Time to look elsewere

[Rumlover]

alix, I’ve been traveling to Negril for more than 30 years and we travel to many many other places in the world too. Yes, Negril has changed over the years but so has every other place we travel too. If you use the same common sense you you use in any new location you should be fine. Don’t wear flashy jewelry don’t carry more cash than you need too and decline drugs with a “no thank you, I don’t do drugs”. Get to know people working at your hotel or resort and discuss any concerns and any needs you have with them. They will give you direction if you need it. Our Jamaican friends and acquaintances have always watched out for us and give us great advice. I’m sure you will have a great vacation!!

[RyanP]

I'm traveling to Negril in Dec with my husband and 2 adult daughters and I must say that reading these comments make me very uncomfortable. What I find most disconcerting is the lack of specific information that might help us to be more aware and how to avoid trouble. What EXACTLY is going on in Negril? Stabbings? Rape? Getting jumped as tourists walk to a restaurant and robbed and beaten? Taxi drivers taking you to unknown places and stealing your money? or worse? I've read all the comments and haven't found specific examples or situations that I might avoid to ensure our safety. Also, the same people comment in this thread about feeling unsafe, are the same ones who assured me in my own previous thread that I had nothing to worry about.

We're not naive travellers but I get that even the most astute can become victims. I currently live in what is considered the "most violent city in Canada" where a**h*** kids or young adults are randomly macheting people, swarming stores to rob them blindly, meth is fueling rage and violence beyond anyone imagination. It's totally out of control but I also know that by avoiding certain areas and groups of people I'm safer then if I'm hanging outside the bar at 2:00 am lipping off to an angry gang ready to curb stomp any one who looks at them the wrong way. I also know a lot of the violence is a result of addictions and they're turning on each other so the numbers are skewed and the general public isn't as threatened as it may seem.

So again, my question is, what exactly is happening? And how do we stay safe? What and who do we avoid?

All of this is very concerning, but violence is rarely targeted towards tourists. Daylight hours are safe, but I would start making my way back towards home base around 8p or so. You are generally safe all hours, but this is to minimize risk to a level that you should not be concerned.

[Ras Walleye]

This was likely not random. No "tourists" were involved. This kind of violence is always concerning. Tell me, do you read the police blotter of every place you travel. If you did you would probably stay home. Use the same common sense you would use anywhere. Enjoy yourself, but don't get drunk, stoned and stupid. Use the drivers at your hotel or a trusted route driver to get you around safely. It's the best money you will spend.

[Accompong]

I'm traveling to Negril in Dec with my husband and 2 adult daughters and I must say that reading these comments make me very uncomfortable. What I find most disconcerting is the lack of specific information that might help us to be more aware and how to avoid trouble. What EXACTLY is going on in Negril? Stabbings? Rape? Getting jumped as tourists walk to a restaurant and robbed and beaten? Taxi drivers taking you to unknown places and stealing your money? or worse? I've read all the comments and haven't found specific examples or situations that I might avoid to ensure our safety. Also, the same people comment in this thread about feeling unsafe, are the same ones who assured me in my own previous thread that I had nothing to worry about.

We're not naive travellers but I get that even the most astute can become victims. I currently live in what is considered the "most violent city in Canada" where a**h*** kids or young adults are randomly macheting people, swarming stores to rob them blindly, meth is fueling rage and violence beyond anyone imagination. It's totally out of control but I also know that by avoiding certain areas and groups of people I'm safer then if I'm hanging outside the bar at 2:00 am lipping off to an angry gang ready to curb stomp any one who looks at them the wrong way. I also know a lot of the violence is a result of addictions and they're turning on each other so the numbers are skewed and the general public isn't as threatened as it may seem.

So again, my question is, what exactly is happening? And how do we stay safe? What and who do we avoid?

Bad news travels fast and a lot of the people on the board are repeat visitors so realize that they often know of the people involved and post their condolences which keeps the thread alive unlike positive posts that tend to sink into the oblivion. Jamaica has a population slightly larger than Toronto and the majority of that population is (obviously) in the big cities and Negril is not one of them.

Tourists are pretty much a protected species in Negril as it behooves the local businesses to keep it that way to avoid the negative affects of bad press and travel advisories. Most of the violent crime is Jamaican on Jamaican and, occasionally, a person who stays long-term around Jamaicans and less frequently a tourist in the wrong place at the wrong time. If you use the same common sense that you would at home, you should be quite safe and enjoy a nice vacation.

Respect.

[brownsd54]

Well said Accompong (as usual).
Alix, I have read your post several times and I believe I can pick out the city where you live based on what is happening there. We live in Brandon (and I policed Brandon for 33 years). Meth has taken over Brandon with a vengeance and everything you have described is going on in Brandon as well. Having said that, and I am 100% sure of this, I feel safer here in Negril than I do at home in Manitoba. Things are happening here in Negril but crimes against a tourist are almost non existent. My wife and myself drive around in an open air covertable. We have circumnavigated the island twice. We don't live a high risk live style, and we have never felt unsafe. In fact just the opposite. In Canada we meet on the street and we say "how's it going". It's more of a greeting than an actual question, and I swear if we ever stopped and told people how we were really doing the response you'd get would be......"Ya, let me know how that works out for you". In Negril, if you ever told someone that you were having a bad day, your car broke down, you have a flat tire, ran out of gas, you'd have so many Jamaican's trying to help out it would be crazy. One day my wife stopped to chat with the wickerman that we have know for years. She just let it slip out that she was having problems with her bicycle. 40 minutes later the wickerman is at the door with the bike repair guy (from under his tree) to fix her bike. That is truly what it is like in Negril. So there is a little humor to bring some light to a rather dark thread.
Alix those bad things you spoke of in your post may have happened, maybe not. If they did happen it was over a very long stretch of time and maybe a long time ago.
Alix, come to Jamaica, be happy, be careful, but be happy. Maybe you be one of those return visitors everyone is talking about.

