Jamaica
Get out of the resort. The island is the point, not the compound
Population
2.8m people
Currency
Jamaican Dollar
Main Language
English and Jamaican Patois
best time to visit
November – April
Climate
Tropical, hot year round, hurricane season June-November, cooler in the Blue Mountains
Visa
Visa free for up to 90 days for UK, EU, US and most Western visitors
Country overview
Jamaica has an outsized cultural footprint for an island of under three million people. Reggae, dancehall, ska and rocksteady all came from here, Bob Marley remains one of the most recognisable figures on earth, and the athletics programme has produced a run of sprinters that no country of comparable size has come close to matching.
The all-inclusive resort model dominates the north coast around Montego Bay and Negril, and it is possible to spend a week in Jamaica without meeting a Jamaican who is not serving you. That is a shame, because the island is more interesting than the compound. Treasure Beach on the south coast is low-key and community-run. Port Antonio in the east is lush and barely developed.
The Blue Mountains are the other side of Jamaica: cool, misty, and producing coffee that sells for extraordinary prices abroad. Hiking to the peak for sunrise is a genuine effort and worth it. Kingston, which most package visitors skip entirely, has the Bob Marley Museum, a serious art gallery and the best food and music on the island.
Annual events and festivals
- Reggae Sumfest, Montego Bay (Jul) — the largest reggae and dancehall festival in the world.
- Carnival in Jamaica (Apr) — a soca-driven road march, growing every year.
- Accompong Maroon Festival (6 Jan) — the Maroons, descendants of escaped enslaved people, mark their 1739 treaty with Britain.
- Bob Marley Birthday Celebration (6 Feb) — events in Kingston and Nine Mile.
- Emancipation and Independence (1 and 6 Aug) — a week of national celebration between the two dates.
- Rebel Salute (Jan) — a roots reggae festival with a strict no-meat, no-alcohol policy.
- Jamaica Food and Drink Festival (Oct) — a series of events across Kingston.
- Junkanoo (Dec-Jan) — masquerade parades with roots in the era of slavery.
- Portland Jerk Festival (Jul) — in the parish where jerk cooking originated.
- Calabash Literary Festival (May-Jun, biennial) — a well-regarded international writers festival at Treasure Beach.
Jamaica Travel Guides
Jamaica guides are coming soon.