A thing for reggae music and/or Bob Marley is another Jamaican attraction, but you’re more likely to hear young Jamaican girls singing the latest American pop song – even country and western! – than a Marley tune.  The people are reasonably friendly, although it’s a very poor country, so, like all such countries, you’ll often find people working you way too hard to buy their typical tourist goods. And while crime is worst in Kingston, it’s an island wide issue, although you should be safe in your resort enclave (but use the in room safe).

One aggravation, and one big reason why Jamaica is so poor, is the short term “Get ‘em while you can thinking”. So the first thing you’ll encounter in Jamaica is overpriced, non-negotiable taxi fares. $28 to Kingston from the Kingston airport, and $25 from the airport at Montego Bay to your resort which might be 10 or 15 minutes away. On a per mile basis, taxis are more expensive in Jamaica than in the US, which doesn’t make a lot of sense, although petrol prices in Jamaica are much higher. And I’ve been in cabs that seemed literally on the brink of falling apart.

You’ll get better deals if you charter a taxi, which you’ll often have to do if you’re moving around the island. Locals take buses, but, believe me, you don’t want to join them. Charter rates are somewhat negotiable, but will often be on the order of $75-$130 US to move between, say, Kingston and Negril, or Negril to Montego Bay. For much longer trips, like between the airports you’re looking at longer travel times and a higher fare. Jamaica is a two tier society, which is a fancy way of saying they try to screw “rich” tourists at every turn. If you visit the famous falls at Ocho Rios, you’ll find that locals pay about $6 US, while everyone else pays $20.  Hotels often provide very significant discounts to those with a Jamaican ID. But taxis are the worst; a short drive that might cost a local a couple dollars will cost a foreigner $25. If you’re feeling a little adventurous and want to try the Jamaican system, then ask where the local taxi stand is. But beware; these places are chaotic, with a very informal system, which often requires a taxi to get multiple passengers before it will leave. And then it might drive over a median to actually reach the road. And a local taxi from a taxi stand will usually only be allowed to travel within a defined geographic area; so Jamaicans often have to switch taxis even if they’re not going all that far.

It’s always worthwhile to find a taxi driver you think is fair and you’re comfortable traveling with. Safety on the roads is a real concern as well, as we’ve spent a couple hours in a small taxi fearing for our life, as the driver passed every vehicle on the road. You may have bought into the “laid back Jamaica” vibe (see below), but Jamaica’s taxi drivers generally have not, and this is doubly scary due to the Jamaican custom of people, including children, selling food while standing in the middle of the road with absolutely no protection.  We recommend On Time taxi; which, somewhat remarkable for a country like Jamaica, is usually on time.

And while we’re on the subject, let’s talk about time. I’ve heard that there are people less punctual than Jamaicans, but I haven’t actually encountered them. I can’t speak to business, but socially the women of Jamaica run anywhere from occasionally and miraculously on time, to hours late, the latter being more common than the former.  It’s not a cliché to say that Jamaicans have a different idea of time, and to a large extent this is because so many are unemployed, or not part of some system that has trained them, for better or worse, to watch the clock. A Jamaican that has a job, or even is going to school, is more likely to adhere to first world ideas of punctuality than one who does not.  And before you go off on how cool it is that Jamaicans aren’t slaves to the clock, you might try waiting a couple hours at the airport to get picked up, or sitting alone in a restaurant for an hour waiting for your date. Not really so cool.

Part of the reason that Jamaicans often run late when meeting with foreigners is that they are actually coming from further away than the area they identify. They may say they live in Kingston, Mandeville, or Montego Bay only because those are well known areas; in fact, they may really live outside those areas in fringe towns or more rural outlying areas. So if someone says they’re coming from “Kingston” try to find out where they really are; could be very near by, or quite far away.

But all of this begs an important question; what really makes for a worthwhile trip, one that justifies the inevitable hassles and expense of traveling?  Does it make sense to travel to Jamaica if you learn nothing about Jamaican culture or society? Maybe it does, if your idea of a grand time is walking around nude at the Grand Lido resort in Negril, and drinking pina colodas by the ocean.  That doesn’t happen to be our idea of a good time, although Bloody Bay is certainly a beautiful beach. We love splashing around in the warm, clear Caribbean sea, but many travelers don’t even take advantage of this easy pleasure. It’s amazing to us the scene we recently saw at the Cyobarra resort; with a beautiful, shallow ocean just steps away, there was no one in that crystal clear water. Instead, the very small and completely mundane pool was crowded. C’mon people; you travel all this way to the Caribbean and then go to the little pool instead of the ocean?

And speaking of the ocean, one thing you’ll learn, if you actually bother speaking to any Jamaicans other than to say “Ketchup, please!” you might learn that most can’t swim. Seems a little bizarre, since Jamaica is a small island surrounded by the sea, and no one is more than a couple hours from the water. In fact, even though you will never know it from reading tourist guides, there is ocean and beach right at the foot of the rough and tumble city of Kingston! Only locals go.  Not only can’t they swim, but they are often afraid of the ocean, which might makes sense if they were surrounded by the type of fierce and blustery Atlantic ocean, but, hey, we’re talking about an ocean that has little or no waves, generally crystal clear water, and is often shallow enough so that you can walk out 50 yards and still be in waist deep water. This is the gentlest ocean you’ll ever find, like swimming in grandma’s bathtub, yet you’ll still hear the locals act as if it was as dangerous as a bad section of Kingston at 2AM.

Another surprise is that these days you’ll actually find some Jamaicans at Jamaican resorts, as well as black Americans. It used to be simple to tell who worked at the resort and who was a guest – if they had white skin, they were American guests. If they had black skin, they were Jamaican employees. Not so simple anymore, as at least some Jamaicans and black Americans are able to afford a Caribbean vacation.

If you’re an Attitude Media reader, you know we’re all about intelligent, calculated risk taking, whether in travel or any other areas of life, like investing. You know that we’re always looking to get away from the crowd, not go with the crowd. In Jamaica the crowd is at the beach, not without reason, as this island nation is surrounded by water and has a lot of beautiful beaches. But what most people don’t know is that Jamaica also has some stunning, truly beautiful mountain areas. Specifically, the Blue Mountains, which are actually green and verdant.  They’re about 45 minutes outside Kingston, but a completely different world. How different? At night, from a distance, way up high, the lights of Kingston sparkle, and this mundane, gritty city actually looks beautiful. If you know Kingston, you know that’s a miracle. The blue mountains are where green mountain coffee is grown. We recommend the Strawberry Hill resort, owned by former Island Records founder Chris Blackwell, and at the very top of one of the highest peaks.  The resort is small, the rooms a bit dated, and service moves at a Jamaican pace, but the views from the porches off the cottages can’t be beat.  There’s not a lot to do up here, but bring a bottle of wine, and drink in the views.