Jamaica safe?

[dbunch]

All though i have traveled to several caribbean islands, I am going to Jamaica for the first time. Some people have told me that it isn't safe to leave the resort and others have said that is silly.

Other opinions?

[Carib Mark]

I may get grief for this...again...but I will address this issue as delicately as possible.

No place on earth is 100% safe. No matter where I or friends travel I keep to the theory of "Don't go someplace if you don't think you should. Where ever you are, be aware of who is around you. Try not to look like a gawking tourist". With that in mind, you can be safe in most any place.

The thing is, someplaces have more places you can safely go than others. With Jamaica I suggest the following: Your Resiort is the safest place. That's why some have fences going out into the sea at each end of the beach, to stay that way, along with guards. If there is a straw market or something nearby, take a minimum of cash, and go enjoy meeting the true locals, perhaps stopping for a patty and Red Stripe. Otherwise, book tours through the front desk if you are at all concerned and they will take you to all the best and most popular places.

Be careful, enjoy, smile and "evry little ting, gonna be all right". Irie!

[dbunch]

Thanks for your input. I agree with you, there are lots of places in my home town here in TN and other places i spend a lot of time that i would not want to be in in day light, and for sure not after dark, and other places i feel a lot more comfortable with a group.

I have been to St. Maarten, Cancun, Punta Cana, etc. and other places and guess what i was looking for was how Jamaica (RIU Negril is where we will be staying) rates compares to some of these other places.

db

[cgullo@sbcglobal.net]

I think what hasn't been said about jamaica is that it is not an island, that you would just want to hop into a rental car ,and take off exploring on your own, and if you go to the straw market, they are going to hound the crap out of you, until you buy something, and they tried to sell us drugs or weed everywhere we went. Now, it's been 20 yrs since i have been to jamaica, so i can't say for sure if it is worse or better, but my guess would be if you don't mind staying at your hotel most of the time, or doing the group tour thing, you could probably have a good time in jamaica.

[kovach]

Negril is by far the safest resort area in Jamaica.

[kirbychristian]

No problem mon!

I've been to Jamaica many times with no problems. It seems every time I go to Jamaica, someone says "really? aren't you worried? it's so unsafe there". I think alot of the negative publicity Jamaica gets is because of the political riots that usually occur during elections (though I hear they had a relatively peaceful election this last time) as well as the usual city crime that occurs in Kingston. All of this occurs far away from the resort areas...not to say that there isn't some crime in the resort areas...use your best judgement and usual precautions (ie. don't go flashing a wad of $100 bills while walking by yourself down the street at night) and all should be irie.

[kirbychristian]

I think what hasn't been said about jamaica is that it is not an island, that you would just want to hop into a rental car ,and take off exploring on your own, and if you go to the straw market, they are going to hound the crap out of you, until you buy something, and they tried to sell us drugs or weed everywhere we went. Now, it's been 20 yrs since i have been to jamaica, so i can't say for sure if it is worse or better, but my guess would be if you don't mind staying at your hotel most of the time, or doing the group tour thing, you could probably have a good time in jamaica.

I experienced this hounding my first time in Jamaica (1994) but not as much since. In the mid 90's, they passed a law (or ordinance or whatever) that fines vendors for harrassing the tourists. It's a pretty decent fine and believe me, the hassling you mention has gone WAY down since then. It was a much needed improvement.