Planning a trip to Montego Bay

Special Events

Moving to the Beat at Jamaica's Music Festivals -- For about 4 days during the third week in July, during what might otherwise be a slow tourist season, Montego Bay comes alive with the pulsating sounds of reggae, thanks to a well-known music festival that seems to captivate the imaginations of virtually everyone in town. The event is known as Reggae Sumfest (www.reggaesumfest.com), and it occurs amid the soundstages and jerk food stalls at Catharine Hall, a government-funded arts and entertainment development beside the Roseway Bypass in Montego Bay's industrial suburb of Freeport. Throughout most of the year, this site is usually littered, vacant, and dusty, but during reggae festivals, it's virtually overrun with grooving, jiving, gossiping, and flirting music lovers from throughout Jamaica.

The mid-winter counterpart of this festival is Air Jamaica's Jazz and Blues Festival, which is conducted over a 2-day weekend in late January on the grounds of the Cinnamon Hill golf course at Rose Hall Resort & Country Club. Both events share the same promoters, who have managed to snag the musical talents of artists who have recently included Ziggy Marley, Cocoa Tea, the Melody Makers, Bares Hammond, the Mystic Revealers, and Morgan Heritage -- some of the biggest names in reggae, both from Jamaica and abroad. Many local hotels are fully booked for the festival, so advance reservations are necessary. Tickets to either event range in price from US$12 to US$45 (£6-£23) each, depending on the event. Musical venues tend to begin at between 7 and 7:30pm, and many participants opt to bring blankets and folding chairs for placement on the lawns that surround the bandstands from which emanate highly addictive streams of jiving music.

Any branch of Jamaican Tourist Board can provide information about packages and group rates for the festivals and fill you in on other musical and cultural events held throughout the year in Jamaica.

Fast Facts

Banks -- For money exchanges and/or other banking needs, the two best choices are Scotiabank (tel. 876/952-4440) and National Commercial Bank (tel. 876/952-3640), both on Sam Sharpe Square in the center of Mo Bay. Each maintains a 24-hour ATM and is open Monday to Thursday 8:30am to 4:30pm, Friday 8:30am to 4pm. Both are part of the Cirrus system, so participating cards work in their machines. Ironically, most of the ATMs we ran across in Jamaica dispense U.S. dollars only, but if there's any confusion, the currency dispensed by each machine is clearly indicated on the outside.

Bookstores -- If you'd like to do some light reading on the beach, you can go to Sangster's Bookshop, 2 St. James St. (tel. 876/952-0319), www.sangstersbooks.com, the largest book outlet in Montego Bay. It's open Monday to Saturday 8:30am to 6pm. Another retailer is Henderson's Book Store, 27 St. James St. (tel. 876/952-2551), open Monday to Saturday 8:30am to 6pm.

Business Hours -- Stores' policies vary, but in general they open Monday to Saturday 8:30am to 4:30 or 5pm. With the notable exception of some shops that cater specifically to the cruise ship trade, Sunday gets sleepy in Montego Bay, except at the hotels.

Doctors & Dentists -- All major hotels have a doctor or dentist on call. For emergency treatment, go to the hospital. If you will need medicine or any particular treatment while in Montego Bay, bring a letter from your home physician before arriving on the island.

Drugstores -- One of the best pharmacies in Montego Bay is Clinicare Pharmacy, 14A Market St. (tel. 876/952-8510), open Monday to Saturday from 9am to 8pm and Sunday 10am to 6pm. Note that local pharmacies will only accept a prescription if it has been issued by or "endorsed by," (countersigned by) a Jamaican doctor. If whatever ails you might be handled with an over-the-counter medication, ask the pharmacist to recommend something.

Emergencies -- Dial tel. 110 to report a fire or call an ambulance. Dial tel. 119 for the police.

Hospital -- The biggest hospital in Montego Bay is Cornwall Regional Hospital at Mount Salem (tel. 876/952-5100). An alternative clinic, Montego Bay Hope (tel. 876/953-3649), is associated with the Half Moon resort. There's also the Doctor's Hospital in the suburb of Freeport (tel. 876/979-8983 or 876/953-6008). Patients in emergency situations who can afford it are sometimes flown to Miami, where medical facilities are better.

Internet Access -- Your best bet if your hotel isn't equipped is Irie Tech, 17 Harbour St. (tel. 876/971-6057; irietech2@cwjamaica.com). The cost is US$2 per hour for the use of a computer. It's open Monday to Saturday 9am to 7pm.

Laundry & Dry Cleaning -- If your hotel doesn't offer guest laundry facilities, you can drop off laundry at Fabricare Centre, 4 Corner Lane (tel. 876/952-6897), which also features 1-hour dry cleaning. Hours are Monday to Saturday 7:30am to 5pm. Offering much the same service, including 1-hour dry cleaning, is Quality Laundry & Dry Cleaners, 11 Perry St. (tel. 876/952-6105), open Monday to Saturday 8am to 5:30pm.

Mail -- Include "Jamaica, W.I." in all island addresses.

Maps -- Go to the tourist board for a good map of Montego Bay.

Post Office -- Many visitors buy Jamaican stamps as collector's items, as they are often flamboyant. The chief post office in Montego Bay is in the center of town at 122 Barnett St. (tel. 876/952-7389). It is open Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm.

