Introduction.
Cast aside clich é and let Jamaica reveal its swaying, golden secrets. Ever since Errol Flynn cavorted here with his Hollywood pals in the 1930s and '40s, travellers have regarded Jamaica as one of the most alluring of the Caribbean islands. Its beaches, mountains and carnal red sunsets regularly appear in the sort of tourist brochures that promise paradise.
Unlike other nearby islands, it caters to everyone from beach bums to newlyweds: you can choose a private villa with your own secluded beach; laugh your vacation away at a party-hearty resort; or throw yourself into the thick of the island's life while experiencing the three Rs: reggae, reefers and rum.
'Jamaica is a little nice great place. I really love Jamaica, because I have walked plenty of stony land in Jamaica and plenty of hills.' - Bob Marley
Geography:
Columbus described Jamaica as 'the fairest isle that eyes beheld; mountainous...all full of valleys and fields and plains'. Roughly ovoid in shape and lying 90 miles (145km) south of Cuba, it's the third-largest island in the Caribbean. Despite its relatively small size, Jamaica boasts an impressive diversity of terrain and vegetation, although few visitors venture far enough afield to experience it. The rugged island is rimmed by a narrow coastal plain, pitted with bays everywhere but in the south, where broad flatlands cover extensive ruler-straight stretches. Most of the resorts huddle along the north coast, where the vegetation is lush and the beaches are white and sandy. The limestone interior is dramatically sculpted by deep vales and steep ridges, dominated by basket-of-eggs topography such as Cockpit Country, a virtually impenetrable tract pitted with bush-covered hummocks, vast sinkholes, underground caves and flat valley bottoms. The uplands rise gradually from the west, culminating in the Blue Mountains in the east, which are capped by Blue Mountains Peak at 7402ft (2220m).
Destination Facts
Capital: Kingston
Governor General: Kenneth Octavius Hall (representing Queen Elizabeth II)
Prime Minister: Bruce Golding
Government: Independent state within the British Commonwealth
Time zone: GMT -6
Area: 11000
Population: 2652689
People: 76% African descent, 15% Afro-European descent, 4% European, 3% East Indian &-ent Middle Eastern, 1% Afro-Chinese ent-amp; Chinese
Languages: 80% Christian, including revivalist cults such as Pocomania, which blends European and African religious beliefs, and Rastafarianism, whose dogma embraces a complex core of spiritual and social beliefs rooted in the idea that Africa is the black race's spiritual and physical motherland.
Currency: Jamaican Dollar (J$)
Major industries: Tourism, bauxite, sugar, bananas, rum, coffee, yams and chemicals
Major Trading Partners: USA, Canada, UK, Netherlands, Norway
Weight System: Imperial
Country Dialing Code: 876
Getting There
Jamaica is a year-round destination: winter is usually warm by day and mild to cool by night; summer months are hot. The rainy season extends from May to November, with peaks in May and June and in October and November. Rain usually falls for short periods (normally in the late afternoon), and it's quite possible to enjoy sunshine for most of your visit during these months. In Portland parish, however, it can rain for days on end. Tourism's high, or 'winter', season runs from mid-December to mid-April, when hotel prices are highest. Many hotels charge peak-season rates during Christmas and Easter.
Getting there and away
Jamaica is easy to get to, enjoying one of the best air feeds in the Caribbean from both North America (usually Miami or New York) and Europe (through London or several cities in Germany). Australasian visitors have to travel via North America. The majority of international visitors land at Montego Bay's Donald Sangster International Airport, but there is another international airport at Kingston. Jamaica is an easy yachters' hop from neighbouring islands and the eastern seaboard of North America, as well as being a regular port of call for cruise ships. There is a 27.00 departure tax for air travellers.
Getting around
Intra-island flights through Air Jamaica Express and TimAir can be a quick way to travel between Montego Bay, Kingston, Negril, Ocho Rios and Port Antonio. Helicopters can also be chartered for scenic rides or for personalised tours, but this will dig a deep hole in your rum money. Jamaica's bus 'system', while comprehensive, is the epitome of chaos: timetables don't really exist and buses are often literally overflowing. Buses and minibuses do service virtually every village in the country though, so if you're getting out and about, you're sure to use them. The upside is that they're inexpensive and a great way to meet the locals. Numerous local and international operators rent cars and motorcycles. Road conditions vary from excellent to awful, and driver temperament varies from merely impatient to flagrantly suicidal. Expect to be honked at, sworn at and swerved around...stay calm and stay cautious, and if you do 'mash up', don't be drawn into an argument with an emotional Jamaican driver. Very few Jamaicans have bicycles, but you can rent bikes in most towns. If bringing your own bicycle from home, carry as many spare parts as you can.
