Welcome to Jamaica!

Jamaica is relatively small but ridiculously famous. Booming reggae, tender jerk chicken, colourful Rastafarians… growing up in Southeast London I’d always felt ‘at home’ amongst these sights and sounds and finally I was there- for real.  Jamaica is a land of golden beaches, glistening waterfalls and vibrant sounds, a Caribbean paradise, and firm tourist favourite.

DID YOU KNOW?  The former model, actress and musician Grace Jones is from Jamaica and whilst she portrays a tough persona she was very aware of her feminine side: “I always thought that feminine, softer side was just too vulnerable to put out there, because then it’s like you’re opening up a door for everybody to come in, and you don’t know who’s going to come in that door.”

Many tourists keep themselves to their plush resorts but we chose to get out and about a bit more. When exploring Jamaica, we saw 2 sides to the island. Jamaica delivered paradise but it has its own struggles which are more overt than in some of the smaller West Indian countries. Whilst tourists stay tucked away in their shiny all-inclusive hotels and returning and ex-pat Jamaicans build beautiful modern homes for themselves and their relatives, poverty is still very visible. Colourful wooden shacks, home to the poorest, stand next to palatial mansions in every village we drove through. The contrast was interesting, if a bit depressing, and I preferred the grittier yet chilled out vibe of local Jamaica.

Some Great Family Jamaica Highlights

Jamaica Highlights #1: Spotting crocodiles and other wildlife on a Black River boat cruise.

Jamaica Highlights #2: Playing with the kids in the swimming pool at Rick’s Cafe, Negril, stopping only to watch the daredevil cliff-diving

Jamaica Highlights #3: Waterfalls!! Climbing up the shallow waterfalls at Mayfield Falls plus the views at YS Falls were our absolute favourite Jamaica highlights

Jamaica Highlights #4: Chilling out in the beach bars on the white sands of Negril’s Seven Mile Beach

Jamaica Highlights #5: Treasure Beach had a more backpacker / hippy vibe than Negril and we preferred the overall atmosphere at Treasure Beach (save for one monumental toddler tantrum….)

DID YOU KNOW?  Jamaica and the wider Caribbean has many infamous cutlass female pirates, like Mary Read and Anne Bonny. These exciting women sailed as fearlessly as their male counterparts throughout the Caribbean in the seventeenth and early eighteenth century. Great tales to inspires small girls towards pirate style adventures.

Our Jamaica Family Travel Tips

• In some Negril resorts you could use facilities for free if you buy lunch there. It’s worth asking for a splash around in their pool!
• Rick’s café in Negril is really family-friendly as you can go in, buy a couple of drinks, watch the divers and use the pool there.

• Remember your infant car seats. Jamaica is not famous for road safety as listening to the local radio news sadly reminded us. Either rent or bring your own.
• As in all big cities, know where you are going. In Kingston, due to road closures, we got lost in Trench Town our first morning…
• Definitely go and explore at least one of Jamaica’s magnificent waterfalls – don’t be put off if you have young children as the guides are very happy to help out.
• If you are going to a waterfall, packing water shoes/ sandals is a good idea as you’ll be scrambling over a lot of slippery rocks.

• Treasure Beach may be quite far from the tourist resorts but a visit will really show you a beautiful, community-led side to tourism in Jamaica. It feels very safe, you can walk everywhere, there’s lots of great hotels and places to eat. Read my Mother of all Tantrums blog for my experiences there!!!
• There’s a fantastic craft shop selling locally made handicrafts run by the Treasure Beach Women’s Group. Great for supporting local women and supporting the local community by buying some lovely souvenirs. Details here.

• Beware but supermarkets ain’t cheap in Jamaica. We found food was generally expensive. Not all the supermarkets had a good selection of products so if you’re self-catering (like we were) ask where a good local shop is. Unfortunately we found local market stalls quite pricy too – but maybe we were just getting tourist prices! Bring any diapers/nappies, formula milk and suntan lotion that you need with you to save money.
• Jamaican food is great for kids (ok, our kids have grown up in SE London and have therefore tried it several times before). Ackee (a soft, egg-like fruit, dumplings, fried plantain, lots of chicken and fish, rice and peas
• Yes, there are hustlers on the beaches particularly in the resort areas. Most are very polite and sell goods (like yummy patties and fruit), a few are rather more persistent and yes, we did get pushed into a corner and ended up paying over the odds for some bracelets. As I mentioned above, there is a lot of poverty in Jamaica and there are a lot of locals just trying their best to make a living. Be polite but firm – and if you can don’t just shop in stores but support these locals too.
• It was a shame but there were no good play parks at all! Compared to other Caribbean Islands, like Puerto Rico, we didn’t come across a single public play park – there must be some… Anyhow the beach is a giant play park so make the most of it!
• Don’t bother with the stroller. We didn’t use our stroller the whole time we were in Jamaica – take a sling for long strolls along the beach and airport immigration queues.

Finding this interesting? Need a guidebook? We used this guidebook throughout our Jamaica holiday, which included the Jamaica highlights above.  If you are thinking about a Jamaica holiday then CLICK THROUGH to purchase (note – I am an Amazon affiliate member and will receive a small commission if you do buy, but it won’t cost you any extra. Thanks!)

Our day by day Jamaica itinerary

Accommodation Type/s: We spent most of our 14 days in Jamaica in Negril, where we arranged a home swap through Home Exchange.com. Our 4 bedroom apartment was located at the cliff end and we had a live-in housekeeper who would cook us up delicious local food.  Other than Negril, we spent 2 nights in Treasure Beach on our way back to Kingston.

Our day by day Jamaica itinerary included the Jamaica highlights described above.

Transport used: We hired a car at Kingston Airport.

Day 1: We broke up the long drive from Kingston to Negril with an awesome river cruise in Black River.  H loved getting up so close to the crocodiles.

Days 2 to 6: My uncle had hopped over from USA and we spent our days on Seven Mile Beach, Negril – soaking up the sun and a Red Stripe or 3.

Day 7: Scrambling up the waterfalls and river at Mayfield Falls.  Hiring a guide to carry Zizi was perfect, so we could concentrate on keeping H safe and our own balance. The drive between Mayfield Falls and Negril provided some spectacular scenery on the way too!

Days 8 and 9: More beach-time.  We revisited our favourites, like Rick’s Cafe where you could watch the locals dive off the cliffs from terrifying heights.

Day 10: A day-trip to YS Falls where we admired the views, splashed around in the shallow pools and Da even flew through the air on a rope swing before an ungraceful splash!

Days 11 to 13: A change of venue to Treasure Beach, which was much more relaxed than the more tourist-loaded Negril.  We walked, talked and enjoyed the seafood and sunsets.

Day 14: Popping in for lunch at Little Ochie Seafood restaurant on our drive back to Kingston was inspired.  The kitchen looked basic but the fresh fish was delicious.

DID YOU KNOW?  As well as Usain Bolt dominating male sprinting, Jamaican female athletes have had a huge amount of recent success in the early 21st Century.  Merlene Ottey, Veronica Campbell, Shelly-Ann Fraser and others have shown their strength and talents on the global athletic stage.

 

Welcome to the World for a Girl community. Please share your own ideas, comments and thoughts about Jamaica family travel. Do you agree with our Jamaica highlights or do you have others to add? Did you do a similar Jamaica itinerary or could you recommend an alternative one? What tips do you have for Jamaica family travel?