[captaind]

For me there is no elsewhere. I love cruising for vacation but there is no elsewhere when it comes to Jamaica.

Cap

[alix]

Thank you everyone for your reassurances. In 2018 we were in both Bloody Bay (one week) and Seven Mile (one afternoon) and there was definitely a different feel between them. We loved Jamaica and it’s people. We met others who visit Jamaica long term and these are the ones who interested us the most, so when I’m reading that people are maybe looking elsewhere I had more questions. My husband is retired and I can retire in 2 years, but I love my job so I don’t want to retire without a solid plan (hence a second trip to Jamaica, and not AI).

All your tips are well taken, and common sense will prevail.

brownsd54, I’m sure you do know my city – we made national news, several times ☹ Isn’t it sad what’s happening in our province? You’re right, it is a dark thread and I appreciate your telling of what is probably the true nature of Negril and its people.

Accompong, in my limited experience in Jamaica I can tell you the “tourists are a protected species in Negril” would definitely be a correct statement. What you describe for crime (Jamaican on Jamaican and, occasionally, a person who stays long-term around Jamaicans and less frequently a tourist in the wrong place at the wrong time) is typical of most places in the world.

16 days until we return to Jamaica. Time to put all the worrisome thoughts behind and focus on the Negril we loved in 2018.

[Captain Oil]

You could be in the wrong place at the wrong time no matter where you are. Here is a perfect example: super "safe" area in So.West Florida ........... bad guys rob a jewelry store, hi-jack a UPS truck and driver, get caught in a gunfight with police ....... results are the 2 bad guys DEAD, UPS driver DEAD ............ and a totally innocent passenger in a near by car which was stuck in traffic DEAD......... tragic for sure, but a scary part of daily life. Negril no better or worst than the vast majority of the world.

https://www.nbc-2.com/story/41415221...r-police-chase

[rtitle]

Alix, you mentioned retirement; are you and hubby thinking of retiring to Jamaica? I did that, or more precisely, am in the process of doing that, having recently bought a home in Westmoreland to retire to. It's an adventure. Not scared off by the crime (yet). Drop me a PM if you'd like to chat.

These days I don't go into Negril so often. Shopping is better done in Sav or MoBay, and beaches with less hassle can be found elsewhere in Westmoreland. If I go to Negril it's to go out for a nice restaurant meal or to meet up with friends. There's always been a lot of hassling in Negril, in my experience. My impression is that the aggressive hassling is more annoying than dangerous. Rarely, there is an actual assault, but mostly it's just the hustlers running through their playbook of ways to get money from tourists ("first let's try appealing to pity, then let's try scaring them..."). Whatever works. Which is why I say don't give money to hustlers, ever. It's like feeding the ducks at the local pond. If you do, soon your pond is overrun with ducks looking to be fed.

When I bought the house I thought I might occasionally go into Negril to party, but in fact I don't do that. Mainly because it's too darn scary to be travelling home late at night. Jamaicans in general lock up their homes (padlocked gates, grates around all windows and doors for security) and stay home at night. It's not like the US where I would think nothing of driving home at midnight from a night out in Boston. In Jamaica, the roads are bad, there are no services available at night, and while most people are nice, there *are* some criminals out there. Driving by checkpoints with machine-gun-wielding soldiers reminds you of that. So mostly I stay in at night. Which isn't bad since I've made some local friends I can hang out with.

Here's a little anecdote related to all this. Back in August, I was hanging out at home with one of those Jamaican friends, a young woman from Sav who was planning on staying the night. We were just enjoying an evening at home: a meal, glasses of wine, music. She gets a phone call: a friend of her family has just been shot dead in Sav! She wants to go be with her grieving family. Normally I wouldn't go out driving at night like that, but under the circumstances I thought I should drive her home. So I grab car keys and go. Now, I don't see so well at night, so I drive slow. On the way back from Sav, I got one of those aggressive drivers in a big vehicle with high beams on right on my tail like he wants me to go faster. Roads are narrow and bad so he couldn't pass. Flustered by the whole situation, I somehow made a wrong turn and wound up on an unfamiliar road. Then I hit one of those monster potholes and blew out a tire. Pulled over and thought "oh sh*t". Here I was, violating every safety rule in the book. Lost in rural Westmoreland with a broke-down car late at night and not entirely sober. Returning from a trip to Sav that was precipitated by a murder. I hadn't even grabbed my cellphone before I headed out, which I would normally rely on for maps or to call for help if needed. This could have been really bad.

This is where the "most people are nice" comes into play. Someone came out of a house and offered assistance, and he was soon joined by a couple other guys. They helped change my tire and got me pointed in the right direction to get home. They were very nice and we exchanged numbers and I made some new friends.

So it ended well.

Peace and love,

Richard (still alive)

[DaxShepherd]

Well said.