Visa:
American, Canadian and British citizens must travel with a valid passport but do not need visas for visits of up to six months. Travellers from most other Western countries do not need a visa for visits up to 30 days or, in some cases, three months. Other nationals must obtain a visa upon arrival. You can find out more about visas by contacting a Jamaican High Commission, or a Jamaican embassy or consulate.
Weather
The northern mountain slopes shelter Kingston and the south coast from the worst of torrential Caribbean rain so there's little chance of cancelled limbo marathons. What rain it does have is moderate and fairly consistent throughout the year; there is slightly more between May and November and it is usually concentrated over a few days. So unless you happen upon a hurricane, a year of day-to-day sweet tropical 30 ° C (86 ° F) days and 20 ° C (68 ° F) nights await you.
Places of Interest
Ever since Errol Flynn cavorted here with his Hollywood pals in the 1930s and '40s, travellers have regarded Jamaica as one of the most alluring of the Caribbean islands. Its beaches, mountains and carnal red sunsets regularly appear in the sort of tourist brochures that promise paradise. Unlike other nearby islands, it caters to everyone from beach bums to newlyweds: you can choose a private villa with your own secluded beach; laugh your vacation away at a party-hearty resort; or throw yourself into the thick of the island's life while experiencing the three Rs: reggae, reefers and rum.
Events
Jamaica hosts a full calendar of musical, artistic, cultural and sporting events. Reggae Sunsplash and Reggae Sumfest are the biggest funfests on the island, held about one week apart in July/August. Sunsplash is held near Ocho Rios, Sumfest in Montego Bay. Both are frenetic beachy music festivals, with A-rated fun and X-rated dancing. Carnival, the week after Easter in March/April, takes place on the university campus in Kingston and at various other places around Jamaica. It's a big blow-out, mainly for Jamaicans, with reggae, calypso and dancehall soca the main booty-shakers, but it's also a tourist attraction in its own right. In June, the top names in jazz perform under the stars at the Ocho Rios Jazz Festival. Jonkanoo is a traditional Christmas celebration in which revellers parade through the streets dressed in masquerade. The festivity has its origins among West African secret societies and was once the major celebration on the slave calendar. At New Year's, check out Fireworks on the Waterfront in Kingston. There are a number of yacht races on the calendar: the Pineapple Cup, held each February, starts in Miami and finishes in Montego Bay. Cricket matches are held from laneway to lawn throughout the year. In April, the West Indies team takes on an international challenger in the Kingston Test Match.
Cast aside clich é and let Jamaica reveal its swaying, golden secrets. Ever since Errol Flynn cavorted here with his Hollywood pals in the 1930s and '40s, travellers have regarded Jamaica as one of the most alluring of the Caribbean islands. Its beaches, mountains and carnal red sunsets regularly appear in the sort of tourist brochures that promise paradise.
Unlike other nearby islands, it caters to everyone from beach bums to newlyweds: you can choose a private villa with your own secluded beach; laugh your vacation away at a party-hearty resort; or throw yourself into the thick of the island's life while experiencing the three Rs: reggae, reefers and rum.
'Jamaica is a little nice great place. I really love Jamaica, because I have walked plenty of stony land in Jamaica and plenty of hills.' - Bob Marley
Geography:
Columbus described Jamaica as 'the fairest isle that eyes beheld; mountainous...all full of valleys and fields and plains'. Roughly ovoid in shape and lying 90 miles (145km) south of Cuba, it's the third-largest island in the Caribbean. Despite its relatively small size, Jamaica boasts an impressive diversity of terrain and vegetation, although few visitors venture far enough afield to experience it. The rugged island is rimmed by a narrow coastal plain, pitted with bays everywhere but in the south, where broad flatlands cover extensive ruler-straight stretches. Most of the resorts huddle along the north coast, where the vegetation is lush and the beaches are white and sandy. The limestone interior is dramatically sculpted by deep vales and steep ridges, dominated by basket-of-eggs topography such as Cockpit Country, a virtually impenetrable tract pitted with bush-covered hummocks, vast sinkholes, underground caves and flat valley bottoms. The uplands rise gradually from the west, culminating in the Blue Mountains in the east, which are capped by Blue Mountains Peak at 7402ft (2220m).
Destination Facts
Capital: Kingston
Governor General: Kenneth Octavius Hall (representing Queen Elizabeth II)
Prime Minister: Bruce Golding
Government: Independent state within the British Commonwealth
Time zone: GMT -6
Area: 11000
Population: 2652689
People: 76% African descent, 15% Afro-European descent, 4% European, 3% East Indian &-ent Middle Eastern, 1% Afro-Chinese ent-amp; Chinese
Languages: 80% Christian, including revivalist cults such as Pocomania, which blends European and African religious beliefs, and Rastafarianism, whose dogma embraces a complex core of spiritual and social beliefs rooted in the idea that Africa is the black race's spiritual and physical motherland.
