Ya Mon, Welcome to Jamaica

We should have planned an excursion in Jamaica, winging it was not a good idea.

We got off the ship around 9:30AM in Montego Bay. We hopped on the "bus" for 5 USD per person to the city centre about 15 minutes away from the terminal. As soon as we got on the bus, we were pitched a city tour for 20 USD per person. It sounded like there would be a lot of shopping stops so we passed on the tour and got off at the city centre. We didn't make it two feet off the bus before random people started offering us anything from taxi service to tours to marijuana to "brownie".

We walked along the Hip Strip. It wasn't that hip. It was mostly run down souvenir huts. We came across Doctor's Cave Beach first which charged 5 USD per person entrance fee but we wanted to explore the rest of the town. Later we found out there wasn't much to explore. The second beach we came across seemed like a public beach with no fences. The water was gorgeous but the beach was really dirty and full of garbage. The third beach we came across was again gated. It appeared also to be an amusement park with a rusty go cart course and played really loud music.



Offering of Jamaican "hospitality" continued every couple of minutes as we walked along the strip as if we were a moving target. At the Old Fort Crafts Market, we got dragged into endless souvenir shops that all sold the exact same things. The Old Fort itself was very underwhelming. It consisted of two tin like canons on tracks. This one looked like it was protecting the people in case of an invasion from the flower bush.


By the time, we walked by the second market which, was the Montego Bay Market, we avoided it like a plague. The sun was very brutal. I got myself a refreshing coconut by the road for $2 USD. It was the best part of my day.


Then we were followed by a man who claimed he was not a riff-raff and showed us his passport with a bunch of Japanese visa stamps in it. I think he wanted to show us the city or something and walked along (followed) with us for more than 15 minutes. He told us the reason no one has bothered us yet because we were protected by him. We took a chance and told him we liked to be left alone.

It wasn't even noon yet, we had already ran out of the things to see. Montego Bay is a world famous tourist destination but so far it can only be described as lacking charm and run down which really surprised me. On top, the constant harassment really made us regret not going on an excursion with the ship. At this point we tried to seek out a tour company to see if there was still a tour we could get on and do but it was too late. Nothing that we could do that would get us back on the ship on time.

We were bored and hot so decided to turn back to the "famous" Jim Buffet's Margaritaville for some cold drinks, lunch, and most of all wifi! The place was a tourist trap in the worst way. Packed with tourists, the young spring-breaker types, tacky decor, and expensive drinks and food. We wanted to turn back, but it meant going back on the street to those tourist pirhannas. We did manage to get a good table: ocean side and far from the 18 year olds.









I had the jerk chicken. It wasn't too bad but I was sure it wasn't authentic. We did pass by a place later called Pork Pit with a giant outdoor BBQ and lots of local eating there. I really kicked myself for not find it sooner. The place smelled really good.


To go back to the ship, we just hailed a street taxi which was very convenient. We negotiated a lower rate than this morning, $3 USD per person. When the taxi driver dropped us off, he said to me as I paid him "don't let the police see you pay me". Ya man, no problem! I can't say I loved MoBay. Maybe it was due to our poor planning or lack of time. I was glad to be back on the ship in time for an afternoon nap.

Tonight our cabin guy left a frog!


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Location:Montego Bay, Jamaica