Jamaica - The wrap up

Two and a half weeks in Jamaica have been relaxing, fun and warm. We have been traveling the coast of Jamaica from place to place by local minibuses. We have visited Port Antonio, Treasure Beach, Negril and Ocho Rios which have all been places worth visiting. Although we can't recommend Kingston due to its filthyness, dirtyness and dangerousness. There are two international airports which are in the two biggest cities Kingston and Montego Bay and you should only land and take off from them and spend the rest of the time somewhere else. 

A stunning sunset in Negril, Jamaica

Here are some notes that we've pointed out during our trip in Jamaica: 

1. The smaller the place where you go the kinder and hospitable people you're more likely to meet. 

2. Walking outside after dark in big cities isn't recommended especially alone due to the high risk of getting robbed. If you are a white woman you will get a lot of attention from the men here especially if you are alone. You are lucky If they leave you alone if you say no. 

3. You will hear gospel EVERYWHERE! There are most churches per square mile in the world in Jamaica but the rules of the Bible are bent so that people can take advantage of them. 

Seems legit, Port Antonio, Portland

4. People eat chicken A LOT here in Jamaica. The quality of the chicken is mostly bad and the portions come with bones almost everytime. So prepare to find bones and joints in each traditional order you purchase. 

5. People are helpful especially with anything related to transportation. If you need to find something or need a ride somewhere you get the answer if you ask locals. Some information for example local bus schedules you can't even find online so people are your Google.

6. Trash, trash, trash... You see it everywhere. Locals eat their takeaway and throw the trash on the ground. Smaller cities and tourist traps are usually cleaner. 

7. There is no rush in Jamaica so you can forget your tight schedule before entering the country. If someone gives you an estimated time you can always at least double that to get the real time. 

8. There is no need for jackets or trousers since it's warm around the year in Jamaica. 

9. In Negril you can usually pay with US dollars also but we don't recommend it because you get a really bad exchange rate.

10. If you go to some waterfalls or other attractions you should always hire a local guide instead of taking a package deal from some travel agency because they have good knowledge of the places and they take good care of you and your stuff during the trip and it's also cheaper to hire a local guide.

11. There are different prices for travelers and locals on taxis, entrance fees and tours. It's always wise to ask locals what do they pay for route taxi ride so the driver won't fool you when discussing the price. Otherwise the fare can be 3-6 times the amount locals pay. In some cases you can't help the fact that being non-local pays a lot more that Jamaican residents. We had planned to go to Dunn's River Falls in Ocho Rios to see what is it like there and to write a blog about it but when we checked the prices they were 600JMD for Jamaican residents and 2800JMD for travelers so we decided not to support that kind of rip off and ended up going to Blue Hole which we heard to be a much better place. 

12. Countlessmilesandsmiles doesn't recommend renting a car in Jamaica because the traffic is quite aggressive and it's cheap and easy to use taxis, route taxis and local buses. 

13. Don't carry a lot of cash with you when roaming around Jamaica in case you get robbed. The poorer you look the better. 

14. Openly homosexual behaviour is not well tolerated. You would at least get rude comments, staring and might even get your ass kicked. The same things might happen if you are white and somehow wander into a bad area in big cities.

15. If you are into smoking weed it is really easy to get it here. In every corner there is someone who asks if you want to buy ganja. It is legal to have a small amount of it with you but not in a vehicle.

Negril, Jamaica

PLACES WORTH VISITING

 - Treasure Beach and especially Pelican Bar 
 - Negril which has a lot of good snorkeling spots and stunning sunsets
 - Blue Hole in Ocho Rios
 - Reach Falls and Frenchman's Cove in Port Antonio

You can easily explore these places in this order traveling the coast of Jamaica by local buses and route taxis. 

At the beginning of our trip in Jamaica our Airbnb host told us that in every situation someone would try to take advantage of us because we are white because it's a common thing here to believe that white people have a lot of money. Now when we think back of our trip it is very true even the host that warned us did the same thing to us on our last two days here. She said that we could stay at her place for the last night before our flight back to Fort Lauderdale since we had booked her place for a week and only stayed there for 4 days in the beginning of our trip. When we got to her place at the end she said that it would cost $23 to stay there even though she never mentioned it before. The same thing happened when she offered us a ride to the airport. When we were about to leave she said that it would cost $18 and the taxi would be way more expensive. In both situations she wanted to help us and eventually told that it would cost us. We both felt she wasn't being honest about the details so we wouldn't even consider other options. 