Currency: Jamaican Dollar (J$)
Major industries: Tourism, bauxite, sugar, bananas, rum, coffee, yams and chemicals
Major Trading Partners: USA, Canada, UK, Netherlands, Norway
Weight System: Imperial
Country Dialing Code: 876
Getting There
Jamaica is a year-round destination: winter is usually warm by day and mild to cool by night; summer months are hot. The rainy season extends from May to November, with peaks in May and June and in October and November. Rain usually falls for short periods (normally in the late afternoon), and it's quite possible to enjoy sunshine for most of your visit during these months. In Portland parish, however, it can rain for days on end. Tourism's high, or 'winter', season runs from mid-December to mid-April, when hotel prices are highest. Many hotels charge peak-season rates during Christmas and Easter.
Getting there and away
Jamaica is easy to get to, enjoying one of the best air feeds in the Caribbean from both North America (usually Miami or New York) and Europe (through London or several cities in Germany). Australasian visitors have to travel via North America. The majority of international visitors land at Montego Bay's Donald Sangster International Airport, but there is another international airport at Kingston. Jamaica is an easy yachters' hop from neighbouring islands and the eastern seaboard of North America, as well as being a regular port of call for cruise ships. There is a 27.00 departure tax for air travellers.
Getting around
Intra-island flights through Air Jamaica Express and TimAir can be a quick way to travel between Montego Bay, Kingston, Negril, Ocho Rios and Port Antonio. Helicopters can also be chartered for scenic rides or for personalised tours, but this will dig a deep hole in your rum money. Jamaica's bus 'system', while comprehensive, is the epitome of chaos: timetables don't really exist and buses are often literally overflowing. Buses and minibuses do service virtually every village in the country though, so if you're getting out and about, you're sure to use them. The upside is that they're inexpensive and a great way to meet the locals. Numerous local and international operators rent cars and motorcycles. Road conditions vary from excellent to awful, and driver temperament varies from merely impatient to flagrantly suicidal. Expect to be honked at, sworn at and swerved around...stay calm and stay cautious, and if you do 'mash up', don't be drawn into an argument with an emotional Jamaican driver. Very few Jamaicans have bicycles, but you can rent bikes in most towns. If bringing your own bicycle from home, carry as many spare parts as you can.
Visa:
American, Canadian and British citizens must travel with a valid passport but do not need visas for visits of up to six months. Travellers from most other Western countries do not need a visa for visits up to 30 days or, in some cases, three months. Other nationals must obtain a visa upon arrival. You can find out more about visas by contacting a Jamaican High Commission, or a Jamaican embassy or consulate.
Weather
The northern mountain slopes shelter Kingston and the south coast from the worst of torrential Caribbean rain so there's little chance of cancelled limbo marathons. What rain it does have is moderate and fairly consistent throughout the year; there is slightly more between May and November and it is usually concentrated over a few days. So unless you happen upon a hurricane, a year of day-to-day sweet tropical 30 ° C (86 ° F) days and 20 ° C (68 ° F) nights await you.
Places of Interest
Ever since Errol Flynn cavorted here with his Hollywood pals in the 1930s and '40s, travellers have regarded Jamaica as one of the most alluring of the Caribbean islands. Its beaches, mountains and carnal red sunsets regularly appear in the sort of tourist brochures that promise paradise. Unlike other nearby islands, it caters to everyone from beach bums to newlyweds: you can choose a private villa with your own secluded beach; laugh your vacation away at a party-hearty resort; or throw yourself into the thick of the island's life while experiencing the three Rs: reggae, reefers and rum.
Events
Jamaica hosts a full calendar of musical, artistic, cultural and sporting events. Reggae Sunsplash and Reggae Sumfest are the biggest funfests on the island, held about one week apart in July/August. Sunsplash is held near Ocho Rios, Sumfest in Montego Bay. Both are frenetic beachy music festivals, with A-rated fun and X-rated dancing. Carnival, the week after Easter in March/April, takes place on the university campus in Kingston and at various other places around Jamaica. It's a big blow-out, mainly for Jamaicans, with reggae, calypso and dancehall soca the main booty-shakers, but it's also a tourist attraction in its own right. In June, the top names in jazz perform under the stars at the Ocho Rios Jazz Festival. Jonkanoo is a traditional Christmas celebration in which revellers parade through the streets dressed in masquerade. The festivity has its origins among West African secret societies and was once the major celebration on the slave calendar. At New Year's, check out Fireworks on the Waterfront in Kingston. There are a number of yacht races on the calendar: the Pineapple Cup, held each February, starts in Miami and finishes in Montego Bay. Cricket matches are held from laneway to lawn throughout the year. In April, the West Indies team takes on an international challenger in the Kingston Test Match.
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