Safety -- Montego Bay is far safer as a destination than Kingston. All the major resorts, especially the all-inclusives, have private security guards patrolling the grounds; on-site you'll probably run into few problems. As is the case anywhere in the world, security is less tight when you leave the premises of your hotel. One annoying inconvenience involves the occasional hustler -- peddling souvenirs, flesh, drugs, or whatever -- who might pester you. Most of them are harmless; a few, though, are muggers or pickpockets, so be careful around them. As for wandering around Montego Bay's narrow, dark streets at night -- suffice to say that it's a bad idea. Take comfort in the fact that in recent years, the situation in heavily touristed areas is much better than it was in the mid-1990s, thanks to increased police supervision.

Telephone -- Hotels sometimes add outrageous surcharges to long-distance calls. For that reason, some frugal travelers purchase a Cable & Wireless Phone Card -- available at most hotel desks and within many gift shops -- for J$200 (US$2.80), allowing them to talk to places in the U.S. and Canada for about 11 minutes. For more information, call tel. 888/225-5295.

Travel Agencies -- There is no local representative for American Express in Montego Bay. A leading travel agent is Trafalgar Travel, 14B Market St. (tel. 876/979-1556), open Monday to Friday 8:30am to 5pm, Saturday 10am to 1pm.

Getting There

By Plane

Most arrivals in Jamaica are at Donald Sangster International Airport (tel. 876/952-3124), www.mbjairport.com, 3km (1 3/4 miles) east of the center of Montego Bay. Those booked into resorts at Negril or Ocho Rios and its satellite, Runaway Bay, also use the Mo Bay airport as a point of entry into Jamaica.

In winter, the busy season for tourism in Jamaica, lines move smoothly. Things move more slowly during the summer months, despite dwindling numbers of tourists -- partly because many Jamaicans from Canada and the United States arrive during those months to visit family. They often bring suitcases packed with gifts and supplies; inspection of these items can cause endless delays. (Jamaica's Customs and Immigration officers are zealous.)

After clearing Immigration, there is a currency exchange office. You can change money here into Jamaican dollars. Nearly all places on the island will accept the Yankee dollar -- in fact, some vendors will specifically request it -- but if you plan to go to local dives, they'll usually accept American dollars, but at a rate that's not as good as what you'd have gotten at a bona-fide bank. Our advice? Pick up a little Jamaican cash here at the airport, where you'll get a far better exchange rate than at your hotel.

In recent years, the numbers of ATMs has greatly increased within Jamaica. They're now readily available within most of the shopping malls and tourist zones frequented by cruise ship passengers and foreign visitors. Although it's true that you can find ATMs at the airport, some Frommer's readers have noted that some of these machines have occasionally run out of cash.

Warning: Once you retrieve your luggage at the airport, hang on to it, though luggage theft at the airports is less common than in years past, the police having made successful efforts at cleaning things up.

Getting from the Airport into the City -- Some of the major resorts, such as the Sandals properties, keep vans waiting at the airport to carry guests right to the hotel for free. Other properties do not, however, especially the less expensive ones. If you're staying at one of these, you must take a taxi (unless you're picking up a rental car at the airport); there is no public bus service from the airport into Montego Bay.

Use only special taxis or vans operated by JUTA, the Jamaica Union of Travellers Association (tel. 876/957-4620), or taxis operated by its government-sanctioned counterpart, JCAL Tours (Jamaica Co-operative Automobile & Limousine Tours; tel. 876/957-4620). Do not get into a "pirate taxi," even if the driver promises to cut the going rate in half; cheating tourists is disturbingly common. JUTA tariffs are controlled, and you'll recognize its vehicles by the union emblems and red license plates. A list of official tariffs is posted at the airport -- but it's still important to agree on the price before setting out, to avoid potential disagreements later.

Getting Around

Taxis are generally the way to get around, as there is no practical bus service in Montego Bay and no minivan shuttles except those maintained by hotels -- and they're usually reserved strictly for the use of registered guests. There is, however, a loose cohesion of quasi-official minivans (referred to as "route taxis") that follow vaguely predetermined routes, usually along major highways leading in and out of town. The best and most reliable of these communal vehicles bear red-colored license plates whose numbers contain the letters "PP" (an abbreviation for "public passengers") somewhere within their sequences, and the words "route taxis" will be written on the outside of their doors. There are no individual signs indicating anything approaching a clearly designated bus stop, but locals know the points where they should stand along traffic arteries heading in and out of town. Rides cost from US$2, and fares are usually collected before you get in. If you opt for this awkward and inconvenient mode of transport, predetermine the fare before you board.

You can walk to most places within the center of Montego Bay itself, especially along Gloucester Avenue. In other cases, summon a licensed taxi. These have red license plates. A few of them have meters, but more often, government-sanctioned fares between most commonly requested destinations and points of departure are prominently posted inside each vehicle. If you want to hail a taxi to go somewhere outside of town, most of the cabs can be found along Gloucester Avenue.

For the truly adventurous, getting around by bike or motorcycle is another possibility, but frankly, the country's narrow, deeply potholed roads, the many blind curves, and the general hysteria associated with road traffic make transport by bicycle hazardous. Two-wheeled bike transit isn't particularly popular even among Jamaicans, and it's much less so for foreign visitors. If you still want to risk life and limb on a two-wheeled conveyance (and we hope that you won't), your hotel might either lend you a bike or rent you one. Whereas the law requires the use of a helmet for motorcycle riders, no such mandate is necessary for pedal bikes.