills if you plan to spend only in dollars. In Jamaica people everywhere expect tips!!
Depending on your plans and affordability, you can decide on where to stay in Jamaica. Montego Bay is a big city in the northwest part of Jamaica and most of the international flights fly into Montego Bay. There are lots of all-inclusive resorts in Montego Bay. If you love to party, there is a local bar/beach club called Margaritaville to which most of the resorts ply buses to on Friday and Saturday nights. Negril is another beach town about 65 kms east of Montego Bay. Most of the resorts in Negril are the high-end such as Sandals and Hedonism. There are a lot of small hotels/resorts that are not all-inclusive. Negril is more of a frat-boy party town with loads of bar/restaurants on the long 7-mile sandy beach. Of course, they rely heavily on the alcohol and food business from the tourists. You can get grass almost everywhere in Negril. But beware, if you get caught, the laws in Jamaica for smoking grass are very severe and is not worth the risk. The cliff-diving spot at Ricks Café is a fun thing to try out. But the place is mostly for the Connecticut crowd. The divers literally grab the tips from your hands and they will nonchalantly charge you US$10 for a decent drink. If you go there, just dive off the cliff and get the hell out. Ochos Rios is the romantic get away place about 7080km east of Montego Bay. Most of the resorts in this city caters to couples and is supposedly a great honeymoon spot.
There are resorts that specifically cater to families with kids. So if you are going on a trip with kids, lookout for kid friendly resorts. A lot of resorts have kids clubs and a load of activities to keep the kids occupied. And inside the resort, there are guards all over the premises to ensure your safety. Most of the all-inclusive resorts have a restaurant that you can make reservation at and eat as a part of your package deal. It takes a little more time and you need to dress up but then the food is definitely better than the regular buffet. If it is only a few dollars more to upgrade to an ocean front room – DO IT!! It is definitely money well spent.
For trips inside of Jamaica, you can book it either online or at the resort. Most of the tour operators charge the same price online and at the front desk. So you don’t have to spend a lot of time trying to find the best deal. The Dunn’s river falls trip was the one we did. It was a very different experience. They take you to the bottom of an approximately 600 feet high water falls cascading through step-like layers of rocks. And you get to climb the falls through the water. It was a fun thing to do and took us almost an hour. It will take you longer since you will invariably stop for photographs and to play in the water. You definitely need water shoes to climb the falls as it is very slippery. If you do not own a pair, then you can rent one for US$5 and a water shoe in the US costs like $5. I would strongly suggest doing this trip with a group as there is someone to guide you through the falls and it is fun talking to the other travelersJ We met a kid who was 4 years old and was on her second trip to Jamaica and 10th vacation in her life!! So you do get to meet interesting people!!
Renting cars in Jamaica is a good option. Since Negril was only 65kms from Montego Bay, we rented a car and drove to Negril and spent a lot of time walking on the beaches and visiting the local markets and tasting local food. It was a fun experience. All the resorts have agents from rental car companies and it is pretty easy to rent cars. Mind it; they drive on the left side in Jamaica.
Most of the resorts have gift shops. But they are pretty expensive. Usually souvenirs are cheaper at the shops couple of blocks from the resorts. The crafts market in Montego Bay and in Negril are also good places to shop. Never pay the price they ask for. Haggle. That’s how shopping works in Jamaica. The downtown area of Montego Bay is not the safest place on earth after dark. Even during the day, avoid conversations with the local peddlers.
Our Itinerary
Sept 12 – Fly out of SFO at 8pm
Sept 13 – Land in Miami at 6am. Flight from Miami to Montego Bay was at 1pm and we reached the resort at 3pm. Went to the room, changed and checked out the beaches. Came back and slept for a while and then had dinner and sat in the beach till late night listening to the ocean
Sept 14 – Took a trip to Dunn’s river waterfalls. Before that we went and checked out a local gift shop in the neighborhood in the morning. We had made reservations at the Italian restaurant in the resort and had our dinner there that night and chilled in the beaches till late at night.
Sept 15 – We rented a car and drove to Negril to check out the 7 mile beach. It was HOT. But it was nice walking on the beach. Then we went to a local restaurant and had some local food – I could not as most of the local dishes in that place had meat in it. We shopped for a little while in the craft market. Then we heard from someone that there was a great place for cliff diving and so we headed out there and Krishna did a few jumps off a cliff. Since I did not know swimming I could not do thatL. Then again, someone told us about a waterfall which was close by and we started driving. After an hour into the drive we realized that they had misguided us and so took a U turn and headed back to the resort. We were too late to make reservations for the dinner that night and so ate a buffet dinner and chilled.
Sept 16 – Today was our chill day. We did snorkeling/ocean kayaking/took a ride on the sail boat and chilled/ate all day long.
Sept 17 – Took an early morning flight out of Jamaica and landed in Miami at 8am. We rented a car and chilled the whole day at the south beach. Too bad we did not carry our swim clothes in our carry bags and so had to buy new clothes in South beach. We headed back to the airport at 5pm and flew into SFO around 10pm PST.
