Here's a final recap for anyone who is interested in doing this on the up-and-up.

First of all, to do a complete scatter/burial at sea, keep in mind that the ashes of a 200 lb. person are going to weigh about 6-8 lbs. Call your airline to see whether human cremains should be put in checked baggage or carry-on. (American requires them in carry-on bags.) You will need a TSA-approved urn, which is one that the scanners can see through. Because I was doing a full burial at sea, not a scatter, I purchased online a biodegradable urn made of paper and some extra bags (which are made of cornstarch and also degrade) because these bags are not all that sturdy. The urn for an adult is about 12" square, maybe a tad larger. If you are freaked out about transferring the ashes from a permanent urn (if you have one), some funeral homes will do this for you. I contacted one who did it for me, so I never had to see the ashes.

The urn WILL be subject to additional screening and will be swabbed. Plan to bring certified copy of original death certificate and copy of cremation certificate.

Thanks to Negril.com boardie Kold Ass Mofo for information about the transit permit. IF your luggage is NOT searched, you are home free. But if your luggage is searched, and you DON'T have a transit permit, the urn will be confiscated and held at Customs until you get it. And here is the Catch-22. You have to have the permit when you are at Customs. Some drivers will do this for you for an additional fee. But the driver will be outside and you will be at Customs...so how do you get it?

I found a service in Negril that I will not name here because they are not an advertiser. I paid them to do the logistics and Fedex the permit and original documents back to me. You can e-mail a PDF of the death certificate and cremation certificate, along with where you are staying and your arrival information (dated, fight #) to the St. James Health Department. My contact there was Sheronie Foster-Barrett (moh.secstj@gmail.com). Do this a few weeks before your arrival. It will have to be signed by the Medical Officer.

There is a $J7000 fee for the permit, which is about $55-$60, depending on the exchange rate. You cannot get the permit without the receipt for payment, and the payment is NOT made to the Health Department, but to the St. James Municipal Corporation, which is the Parish council. There, you have to show the same documents in order to get the receipt, then take the receipt back to the St. James Health Department to get the permit.

I opened a Fedex account so I was able to get the folks who took care of this for me to send me the permit in advance of my trip. This way, if they checked my luggage, I would have the permit. It was about $100 each way for Fedex, so this was not exactly cheap. But I am an anxious person and I wanted to make sure I would get through without a hassle.

Everything went without a hitch, someone reached out to me about a guy who had no issues with taking us out to sea to do this, and it all worked out great.

So if anyone decides they want to do this for a loved one, and needs more information, just send me a PM.