Countlessmilesandsmiles wants to point out that you should always make sure what everything costs for you here in Jamaica so you won't get ugly surprises. We also that 2 weeks is enough to see and experience everything worth doing here in Jamaica. When we encountered some racism towards us on Jamaica it was so disrespectful and hurtful. We think that every racist person should be sent to a place where someone is racist towards them and really feel how racism hurts and how pointless and absurd it is.

This is something you'll never forget. Negril, Jamaica

Negril, Jamaica

In the next blog you'll hear about our first experiences of Los Angeles. 

Thanks for reading & see you soon! 

Emmi & Henkka 

Jamaica - Negril

FRIDAY DECEMBER 16TH 

We game to Negril by 4 different taxis (Treasure Beach - Black River - White House - Savanna La Mar - Negril) and the whole trip took about 3 hours with some breaks. We booked a tent on Airbnb for a good price for the whole stay here in Negril. We were excited and suspicious at the same time because we had never slept in a tent on our travels before and wanted to try what is it like to sleep outside and hear all the noise caused by animals, traffic and people. One of our biggest concerns was that would we be able to get sleep due all of the noise and lay on a hard ground. 

Is this an all-inclusive resort?

This little fire alarm keeps us awake at night.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17TH, NEGRIL 

After the first night in a tent and a few hours of sleep we got a ride from our hosts to Seven Mile Beach where we did some price hunting on snorkeling tours and ended up to buy a round trip to an island near the beach including the snorkeling gear. That deal was the only one where we got to snorkel for more than one hour for a decent price. We paid 9500JMD for the whole thing and we think it was a bit too much. That snorkeling was a great exercise since both of us were exhausted once we got back to the guest house. 

Emmi found a cute seashell.

A view from the island we went to. Negril, Jamaica

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18TH, NEGRIL

We woke up early and walked to Seven Mile Beach. We thought we would walk the beach from the start to the end and back but only did about half of it because Henkka had to start his poker session earlier because it was Sunday. All in all our little walk was about a half marathon so we got a decent workout and tanlines in the Jamaican heat. After we got back to our accommodation Henkka played his Sunday poker session in our tent and Emmi enjoyed the rest of the day in a hammock.

The Seven Mile Beach witch real lenght is about 4 miles. Negril, Jamaica

MONDAY, DECEMBER 19th, NEGRIL

As we got used to sleeping in a tent the quality of our sleep increased and we woke up early and rested. We headed to Rockhouse for breakfast. We had smoothies and the best banana pancakes ever. We would have rented snorkeling gear from there but unfortunately they only rent them to their hotel guests so we walked around a little bit and found a resort called Xtabi witch rented the gear for 10USD for a day. Both Rockhouse and Xtabi have awesome cliffside snorkeling places right beside their resorts. We had a blast snorkeling in both of them even though the gear we got weren't the best possible quality. 

Is this the right way to SUP?

Henkka coming up the ladder.

RiCK'S CAFE

On our last day in Negril we went to Rick's Cafe because we had heard it's a great place to visit and the sunset at Rick's is breathtaking. We had high expectations since we had read about the place on many websites and we had seen nice pictures taken by travelers at Rick's. 

Henkka at Rick's Cafe Negril, Jamaica.

The food and drinks were over-priced and we had to pick them up on our own which felt ridiculous because of the high prices and the waiters were walking around with their hands empty. The service was bad and some of the staff were hard to discuss with due to their unfriendly attitude. What an overrated place full of tourists and families with kids. 

We'd rather suggest people to go to see the sunset and jump down the cliffs somewhere else. There are many nice resorts on West End Road where you can rent snorkeling equipment and get great service like we did. We recommend Rockhouse or Xtabi if you're looking for nice cliffside snorkeling spots and delicious food brought to your table with smile on a waiters face. These resorts are more laid back, the prices were decent and the customer service was awesome. These places weren't such tourist traps as Rick's.

We rate Rick's Cafe 2/5 ⭐ because the view is beautiful and the burger tasted average. We recommend this place if you are a party animal, don't count every penny on your trip and if you are totally full of Jamaican style restaurants. There was also a Pokestop and quite a lot of different kinds of Pokemon so it might be a good idea to stop by if you're trying to catch them all. 

