Jamaica - worth the trip or find another island?

[geochick]

If you've been to Jamaica...what did you think? My 58 year old, fun-loving aunt asked me about Jamaica, but I haven't been to the island. What did you like and dislike about Jamaica? Do you prefer other islands? She's planning a trip to the Caribbean (without children) and is looking for the best islands to travel to - she thinks she wants to go to Jamaica. Thanks.

[egoldber]

We have been to Jamaica several times and enjoy it. It all depends on what you like to do. If you have a spirit of adventure and are up for adventure, it can be for you. Or if you like to go to a resort and just plop down there and enjoy the resort amenities, the beach and the food, its good for that too. There are many fabulous resorts with incredible amenities.

But it is not the safest of islands off of resort properties. It has a great deal of poverty and it can be very sad to see once you leave the resort. And the second you leave your resort's private property, you are often accosted by people begging for money and trying to sell you every trinket you can imagine.

Also, if your resort is not in Montego Bay itself (where the major airport is located), then it can be a long, windy twisty drive to the other major resort areas (like Negril and Ocho Rios).

HTH,

[Tondi G]

we went on a carribean Cruise for our honeymoon.... visited 5 islands! Our favorite was St. Thomas. We also stopped in Barbados, St. Maarten, antigua, Martinque and our dock was Puerto rico! We stayed a few extra nights in Puerto Rico and it was really great!!!! I've heard wonderful things abut Grand Caymen as well!

If she is at all interrested in one I HIGHLY recommend a cruise!!!! Royal Carribean was great as far as we were concerned!!!!

~Tondi

[momathome]

Yuck, we hated Jamaica. We stayed at a Sandals in Montego Bay and while the resort itself was okay, Montego Bay was a pit. I know that Negril was supposed to be nicer but it is a 2 and a hour bus ride through unpaved roads to get there from the airport, something we did not want to do after flying all that way. We have stayed at St. Thomas before and absolutely loved it - the island is gorgeous, we definitely felt safe, it was easy to get around by taxi, lots of great restaurants, beautiful beaches and coves for snorkeling, just AWESOME! We stayed at the Renaissance Grand Beach and had a terrific experience there - it is, I believe, the only hotel on the island with it's own private beach. I keep telling dh we need to go back there for our 10 year anniversary (it was our honeymoon location). HTH!

[lisaE]

I personally would not go to Jamaica right now. It's just not safe. The people are very poor and there is a lot of civil, social unrest. I'm sure at the larger, private resorts it's ok, but you still have to drive there to and from the airport, and to me it felt unsafe. I'm not comfortable with people knocking on the car windows, begging, for instance. There is a lot of crime against tourists. I wouldn't go. Why risk it?

My favorite island is Grand Cayman. It's very safe and clean.

[dowlinal]

I also do not like jamaica. I have taken several crusies and trips to the caribbean and it is my least favorite island. I now try to avoid ships that go there and DH and I agree that we won't leave the boat if we stop there on any future visits. This is the only caribbean island I feel that way about. However, if you aunt doesn't plan on leaving her resort then from what I have heard the jamaican all-inclusives are fabulous.

My reasons for disliking this island are that the people really harass you about buying what they are selling and become nasty once they realize you aren't interested. On all three trips I was constantly called nasty names when I refused to have my hair braided. The begging there never stops. On my last trip we completely avoided town and just went out on a boat snorkeling. There were like 5 people on the boat in your face the whole time try to sell you massages or braiding or aloe rub downs for sun protection. I also do not feel very safe there as I have vivid memories of tanks and armed soldiers guarding the banks in town.

My three favorite islands are Barabados, St. Martin, and Grand Cayman but I have also really liked Antigua, St. Thomas, Martinique, Dominica, Turks & Caicos, and Cozumel.

[bostonsmama]

I hated Jamaica as well, but for different reasons. I lived in Panama for three years after Just Cause in the early 1990s, so the sights of a third world country (intense poverty, rundown shacks, beggars, handicapped/deformed people on the streets, peddling of drugs and other useless products/services) do not phase me...even though ALL these aspects were rampant in Jamaica.

DH and I went to a Sandals resort in Ochos Rios/Dunn River. It rained every single day we were there, so almost every activity was cancelled. It rained so much that all of the bottom floor rooms flooded and 20 couples were transfered to different resorts and given lower quality rooms than they paid for. The food was gross unless you made reservations to a nice restaurant (stale chips, jerk EVERYTHING-chicken, hamburger, hotdogs- and cafeteria style pizza). There were construction noises every day as they built more million-dollar hotels. Everything was super expensive ($120/person to take a donkey to the coffee mountain, $200/ea to swim w/ dolfins, $200/ea to go out on a party boat) and none of it was included with the $4,000 we paid to be there. The alcohol was gross, too. THey put WAY too much in all their drinks, and it all tasted like apples (I guess because of the Appleton Rum). I swear, they would pour a half glass of rum and top it off with an inch of coke! They wanted to get everyone drunk...probably so you'd forget about the crappy food, pushy salespeople and inclement weather. Our last day there, the sun broke through the clouds and we went snorkeling...well, the rain washed all the trash out into the water and we were literally swimming in human sewage and debris. It just goes to show that you can't hide from Mother Nature...she we always show you how we really treat her.

So, in summation, I would never go to Jamaica again. I would try St.Lucia or St.Thomas....or Hawaii! I loved Hawaii! Dh and I just went for our 2-year anniversary for 8 days. We got an oceanfront room at the Radisson Waikiki Prince Kuhio (32 floors up, you could see for miles the beautiful white beaches, blue water, green mountains-Diamond Head, and the harbor). It was so much cheaper than the all-inclusive resort in Jamaica ($3000 for airfare, oceanfront hotel, rental, gas, 7 nights of lunch/dinner-brkfst free at hotel, Germaine's luau, skydiving at North Shore, guided hiking tour, waterfall tour & souvenirs). Juxtapose that with awful Jamaica...NO comparison!

[lmintzer]

Yep, didn't think much of Jamaica either. It feels so unsafe outside the resorts. It's really sad, too. I just found myself wanting to help, give money, etc., and there was no way to really do that.

I would definitely not recommend Jamaica for a vacation.

[g-mama]

Oh my, you just gave me horrible flashback to our honeymoon, also at the Sandals in Ochos Rios. What a complete waste of $4000+. Dh and I did not enjoy ourselves there. It was a dump and at ages 27 (me) and 30 (dh), we felt like the oldest people there, by far. It felt like a college boose cruise! Bikini contests, drinking contests, darkest tan contests.... And I agree completely about the food. Just really low budget, cafeteria-type food. What a disappointment!

Now that is my Sandals/Jamaica experience. But the 2-hour bus ride from Montego Bay to Ochos Rios was horrible and just so sad and depressing. I echo what everyone else said about the island itself. And we just didn't feel safe leaving the "compound" - lol!

I'd never go to Jamaica again. :(

Kristen
Paolo 11-00
Benjamin 8-03

[Sarah1]

Well, I loved Jamaica, but we were not in Montego Bay--I thought that area looked absolutely AWFUL and would never consider staying there. We stayed at a resort in Negril called Swept Away that was amazing. One of the best vacations ever. There are some other really nice resorts there as well. I personally found Jamaica to be very fun and the people extremely outgoing and friendly.