Renting a car ?

[wrtiii]

With so many excellent drivers available at very reasonable rates, I can't imagine why I would want to rent a car. I don't want the stress of learning the works of driving in Ja. Just seems like a hassle, and one accident would make the trip a lot less pleasant.

[rtitle]

I usually rent a car when I go. However this next trip (leaving Saturday) will be for about a month and it gets expensive to rent for that long. So I am going to bring my bicycle (!) (folding bike, can be checked on a plane) and I will try getting around that way. Wish me luck in not getting killed by a crazy driver!

Since I own a home there and will be in Jamaica about 50% of the time for the next few years, I looked into buying a car. Man it's expensive in Jamaica! I also looked into bringing my own car from the US. Also expensive: Jamaican government wants between 60% and 100% of the cars value in import tax alone! Now I understand why car rental in Jamaica is so expensive compared to the US - the cars themselves cost at least twice as much.

So I'll try bicycle . I like being independent and I don't like negotiating/haggling with someone every time I want to go down the road to buy some milk or a light bulb or something. That's why I don't like taxis or hired drivers. If they had Uber there I'd use that, but they don't.

Bicycles are better for the environment anyway.

[rtitle]

All that said, renting a car is quite do-able. Here are some tips:

Generally you're better off not using the "name" rental companies at the airport and instead find some local car-rental guy. I can give you the name & number of the guy I've used in the past (Timeless Car Rental; their office is in MoBay not far from the airport). They are decent.

Like many things in Jamaica, car rental there is a bit different from the US. In the US, it's pretty much pick-up-and-go, drop-off-and-go. In Jamaica, expect a big time-consuming production at both ends. At drop-off they will check *everything* e.g. they'll open the trunk and check if you stole the spare tire (!?). Often they'll hassle you for supposed damage you did (even if you didn't) and threaten to charge your card for damage. When they do that they are looking for bribes. Timeless never did that to me (that's why I said they are decent) but pretty much every major rental car company in the airport (Budget, Hertz, etc) have done that to me in the past. Sigh. The country in general is pretty corrupt and the workers at the rental car companies are no exception.

The main problem with driving in Jamaica is not driving on the left (easily adjusted to) but instead it's the condition of the roads. In the US you can pretty much daydream about anything while you're driving. E.g. I can be thinking about a software problem I will solve when I get to work, as I drive in. Not so in Jamaica. You have to *concentrate* on the driving. Or else you will hit a pot-hole, blow out a tire or worse, and then you're f***ed. So you pretty much have to re-learn to drive. It's not too hard but you need to focus on it and do it. Also you really need to be sober when you drive, even more so than in the US, or you will get yourself killed. (Gosh I wish Uber existed in Jamaica. That's my main use case for Uber in the US! ).

Peace and love,

Richard

[rtitle]

Re: "roads are not marked well": True but Google Maps works in Jamaica. Thank god (or google?!) for technology.