All in all Negril is a good place for partying but also has something to offer for everyone. Negril has beautiful beaches, nice places for snorkeling, awesome resorts and seems like to be on the safer side of places in Jamaica. Like all the places where tourists like to spend their holiday the prices are a little bit higher because Negril is somewhat a tourist trap. Local taxis are mush more expensive and the drivers don't hide the fact that locals pay 1/3-1/4 of the price that travelers are paying. In most restaurants you may pay in USD but it's much more expensive to pay with USD than the local money in a long run. If you want to experience the real laid back Jamaican atmosphere you should visit for example Port Antonio or Treasure Beach rather than Negril. If you are looking for all-inclusive resorts and more of an international atmosphere then Negril is definitely your place to visit.

Negril is said to have the top 10 most beautiful sunset in the world. Indeed!

Thanks for reading! 

Emmi & Henkka

Jamaica - Treasure Beach & Pelican Bar

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 14TH, TREASURE BEACH

We booked an Airbnb accommodation here in Treasure Beach for 3 nights because a friend of ours recommended this chill, small, safe and relaxed place where everyone knows each other. TB is a small fishing village which is not a typical tourist trap located in Jamaica's South Coast about 2,5 hours from Kingston. There are 4 public beaches where you can swim and snorkel and the locals are really friendly and helpful with everything so this is a great place to spend a few days. 

The peaceful Treasure Beach

On our first day here in TB we had to find an ATM since we were running out of Jamaican dollars and on our way to a local bank we met American who told us there is no ATM for travelers and that the machine only works with local banks' cards. He was so helpful he offered us a ride to get the cash from an ATM in the nearest city called Southfield which is 14 kilometers away from TB. This is a great example of the kindness this place is full of! 

We recommend to visit TB if you are looking for a peaceful, laid-back, relaxed and friendly seaside location to chill. Prepare yourself with couple of nice books, snorkel, swim suit, cash (since there isn't ATM in TB) and a laid-back attitude. If you are a party animal and looking for fancy resorts and jet skis this isn't your place. 

These two fellas bout to go one on one.

Nice colors you can find at Treasure Beach.

There is a nice little restaurant here in TB called Mellow Yellow. It is an Italian & Jamaican cuisine where the prices are good and the food, especially pastas are tasty. The service is friendly and quite fast compared to the usual Jamaican. They also have free wifi to use.

Mellow Yellow at Treasure Beach.

THURSDAY DECEMBER 15TH, TREASURE BEACH


Floyd's Pelican Bar in St. Elisabeth, Jamaica

Floyd’s Pelican Bar is located in Parottee Bay on the South Coast of Jamaica and has to be one of the most unique places to eat and have a drink in the Caribbean Sea. Since Pelican Bar is located 3/4 miles from the beach built on a reef you have to hire a captain who takes you to this wonderful bar by boat. It took about 35-40 minutes to get to Pelican Bar from the beach where we are staying. We were the only ones in the boat and it cost us 8000JMD. You may get it for less if there are more people in the boat. To get a boat ride you just have to show up on the beach with cash and the captains will take care of the rest. The prices are negotiable! 

We got to see a few dolphins on our way to the Pelican Bar.

Pelican Bar has a great story behind it: the owner of Pelican Bar – Floyd Forbes had a dream one night about a bar out at sea. The bar is made of driftwood, palm fronds and coconut tree trunks driven down into the sand and that's how Floyd’s dream became a reality in 2001.

On a lucky day you may see stingrays and dolphins by the bar. We recommend to bring a snorkel and swimming shoes. Also remember the cash!

The bar's name came about because large pod of Pelicans rest on the sand banks.

Pelican Bar, Treasure Beach, Jamaica

On a lucky day you may see stingrays and dolphins by the bar. We recommend to bring a snorkel and swimming shoes. Also remember the cash!

TIPS FOR YOUR TRIP TO PELICAN BAR:

1. Make sure your captain isn't in a rush back to the shore. (This happened to us and it wasn't nice to leave after such a short time.)

2. This place is not suitable for kids. 

3. There is no restroom in Pelican Bar so we recommend to use it right before entering the boat.

4. Bring a snorkel, swim suit and cash for a cold beer. 

5. You can bring a business card, t-shirt, key chain or something you'd like to leave as a memory in Pelican Bar. 

6. If you would like to eat at Pelican Bar, ask your captain to call ahead and order.

We truly recommend Pelican Bar for group of friends and this was the first time we both thought how wonderful it would be to spend a nice day with our friends enjoying lovely Jamaican atmosphere and have cool drinks under the Sun in the middle of Caribbean Sea. We miss you all. <3

Thanks for reading & see you soon!

