Do’s and Don’ts of Cruising Jamaica

Port Morant Windmill

Before we sail to a new country there is a tremendous amount of research involved: cruising guides, charts, travel guides for land travel, language, money, etc. One invaluable resource is blogs written by other cruisers, especially if they were written recently (within a few years or since a major storm). We couldn’t find many blogs discussing Jamaica in detail as it isn’t a destination for most sailors so in case future cruisers are googling “jamaica sailing blog”, here are some tips from spending two months in the country.

Delivered by "Bananaman", Port Antonio

DON’T fear for your safety. Jamaica may have been an unsafe place for cruisers decades ago but this is no longer true. Just be a smart traveller, just as you would in any other country.

DON’T just stop at Port Antonio on your way north or south. This is typically the only stop most cruisers make in Jamaica and although it is beautiful and has a nice marina, it really doesn’t do the island justice. If you are just passing through consider also stopping at Port Morant to the south east. Not only is it a port of entry/exit, it is extremely well protected, there is a navy outpost nearby with free drinking water and a better supermarket than Port Antonio a short taxi ride away. Jamaicans here are extremely friendly and there is a beautiful walk through the neighbouring villages with incredible gardens. Not to mention that nobody tried to hustle us - this may have been our favourite place in Jamaica!

South Coast

DO bring spare parts with you. You will probably only be one of a handful of sailboats in the country and there are no marine stores with sailboat parts. There are lots of sport fishing boats around Kingston and we heard rumours of one marine store in Kingston targeting these boats. If you need something important you’ll have to find a way to get it from somewhere else.

DO spend a few days in Kingston. The “Town” is the beating heart of Jamaica and while it’s not a typical tourist stop there are still some cool things to do: Devon House, Hope Gardens, downtown, Port Royal, or head up into the Blue Mountains. We found the busses and route taxis to be an easy and inexpensive way around the city. We anchored near the Royal Jamaican Yacht Club (usually full) for about a week and we and the boat were completely safe. It’s also close to the beautiful cays just outside Kingston harbour such as Lime Cay and Maiden Cay.

Lush Saint Thomas Parish

DON’T worry about provisioning, fuel, and water. The food available in Jamaica is up there with some of the best in the Caribbean. Of course, not everything is available all the time, but most supermarkets stock all of the basics, plus a wide selection of products imported from the UK (Cadburys!), and some of the best selection of vegetarian food targeted at the rasta population. Fuel can be purchased at the dock in Kingston and other marinas or jerry canned from gas stations anywhere in the country. Water is available almost everywhere and according to one marine policeman, Jamaica is the only Caribbean country where cruise ships will fill their tanks.

DO be patient with hustlers. Every town in Jamaica has them. These are the people selling weed, massages, hair braiding, tours, cuban cigars, sex, hats, coconut water, sunglasses, or just to draw you in by asking where you’re from or giving a fist bump. Jamaicans believe that every person deserves respect so it is considered rude to ignore or walk away abruptly. Be ready to say “no thank you” a lot or simply “I don’t need anything today”. We found the most hustlers in Ocho Rios and the fewest in places with fewer tourists like Kingston.

Banana Trees

DO visit the south coast. This is incredible cruising. Clear blue water and dozens of calm anchorages all to yourself. Our favourites were the Portland Cays, Whitehouse, and the Cays near Port Royal.

DON’T worry about red tape. Jamaica is a very formal country in terms of clearance procedures. For instance you absolutely cannot leave the boat until you have been inspected by the Quarantine officer and you have lowered your yellow flag. When we arrived we also needed to have a stack of forms completed by Customs as well as Immigration. But once this was complete we were issued a cruising permit and three month visa and didn’t need to meet with any more officials until we left. The marine police occasionally paid us a visit to check paperwork but were always extremely friendly and courteous.

Ever-Present Jamaican Goat

DO get off the boat and take inland tours. Tour a coffee plantation in the Blue Mountains. Blue Mountain coffee is excellent and when you go to the source you can easily find 100% Blue Mountain Coffee as opposed to the blends you get in the supermarket. Tour the Appleton rum distillery with Rasta George from Black River or go to YS Falls or Dunn’s falls. Tours can sometimes be pricey when you factor in transportation, guide, and a meal, but prices are usually negotiable.

A Rare Cloudy Day

*** Bonus for Non-Cruisers ***

There is certainly a time and a place for all inclusives. Several of the hotel guests we spoke to were looking for something different for their next holiday. If you’re looking for something more unique, consider either staying somewhere off-resort (for example, google Treasure Beach or independent hotels in Negril) or it is now possible to circumnavigate the island by land using the very comfortable Knutsford Express bus service or route taxis.  Budget a couple weeks for this but be prepared to abandon your plans when you find a place you love.

