Here are our top tips to help your Jamaica stay be easy, fun and stress free!
Tip 1 - Take USD
In the three times we’ve been to Jamaica, we’ve noticed they prefer to accept USD currency, but will sometimes give your change owing in Jamaican money (JMD)
Tip 2 - Cold Meds
Medication in Jamaica is very expensive! If you’re prone to sinus infections like Jas or if you’re coming down with something even before you go, we highly recommend bringing your go to’s from home.
Gravol, sinus meds, pain relief, bandaids & benadryl are always packed in our bathroom bag.
Tip 3 - For Ladies
If Aunt Flow is planning on joining you during your vacation, I HIGHLY suggest you bring what you need. Tampons are incredibly hard to find and they are $15 USD for a box of 8. Pads are either so thin you wonder what good they’ll do, or they are about 2 inches thick – with wings. Seriously, these things could double as a pool floatie.
Bringing a menstruation cup would be easiest for you, but if you end up not needing the pads or tampons you brought, the housekeeping ladies would be ecstatic if you left them behind. They are that hard to come by!
I also suggest to leave most of your hair products & hot tools at home. Our first night in Negril I spent 20 mins doing my hair just to discover 30 seconds later that it somehow turned both flat & frizzy. So texture spray, top knots, hair clips and anti-humidity hairspray is where it’s at!
Tip 4 - Leave a Tip
We realize that in some countries, tipping is not the norm because the minimum hourly wage is higher than in other countries. That is not the case in Jamaica however, and tipping is much appreciated and your kindness will come back to you 10 fold.
We get it, you’ve worked hard for this vacation and it’s not cheap. And the “all inclusive” aspect is so alluring! But if you’ve gone out for a beautiful fancy dinner, had an excellent server, housekeeping made you towel swans, the bartender was quick with your drink, and the beach server has brought you beer 5 times in an hour… it probably won’t hurt to leave a few bucks here and there, know what we’re sayin’?
We’re not here to tell ya what to do with your money, we just found that what isn’t necessarily much to us, has made someone else’s day.
We’ve unfortunately witnessed situations where guests have been outright rude and belligerent to staff – and there is absolutely no excuse for that. So even if you’ve “drank too much”, or got a little “too much sun” – be a kind human. Treat people as you want to be treated
Tip 5 - Be Smart
The reality is, safety concerns exist regardless of where you’re from, where you live or where you’re traveling to. Incidents can happen anywhere! Even in our own city, trouble is possible, but we still manage to avoid it.
Jamaica, like some other countries, sometimes receives a bad reputation. However, with some common sense, avoiding solo excursions outside the resort & nighttime trips to town, you will be fine. Just avoid getting yourself into any shady situations.
Besides the drivers & traffic being pretty chaotic at times (nothing compared to Cuba!), in all three visits to Jamaica we felt safe during our excursions, while on the resort, and traveling to and from the resort. The key is to stay aware of your surroundings and circumstances.
Tip 6 - Private Shuttle
During our visits to Montego Bay & Ocho Rios, we used the resort or airline buses. You know, the ones that stop at every resort so it takes forever to get to your own – or at least it feels that way! Thank goodness they usually either stop for beer or have a cooler on board. Yay!
During our Negril stay, Jeff booked Elite Plus with Sunwing which included a private shuttle to and from the airport. So worth it! It’s a longer drive and this driver stopped at a store and went in and got beer for us.
*Safety Note* The driver asked what we wanted, we gave him cash and he went in and bought it for us. He told us to stay in the car with the doors locked. He kept our change and it was probably his buddys store, but we appreciated that he made sure we knew of the potential danger & he did his best to keep us safe. See how this ties into tip #5 😉
No ride share, 1 stop for beer and personable convo with our driver. Money well spent. (And ties into tip #4)
To read more about To and From during the Negril stay, click HERE
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