Emmi & Henkka 

Jamaica - Amazing Reach Falls

SATURDAY DECEMBER 10TH

We took a route taxi to Reach Falls. We met a local called Dorrian in crossroads where the taxi dropped us off. Dorrian gives guided tours where you walk, swim and climb up the waterfall by yourself. We hired him as our guide because it was cheaper than the governments tour and he seemed like a nice guy. We also wanted to climb to the top by ourselves and not just go to see the waterfall and take pictures. If you go to Reach Falls on your own you have to pay an entrance fee which is 10USD and you are on your own without a guide at the very top only and don't get to climb from the bottom to the top. Dorrian's tour cost 1000JMD per person and he said one of us could go free so eventually it was 850JMD per person.He also carried everyones backpacks so we could swim. Dorrian has given the tours for five years so he knew every rock and pebble the waterfall had. He was also very helpful on the way to the top and gave good safety tips.

We highly recommend Dorrian as a guide for Reach Falls. Here is his phone number in case you like to contact him: +187 65856481.

This is the outstanding starting point of our tour. Reach Falls, Jamaica

Henkka changing the swimming shoes on.

Taking a little break.

Us at the top. Reach Falls, Jamaica

We both think that the waterfall climb was the best experience on our trip so far. It was physically challenging and super fun. We also got to jump into a few pools on our way back down. Have to say it again: super fun!

Henkka jumping into one of the pools.

Countlessmilesandsmiles would recommend the waterfall climb experience to people who are in good shape and have good swimming skills since some of the swimming parts are challenging because of the stream. Some parts are really slippery so if you have swimming shoes we would recommend you to wear them to make the climb easier. You can also bring a snorkel if you like because there are small fish to see.

Reach Falls, Jamaica

Looks like a nice workout.

Our group at Reach Falls.

One of the many pools at Reach Falls.

The view at the top.

SUNDAY DECEMBER 11TH

We came back to Kingston by mini bus which is the cheapest way to travel around Jamaica. We had an Airbnb place booked till Tuesday so we had still 2 nights to go in Kingston. We really liked our host because she was nice and helpful and gave us good travel tips for Port Antonio. 

Countlessmilesandsmiles doesn't recommend Kingston as a place to spend a holiday since it's really dirty, filthy, dangerous by night and there aren't many nice things to do. 

Getting from a city to another by public minibus in Jamaica is cheap but slow. There aren't timetables because the bus leaves when it's overloaded so the first persons getting in the bus might have to wait for a long time before the bus tables off. You are lucky if you catch a bus with an AC and the person(s) next to you is / are normal weight with not many bags or luggage. The bus fare is charged by cash only and it's collected either before, during or after the trip. The trip usually costs 300-800JMD per person.

The traffic here is quite aggressive and the roads are narrow so the ride can be as wild as a roller coaster and local drivers seem to honk more than use breaks. Our bus back from Port Antonio to Kingston drove down a steep and narrow mountain road about 100 km/h. When we got back to the bus station an old lady yelled "Thank you Jesus we are still alive!"

You don't have to be worried about finding the right bus because when you arrive to the bus station there will be a lot of bus roll-in people asking you where are you going. They also point you the right direction if you are not going in their bus.

NOTE: If you choose to use public transportation make sure you allow yourself lot of time since the buses stop where ever people wanna get out or in. We also recommend you to eat well, not to drink too much water etc. and use restroom right before entering the bus. Prepare yourself for an overloaded bus where someone will propably sit on your lap.

This is just getting started.

Now we are good to go.

ZZZZzzzzz.....

TUESDAY DECEMBER 13TH

Today we took a mini bus from Kingston to Treasure Beach which described laid back and friendly fishing village which is not a typical tourist trap. We are looking forward to see local attractions and spend time in the Caribbean Sea. 

Thanks for reading & see you soon! 