Jamaica is an island unlike any other in the Caribbean and you’d probably be hardpressed to find anywhere like it in the world.

Negril - Hello White People

Rock House, Negril

During the first couple of weeks in Jamaica we saw very few tourists. In fact, in Kingston kids would greet us with “Hello White People!” As we approached the west coast of the island this quickly started to change. At the small town of Whitehouse, we encountered the controversial new Sandals South Coast resort, oddly marketed as a series of European villages on the beach, in Jamaica. You can take a room in the French, Italian, or Dutch quarters and eat at restaurants serving that style of food. There is also the newly opened suites on stilts over the water where you can have an outdoor bath or shower after your swim in the sea. As this was a very posh all-inclusive it was all off-limits to us. Mum was disappointed we couldn’t just go and buy a pastry from the French bakery! We were allowed to use the beach as all Jamaican beaches are public property. But as soon as we neared the hotel area the bored security guards sprang into action and started radioing each other “dirty sailors approaching the French Quarter”. We chose a private area far from the hotel for beach haircuts. Needless to say the American couple that ventured down to the far end were a bit caught off guard. 

Taking Advantage of Calm Winds to Fix the Sail

Loving Negril

The resort town of Negril is home to some of the largest all-inclusives in the country. It appears to have grown a bit since our Lonely Planet was published as adjectives like charming, unique, and quiet no longer seem to apply. The long white beaches and crystal clear water are incredible though and are enough to see past the hordes of drunk, sunburned vacationers. We anchored in the calm clear waters of Bloody Bay, so named for the whalers that would return with their catch and turn the waters red - not sure what is worse. It is also where the famous pirate “Black Jack” Rackam was captured by the British and taken back to Port Royal to be hung. 

Jamaican Breakfast: Ackee and Saltfish with Calaloo and all the trimmings

West End Negril

After a couple of days of swimming, strolling on the beach, and listening to Bob Marley tribute bands playing at the resorts in the evening, Mum’s trip came to an end and I flew** with her to England for a visit with my 103-year-old great aunt for a few weeks. James would be staying in Negril with the boat during that time. The following is his account of that time:

Negril was a lovely place to spend a few weeks relaxing in the sun and getting a few boat jobs done. It was flat and usually calm or with just a gentle breeze while the tradewinds were howling across the rest of the Caribbean. The boat and I quickly blended into the background in the eyes of the Jamaicans working in the area and people soon stopped asking me if I wanted to buy weed or lobster. The other tourists were very curious and would often drop by in a kayak or paddleboat to ask where I was from and what I was doing there. It was rare to see other cruisers but I befriended a lovely Kiwi family on a trawler and we got together a few times for drinks and dinner. They even gave me a huge bag of ice to go with my ginger beer, patties, and coco bread! It was enough to get me by until my co-captain returned.

Curious Negril Dolphins

Crystal Clear and Dead Calm

** Note: Flying did involve a trip to the airport in Montego Bay which has recently issued a state of emergency and travel advisories put in place by Canada and the UK. The inside story is that St. James Parish where Montego Bay is located has been suffering from an increased rate of crime for several years now and the state of emergency was necessary in order for the government to allocate more resources for dealing with this crime. The criminals are mostly well-known to the government and members of gangs operating in very specific neighbourhoods. Montego Bay and Jamaica in general are very safe for tourists with tourist crime usually limited to petty theft or harassment by street vendors. Most Jamaicans we spoke with were very supportive of the state of emergency so that the known criminals could finally be apprehended. Strangely, and sadly, a lot of the money funding the criminals is reported to come from their operation of fake lottery scams targeting North American seniors (“you have won $1,000,000, we just need a wire transfer of $10,000 so you can claim your prize”). Maybe this is the story that should be on the front pages instead!

Black River

Bamboo Avenue

Black River was the next town we came to as we headed clockwise around Jamaica. With a population of little over 4000 people, we felt that almost all of them came to greet us as we pulled the dinghy up to dock alongside the river. This might be a bit of an exaggeration, but we were instantly bombarded with offers for tours, to buy wood carvings, to watch the dinghy, and more. All we really wanted was to get off the boat for a couple of hours and go for a walk and explore. But the best offer of all came when we stepped inside the town bakery: “would you like to try some coco bread?” came a voice from inside a metal cage (really, is this necessary? maybe) guarding the day’s fresh bread. We gladly accepted and bought two pieces of the fresh, warm, melt-in-your-mouth coco bread. What a treat!

Rasta George in Black River

We quickly decided that 20 minutes was enough to see everything there was to see in the town of Black River.

However, there was plenty to do in the surrounding countryside. The next day we found a shared taxi that could take us to the notorious YS Falls, a beautiful property in the hills with a cool river, several waterfalls, and some very nice natural pools for swimming.

