Jamaica
Jamaica has been on my bucketlist for over 10 years. When I was 18 years old I named my savings account: Jamaica. Because it was a dream of me to visit the country of Reggae music and beautiful nature. 13 years later I finally decided to go, and well… It was not what I expected. Let’s say it was an interesting (expensive) experience, but I would’t go back…
What To Do
Where To Stay
Accommodation In Montego Bay
I stayed 1 night at this Airbnb so I could take the Knutsford bus the next morning to Port Antonio. This place is nice if you want to stay close to the airport, but in a quiet neighborhood. Desmond is a friendly host and made me feel welcome.
The price is €44 per night.
Click here for the Airbnb.
Accommodation In Port Antonio
This is a super affordable place in a remote area surrounded by mountains and nature. Friendly host who will make you feel welcome.
The price is €35 per night.
Click here for the Airbnb.
Accommodation In Falmouth
Luxury appartment located in a gated community. Friendly hosts, and the city of Falmouth is easy accessible by car or route taxi.
The price is around €87/98 per night.
Click here for the Airbnb.
How To Get Around
Long distance
For long distances it’s easiest to use the Knutsford Express bus. These are convenient buses with airconditioning, wifi and they play movies on a screen. You can also charge your devices. They drive on scheduled times that you can find on their website, and in my experience they are reliable. The only misinformation on their website is the expected time it will take to get from one point to the other.
For instance, the website says it will take about 4 hours to get from Montego Bay to Port Antonio. The bus driver confirmed this is not possible with the bus because it makes a few stops and there is always almost traffic. So my journey from Montego Bay to Port Antonio took almost 6 hours. So depending on how long the journey is the bus will stop at a few places where you can use the restroom and buy some food.
The cheapest way to travel long distances is to use the route taxi. Route taxi’s are shared taxi’s that drive fixed routes. You can get on and off along the route. You can recognize them by their red license plates. On the side they will have the name of the places they drive to, although this can be hard to read when they drive by quickly. So sometimes you will just need to wave one down and ask. It helps to know the price of the route you want to drive, because also here they will give you the tourist price.
It’s way less convenient for long distances, because you will have to switch route taxi’s at several places and the journey can take a long time, because every time you will have to wait untill the taxi is filled. Also if you travel with a lot of luggage this is not the way to go.
Short distance
For short distances the route taxi’s are ideal. You will also see a lot of JUTA vans, these are chartered tourist taxi’s, they will have JUTA written somewhere on the car. Not recommended because they are expensive. And even if you want to use a private taxi, it’s better to arrange it before so there won’t be any surprises.
There are also local buses, it’s the same concept as the route taxi except these are a little bigger and go further. The price is about the same as the route taxi.
Costs
Accommodation:
Budget: €40-€55 per night
Midrange: €55-€85 per night
Luxury: €85+ per night
Restaurants:
This will range between €5 and €20. Expect to tip around 10%/15%.
Transportation:
The long distance buses have fixed prices. the route taxi prices can vary depending if they give you the tourist price…
Here are some of the costs I made during my journey to give you an idea about the prices of transportation.
- Knutsford bus from Montego Bay to Port Antonio: 4700jmd (€27) This is a fixed price, you’ll have to buy a busticket at the busstation. – Time: 5h30m. 198km.
- Knutsford bus from Port Antonio to Falmouth: 4300jmd (€25) – Time: 3h30m. 164km.
- Taxi Montego Bay airport to Airbnb in Montego Bay (roundtrip): 5700jmd (€33) – Time: 30 minutes. 8,2km.
- Knutsford busstation Port Antonio to Airbnb in Port Antonio: 2000jmd (€12) – Time: 9 minutes. 2,7km.
- Taxi from my Airbnb in Port Antonio to Nanny falls and Winnifred beach and back to my Airbnb: 8000jmd (€46) – 53km.
- (crappy) taxi to get from the main road to Reach Falls: 1000rd (€6) – Time: 7 minutes. 3km.
They will push you to give a good tip… - Route taxi Falmouth to Montego Bay: 250jmd (€1,45) – Time: 33 minutes. 33km.
- Route taxi Falmouth center to Airbnb Florence Hall: 200jmd (€1,16) – Time: 8 minutes. 5,7km.
(I also paid 300jmd on another day, tourist price…, but it’s supposed to be 200jmd) - Route taxi Burwood Beach to Falmouth center: 150jmd (€0,87) – Time: 11 minutes. 8,4km.
What I spent on my trip:
Trip – 14 days
- Plane ticket: €540
- Taxi Montego Bay airport – Airbnb Montego Bay: €33
(roundtrip) - Knutsford bus Montego Bay – Port Antonio
Port Antonio – Falmouth: €52 - Accommodations: €632
- ATM (for food, drinks, entrance fees and route taxi): €533
I went out for dinner 9 evenings.
Total: €1790
Practical Information
Language: English
Currency: Jamaican Dollar
Travel documents: Passport
Water: Drinkable
Electricity: 110 volt
Best time to travel: December to April is the dry season. The northeast is the wettest part of the island, so even in dry season you can expect more rain here. I traveled to Port Antonio the end of November/beginning of December. The time I spent in this region I was very unlucky with the weather. Even though this is the wettest part, the amount of rain I experienced here wasn’t normal. From the 8 days I had here, I lost 5 because of the extreme amount of rain.
When I traveled more to the west, to a place called Falmouth, the weather was a lot better. A lot of sunshine, and only at night a lot of rain.