First Trip to Jamaica for my 30th Birthday, just wanted to say hi :)

[Manda81]

Jim-Donna - Thank you for the pre birthday wishes it's bitter sweet I can't wait for it because that means I'm closer to my trip and at the same time my 20's will be over!! lol

Michele - I've heard of Scotchies on another website review but glad to see a poster here suggest it for some reason just seems like solid advice! It definitely sounds like Seastar is the place to be on a Saturday night and although it will be my first night and there will be so much catching up to do with Andre I'm sure he wont mind if I drag him around to the party lol ahhh i'm so excited!

Clarity! HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!! And thank you for that picture grrr lol I'll be drooling now for the next 39 days! lol I do look forward to posting my own Trip Report but how could I possibly live up to yours and your husbands recounting of your experience ! I'll have to bring a journal with me I think lol Lucky for me I'll be in the passenger seat possibly with a pillow on my lap to cover my face during extremely terrifying auto experiences lol

[Ohio_Buckeye_1]

Manda81 - Just to clear up the couple remaining questions you had:
1) Electricity is same as USA/Canada so no converters needed.

2) Gas prices in Jamaica are a little confusing for us Americans because is priced per liter (and of course in $J), which we are not used to - I forget whether Canada uses $/Gal or $/L.
For doing in-head calculations, using 1Gal=3.785L, and about $85J-$1US - you just take the posted Jamaican gas price per Litre, divide it by 100 and multiply by 4.5.
So for instance if price is posted as $100J - in-head calculation makes it about $4.50US/Gal - pretty easy.
That's about what the price was when I was there in March - so Jamaican gas prices were about 25% higher than in USA, at least for me in Ohio. Maybe someone else can post recent prices?

3) Your budget of $75,000J for the week should be good, assuming you have pre-paid for hotels. That works out to about $US125/day.
Of course you could easily blow that budget on high-end dining - but it sounds like you plan on eating where the Jamaicans eat, and splurging just a couple times.
Near the end of your trip, if you happen to find yourself running low, you could pay for gas and some food with credit cards - conserving cash for the small places that don't take credit cards. You actually get the official conversion rate as it fluctuates throughout the day - which is a great deal. Of course if your credit card charges the foreign transaction fee, only a few don't - that sucks - you still have time to order one that does not.

4) The reason everyone says to use cambio or bank and exchange dollars for Jamaican - not airport, hotels, restaurants, merchants - is that cambios/banks give closest to official exchange rate.
Any other merchants can choose whatever rate they want - and frequently do.
So even if the official rate is say 84-1, a merchant might just give you 75-1 and not have it posted anywhere prominently. It's not illegal or a rip-off, just the penalty you pay for not using their currency. And between paying in dollars and getting change in Jamaican, you will be confused and lose on both ends of the transaction.

[Manda81]

Ohio_Buckeye-Thanks soo much that was a great help the gas here in Canada are per litre and so even in the states I was always unsure of how it compared to ours but that certainly helps as well as the clarification on the voltage since I'd prefer to pack as less as possible and as a woman I tend to over pack! lol I've prepaid for my hotels already so the budget is strickly for food/drink/activities and I plan on eating mainly were locals eat, plus the 3 days will be at my friends place where we plan on cooking our own food. He has promised me some Jamaican cooking lessons which I'm thoroughly excited about

When I land in Mobay we are driving straight to Negril do you have a suggestion on which bank/cambios that I should go to is there one on the way or right in Negril that we should stop at on the way to our hotel? If you haven't noticed I'm a bit of a planner lol but with the small things the fun I like to be spontaneous Just want to get the best deals on food exchange rate so that my budget for FUN is as much as possible.

Thanks for your help it's been very informative!

[Maryann]

Hi, Manda. Welcome to the board! Your first trip to Jamaica sounds like it is going to be the trip of a lifetime. CocoLaPalm should be able to exchange money for you at a good rate. You must visit Rick's at least once. I go to Rick's at least once while I'm visiting Negril. Never eat there, as the food is very mediocre. Usually just have a couple of beers, watch the cliff jumpers and people, and then usually head to LTU or Pushcart, also on the west end, for dinner and sunset. Make sure to try a dirty banana! Hope you'll tell us all about your trip when you get back. We live for trip reports! Lol!

[Manda81]

Thanks for the tip on the food I was wondering about how the food was at Rick's also is The Rock House worth going to for dinner?

I was wondering and this might be a silly question but can I just buy beer at a Market somewhere and bring it into my room so that I'm not having to buy a beer at the bar every time I would like a cold one ?

[smith744]

can I just buy beer at a Market somewhere and bring it into my room so that I'm not having to buy a beer at the bar every time I would like a cold one ?

yep yep

the fact of the matter IS::>> in Jamaica, for the most part, you can buy beer almost ANY-place, except @ church
...even can get beer @ police station

another nice thing::>> it's ok to walk-around with beer/liquor/booze in your hand/cup/bottle

[Manda81]

Really? at a police station? haha I would love to get a picture buying a beer at the cop shop !

[Maryann]

Manda, Rockhouse is spendy but a great place to have dinner. Pushcart is next door and less expensive but doesn't have quite the romantic vibe.

[Manda81]

Thanks Maryann I'm not sure I really need a romantic vibe being that I'm travelling with a friend I had seen the pictures and thought it might be a great place to have dinner during sunset because of the view. Being that Push Cart is next door do they have outdoor sitting that allows for an equally wonderful view of the sunset?

[marley9808]

Yes! Basically same view as they both are on the same property and right on the edge of the cliffs. Rockhouse is gorgeous and the restaurant there is very nice, wonderful view, vibe, food and drinks. Pushcart is just down the path and has the same great view but is more of a local type fare. More laid back vibe, sometimes a band and they serve more local or yardie type foods with a little fancy flare to it.
IMO, they are both great places, will just depend on what you are in the mood for.

Also GREAT places to eat for sunset are LTU pub (just next to Ricks) and Ivans which is the restaurant at Catcha Falling Star and is either similar in price to RockHouse or maybe just a tad more at dinner but in my opinion has the best view and food of all of them!


No matter what you do, really, you are going to have a GREAT time....once you get there you will realize that 1) Its hard to make and keep plans and 2) there will always be a bigger list of things you want to do and see than you have time for, dont stress it, just look at it as reasons to come back!
I will be making my 11th trip in October and somehow I still always have reasons to come back

Have a great time!