YS Falls

The driver of the shared taxi spent his summers in my hometown of Niagara-on-the-Lake, picking fruit in an orchard owned by a family whose children I went to school with. As we drove along the country roads of Jamaica we reminisced with him about eating juicy warm peaches off the tree and his love of Tim Hortons coffee.

Neil: Taxi Driver in Winter, NOTL Fruit Picker in Summer

Long-tailed Doctorbirds

The following day we met “Rasta George”, a quiet, well-spoken Rastafarian with a car that took us to the Appleton Rum distillery. The Appleton tour had been closed for several months for renovation and had just re-opened. Although the entry fee was steep, the rum samples were very generous. Let’s just say we’re glad Rasta George was our designated driver.

Appletons!

Helping to Extract the Sugarcane Juice

Molasses Mmmmm...

Enjoying the Finished Product

On the way home we stopped for some much needed lunch in Middle Quarters and had a delicious shrimp curry, fried chicken, and peanut and bean soup with “festival” (big lumps of fried bread that we remembered from Haiti - similar to the hushpuppies of the southern USA). It was an incredible lunch and we certainly didn’t need much dinner.

Lunch in Middle Quarters

Curried Shrimp

On our final day in Black River we did the shopping and went for a dinghy ride up the Black River itself to see if we could spot some crocodiles. We did see a few, along with quite a few birds, and lots and lots of water vegetation (that would cost a lot of money at a garden centre to add to your water garden back home) that was being swept out to sea so it could get stuck on our boat.

Croc in Black River

Up the Black River

Black River

Black River

Our next destination was Whitehouse, home of Sandals South Coast. We were expecting a load obnoxious resort with music through the night but this place appears to be quite classy. The staff and resort-goers were all very friendly and curious about us and were fine about us taking the dinghy down past the resort to the stretch of deserted beach nearby (but quickly mobilized into action when there was a chance we might be walking towards the resort’s beach…). The anchorage was quite lovely and sheltered by a reef so we stayed a few days here before deciding to head around the corner to Negril. 

Heading to Negril

Going Where the Tradewinds Blow

Our Deserted Island

Many North Americans go to Jamaica looking for paradise in Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, and Negril. As it turns out, they’ve been looking in the wrong places. Paradise can be found just 15 miles west of Kingston, in the shadow of the Blue Mountains, in an isolated group of small islands in a big bay called Portland Bight.

Lime Cay

Each of the cays here were all inclusive: a stretch of fine white sand, a few mangroves, some pelicans, colourful fish, and surrounded in more shades of blue than one ever thought possible. And other than the occasional friendly Jamaican fisherman, we had all of these islands to ourselves.

Portland Bight

Over the next ten days we slipped into the kind of routine we had been longing for while sitting in the stinking hot Cartagena anchorage: In the morning we would wake up and have our coffee and breakfast while watching the sun rise and the fisherman head out in their colourful boats. We’d dinghy over to the nearest beach for a walk and go for a snorkel if it looked enticing. We’d come back to the boat for an early lunch before setting sail or motoring an hour or so to the next island. By this time in the afternoon it was often clouding up and mum would disappear down below to make us a cup of tea. If we were lucky, whoever was on dinner duty would have it ready just as the sun was slipping over the horizon, illuminating our island paradise in a soft orange glow.

We couldn’t get over the absence of other sailors in this area. Yes, Jamaica is off the usual north-south path for most people. And yes, the country does have a bad reputation for safety. But it is definitely undeserved in our opinion. Indeed if others knew what a beautiful experience we were having here they would be arriving by the dozens…. maybe we should keep this place secret a bit longer.

Perfect Beaches...

Rays

As it often does when we are in more remote locations, the beer running down meant it was time to think about moving on. We put out a sail and headed west with the trade winds…

A Jamaican Patty Tour of Kingston

Devon House, Kingston

After a year of sailing in South- and Central-American waters putting our feet on Jamaican soil felt like being back in the Caribbean. People were laid back and friendly, the food had spice, and the music had that familiar calypso beat. Better yet, checking in was easy and inexpensive. We anchored near the Royal Jamaican Yacht Club and used their dock to get to shore along with two German boats. Side note: RJYC is busier than ever with Jamaican sport-fish boats and as a result they don’t have much space for visitors. So you either anchor or tie up to the fuel dock and have boats that need fuel tie up to you!

Drinks at RJYC

RJYC is actually on the other side of Kingston Harbour near Port Royal. Port Royal was a Spanish/British stronghold back in the day and also welcomed all the famous pirates: Captain Morgan, Blackbeard, Charles Vane, and Black Jack Rackham (all accurately portrayed in the drama series Black Sails which we had just finished watching). Port Royal was totalled in an earthquake in 1692.

Delicious Jamaican Meal at the Beach House

But exploration of Kingston would have to wait we were off to the north coast of Jamaica to meet up with my friend Tracy and her family and pick up my mum who was finally able to join us in Jamaica!