Emmi & Henkka 

Jamaica - Our first days wrapped in this post

So we landed here in 6th of December and haven't been able to use wifi to write our blog since. We spent 5 weeks total in the USA and came to Jamaica for couple of reasons. First of all a friend of ours is studying in the University of the West Indies which is in Kingston, the capital of Jamaica. So we wanted to come to see her on our world tour. Secondly we have always wanted to go to some Caribbean island and we found decent priced flights from Fort Lauderdale, FL to Kingston and back. Thirdly the history of Jamaica is really interesting and there are lots of places and attractions to visit. We also wanted to try snorkeling because neither of us have ever tried it and we have planned to get licenses to scuba dive during our trip so we wanted to see what's it like below the surface.
Lastly we didn't know many people who had been to Jamaica and for that reason we wanted to find out what is it like here.

This is what it looks in paradise. Frenchman's Cove, Jamaica

WEDNESDAY 7.12.

On our first day in Kingston we walked 18km around the city center and to the nearest shore to our Airbnb place. We were stunned how dirty, filthy and full of garbage the streets were. There were only a few trash cans which were either full, broken or missing its bottom. On our way to the shore we passed two prisons and most of the area we walked through was ghetto so we didn't get a fancy start for our Caribbean adventure.

View from our walk in Kingston, Jamaica

Just a picture of one piece of millions of trash we saw.

In the night we went to Jamexican restaurant Chilitos to see our friend Suvi. After we told her about our little walk she told us that we shouldn't walk at all in Kingston because it is dangerous and robberies happen daily even in campus where she is studying. So maybe it wasn't the best idea to just walk around without knowing better. Too bad Google Maps doesn't suggest safe areas to walk. People here use route taxis to get around which drive the biggest streets in Kingston non-stop and pick up people by the streets. The route taxis cost 100JMD per ride which is really cheap. 

THURSDAY 8.12.

On Thursday Suvi, couple of her student friends and us took a minibus to Port Antonio, Portland which is in North - East Jamaica. It was quite an experience when they put 30 persons in the bus which real capacity was 18 persons and the ride was like a roller coaster without safety belts. The whole trip took approximately 2,5 hours and cost 450JMD per person. After 2,5h of that can of humans ride we arrived to Port Antonio and made it to the Airbnb place which Suvi had booked for all of us. Our host was really nice and a real rastafari which was cool.

Henkka in front of our Airbnb place. Port Antonio, Jamaica

Henkka, our Airbnb host and Kyle from Trinidad.

FRIDAY 9.12.

In the morning we all went to eat breakfast after a night that only Emmi of the whole group slept well. The noise of frogs, birds, lizards, grasshoppers and roosters kept everyone else awake almost the whole night so it was quite a zoo out there by night.

Traditional Jamaican meal: saltfish & ackee

After breakfast we went to the Frenchman's Cove which is named after an old folklore tale about the canon battle between the French and the British near the cove. It is said the British defeated the French and wounded souldiers sought refuge in the cove, hence its historical name Frenchman's Cove. There is also the first all-inclusive resort in the Caribbean and possibly in the world since all-inclusive phenomenom has its roots in Jamaica.

Nowadays Frenchman's Cove has a private owner and the fee to get in is 1000JMD / per person. Totally worth it! See the proof below.

Rules for Frenchman's Cove

...and further information.

Henkka climbed to a tree at Frenchman's Cove, Jamaica

A shot from paradise

Swing if you like

#relax

#relax2

Making sure that the palmtree doesn't fall down.

After a nice day at Frenchman's Emmi went to ride horses with Suvi and another girl. They all got their own well-trained horses to ride in an old golf course and jungle for only 1500JMD / 50 minutes. The owner had such a great communication with the horses and they obeyed everything the owner told them to do. He told that he lets them free every night and they always come back in the morning. It was clear those animals meant everything to him and it was touching when the man told that he had got offers from three different persons to buy one of the horses for good money but he had declined the offers because the horse is his friend.

After the wonderful day we went to see the famous Blue Lagoon which is known from a movie. Suvi told us that the activities at Blue Lagoon aren't that special and you can do the same things anywhere else around here for less money. You can hire a boat ride to the Monkey Island which is near the Lagoon and swim there but if you have a lack of time on your trip you should rather go to for example  Frenchman's Cove.

NOTE: Countlessmilesandsmiles wont recommend Blue Lagoon if the movie isn't in your top 5 favorite movies of all time - list and want to savor the moments from the movie.

What a luring entrance. Blue Lagoon, Jamaica

Color of the water was cool though. Blue Lagoon, Jamaica

Thanks for reading and see you next time!

Memi & Henkka