Money
by Raslady
There is no need to take travellers cheques or buy all your holiday money before you go.
Take about 1000 Jamaican dollars per person, half in the smallest denominations you can get, so you can pay for a taxi or a meal when you get there, especially if you are going 'room only'.
Take bank debit or credit cards (not American Express, I think the charges are too high for the shops to accept them. Visa is fine), It's easy to withdraw money from the banks (there's a National Commercial Bank of Jamaica in the middle of the Hip Strip, and more in the town) remember to take your passport with you.
There are also 'hole in the wall' booths, the banks have guards and the booths security doors, so you will be safe.
By doing this, if you are unfortunate and loose your money, you will only loose a fraction of your budget.
The local people like it if you pay with J$'s and you can use them to buy goods anywhere, from the big store to the Rasta selling bananas at the side of the road; and they are delicious!
Take a swim
by tpangelinan
You must take a swim in the water here, it is sooo warm with no waves. The Jamaican say the waters are healing, so I thought I'd give it a try, you know what, it helped my back trouble and I felt like I hadn't felt in years, made me want to move there!
GANJA IS MARIJUANA
by RACCOON1
Marijuana Ganja) is grown in Jamaica . It is illegal.
AT our hotel there were four construction workers from Toronto. They were having a great time. They told us that they had asked some locals to take them up to the ganja farms. The locals arranged a trip . The four lads were blind folded and taken to the fields up in the mountains . The guards at the fields were carrying automatic weapons. The four lads returned to our hotel and told us about their adventure. We do not know if was one hundred percent true but it led to a truely interesting discussion around the hotel pool.
Dunn River Falls
by wilocrek
While its possible to fritter all of your time away on the white sand beaches of Jamiaca with the cool turquoise water lapping gently at your feet, there are other options. Seriously. There is a place where the fresh rain water cascades down stone terraces that cut right through the dense Jamaican rainforest and empties out into the Carribean. Its a sublime place that once experienced will immediately make the beaches of Jamaica seem drab and monotonous. Remember this tip: Dunn River Falls!!! Located between Ocho Rios and Montego Bay this amazing fresh water spectacle is something that should not be missed. Not only can you see the beauty of the falls, its actually encouraged to climb up the cascading water from the beach below. Each stone terrace has pools of calm fresh water to wade and relax in while taking in the swarming rainforest that envelops everything else in sight. From Montego Bay there are many tours available though the cheapest option is to take one of the shared mini buses that will drop you off right in front of the entrance. It takes about a hour and half each way and costs about $4 US.
Glistening Waters
by Dabs
Glistening Waters is a cool natural attraction near Falmouth, about 20-40 minutes from Montego Bay depending on where you are staying. Our trip included pickup from our resort and a 35 minute boat ride out into the lagoon for $30 per person, the rep from Jamaica Tours quoted us a price of $51 but I believe that also included dinner. Admission if you get there on your own is $20.
There are several boats that hold about 30 people each and ours was packed, the best spot to sit in is on the side near the back so you can see the water turn a glowing shade of turquoise blue when the motion of the boat hits it. You can also see fish darting around the boat if you can look over the side.
The blue water is caused by microscopic organisms that live in a lagoon where the warm fresh water of the Martha Brae River meets the salt waters of the Caribbean that emit a phosphorescent light when the water is stirred up by the boat or by fish or by the humans that choose to go for a swim. Our guide, Jerry, told us it was one of four places in the world you could see this phenomenon, the others are Puerto Rico, the Bahamas and Indonesia. I wish I had brought a swim suit as Jerry told us a swim in these waters would shave 10 years off the ladies and add three inches of bamboo to the men!
I think the best time to see this place is actually during a rain storm, I imagine the impact of the rain on the lagoon would make it sparkle like a million gemstones. Hopefully all the development around the lagoon, a new cruise pier for one of the mega 6,000 passenger ships near Falmouth and an enormous hotel, won't destroy this fascinating piece of nature.
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Stanley's
Kayaking on the Great River
Crashing a wedding at the inn
12-and-a-Half housing project (pic by HRW)