Tracy had rented a beach house near Falmouth but as they had a car they were able to meet us in “Ochi”, Ocho Rios. It was convenient, being close to the “Blue Hole” with a river and waterfall. As it was raining, and would continue to rain non-stop for the next three days, the highlight of this stop was the fresh and delicious Jamaican patties we ate in the car. The beach house was lovely, but with the rain we were inside a lot, certainly taking advantage of the unlimited hot shower. It allowed us to see what the north coast waters looked like in a cold front - not pretty. It was a nice place for my mum to join as after an epic day of travelling she was dead on her feet.

Devon House in Kingston

After a wonderful visit we returned to Kingston and set about exploring the area. Kingston certainly has a bad reputation as being violent and unsafe. Perhaps this still holds in some of the areas within the city but I can say that where we went it certainly wasn’t the scary place it’s made out to be and Kingstonians welcomed us with a Good Morning and a big smile. We checked out Devon House, Hope Gardens, and took a route taxi up to a coffee plantation in the Blue Mountains for a tour and some of the smoothest coffee we’ve ever tasted. And of course we had to try patties all around the city to find a better patty than we had near the Blue Hole - we could not, although Devon House came close!

Coffee Plantation in the Blue Mountains

Have We Found Paradise?

We needed one more day to fuel up with diesel, water, propane, and groceries before we were on our way to the Cays…

Blue Mountain Coffee

Squalls, Breakages, and Blue Mountains - Jamaica Bound!

The Blue Mountains!

The distance from Cartagena to Kingston is 465 nautical miles, which is 861 kilometres, or a roadtrip from our home port of Toronto to my hometown of Niagara-on-the-Lake and on to Glen Cove, Long Island, New York where this adventure began. It was to be our longest passage, well in excess of the 375nm from Martinique to Los Roques we covered a year ago. While the road trip would take you about nine hours, plus time spent at the border explaining that the purpose of your visit to the United States was simply to see what driving 465 nautical miles felt like, we expected to arrive in Jamaica in about four days.

The Route

We knew this would be a challenging passage at the end of December - the trade winds would be ripping so the seas would be “lively”, the current would be trying its best to push us off course and into shallow waters, there would be lots of freighter traffic, and unlike our nice downwind sail from Martinique this would be upwind most of the way. But we knew at the other end would be huge plate of ackee and saltfish and a Red Stripe so away we went.

Lively was certainly the right word for this passage. For the first three days and nights we had 20-25 knot winds with gusts to 30 in the squalls, which we had every night. The swells were unpleasant, and neither of us really felt like eating much let alone cooking anything. Good thing we had done a Dominoes pizza run before leaving Cartagena! There was indeed lots of traffic and we had to radio several large vessels to make sure they saw us and coordinate who was going to change course to avoid collision.  There was rain every night and combined with the wind and the waves that we would hit and splash over the bow we were very glad we had our new cockpit enclosure to keep us dry and warm.

We also had breakages to contend with. On the first night two of our solar panels were dangerously close to a one-way trip to the bottom of the Caribbean; James managed to get some lines around them to keep them safely on deck. On the second night our jib car (the pulley that attaches the end of your jib to the boat) packed it in and snapped with a horrible cracking noise that freaked both of us out. We also had a line break, some tears in the sail, and as we found out later lost a piece of the rubrail along the side of the boat!

We religiously checked the weather each day. Besides getting text updates on our handheld satellite device we’d listen to a weather show on the high frequency radio. We were assured that as we headed into day four, the nasty weather would ease up and become more in our favour. We celebrated New Year’s Eve almost around the halfway point by grunting to each other “Happy New Year”. By the end of the fourth day the lack of sleep and improper eating was starting to get to us as we both thought we heard voices whispering on the radio and I kept imagining someone was handing me a drink and would go to take it only to grasp at thin air! I don’t know how people cross oceans on their own…

Also about halfway through it became clear that this four-day trip was actually going to be a five-day trip. The good news was that we would approach the island in daylight, which is always nice when you arrive somewhere for the first time. At dawn on the fifth day we were greeted with one of the most beautiful sights we could imagine - Jamaica’s massive Blue Mountains fully visible and beautifully lit by the rising sun.

After what seemed like ages we entered Kingston Harbour, which is quite large, and with about 20 minutes left in this epic journey we promptly ran out of fuel. We put the anchor down, put a jug of diesel into the tank, and were back underway before any Jamaican eyebrows were raised. It was almost like this had happened before (it did - the exact same thing happened as we were coming in to anchor at Isle-a-Vache, Haiti!).

We put the anchor down outside the Royal Jamaican Yacht Club, made a proper meal, and had our first showers in five days. What an incredible feeling!