When most people think of Jamaica, they think of the beautiful beaches and the amazing weather. And they would be right! The island enjoys warm temperatures year-round, with only a slight dip in December and January. But what is the best time to visit Jamaica? When is the rainy season? What about hurricane season? When are festivals and special events? This blog post will answer your questions about when to travel to Jamaica!
Best Time to Visit: December to April
Jamaica is a great place to visit any time, but the best time to travel is from December to April. This is when the island experiences its dry season, with very little rainfall. However, this is also the busiest time of year for tourism, so accommodation and flights may be more expensive. If you want a cheaper trip, you can travel to Jamaica in the summer (June to November), but be aware that this is the island’s rainy season.
Hurricane season in Jamaica typically runs from June to November, so if you want to avoid any storms, it is best to visit during the dry season. However, hurricane activity can vary yearly, so it is always a good idea to check the forecast before you travel. The best time to visit Jamaica is from December to April when the weather is dry and sunny. However, there are benefits to visiting during other times of the year.
Traditional foods and drinks are in abundance.
The day before Christmas _ the Grand Market is a unique experience. Shoppers crowd the streets of every major town. Music plays on every corner and street parties last all night. Mid-April to May is the best time to visit Jamaica if you avoid tourist traffic. It is after spring break and before the start of the June to November hurricane season. Although the rainy season begins in May, you will get time to enjoy your stay. Do your outdoor activities early because it rains typically in the late afternoon.
Waiting in lines at the buffet forever to get a drink is a drag on your vacation. However, with fewer people, service is almost instant and the staff more friendly. You don’t have to wake early to get a beach chair under the shade to relax all day. Hotels are below capacity, so there is enough for everyone. Room prices are fantastic with sometimes up to fifty percent discount.
Use a travel agent to find great hotels and amazing deals. This is how they could help. June to November is the best time to travel to Jamaica on a budget. It is hurricane season, so fewer tourists travel to the island. Also, it is summer in North America and Europe, so no winter to escape. Airline tickets are cheaper, and hotels offer discounts to attract visitors to their properties. Some resorts might use this period to do upgrades or repairs to their property, so sections might not be available.
Navigating the Rainy Season: June to November
Many last-minute deals are available; you can use them by booking closer to your travel. However, if you travel during Jamaica’s independence celebration, make reservations months in advance. Jamaica’s emancipation is the first day in August, and independence is on the sixth. Parties on the North Coast start from the first until the sixth; Jamaicans from all over the island and diaspora and tourists travel to the North Coast to party for the entire week. Accommodation is expensive or hard to find if you book at the last minute.
Mid-July is another period where hotel prices also increase, and accommodation is hard to find. This is because of a one-week yearly music festival on the North Coast_ Reggae Sound Splash. Public transport is cheap for budget travelers to get around the island. Learn how-to here. Jamaica is the entertainment capital of the Caribbean. If you want to experience parties and festivals in Jamaica, here is a great one. Jamaicans love to party, so there is always a party or Jamaica music show.
Holidays such as Easter, Independence & Emancipation, and Christmas are the most active. Apart from parties and festivals, there are also plays. They are dramatic and humorous and highlight aspects of the island’s culture. Jamaicans love to laugh and tell overly dramatic stories. The most mundane story told by a Jamaican will sound like a Hollywood blockbuster. The theater scene is underdeveloped, so there are few consistent shows of high quality.
Hurricane Season Awareness
A popular production by Patrick Brown. Everybody looks forward to Christmas, especially families. For some, it’s their only chance to spend time with their loved ones. Jamaicans love to visit relatives they haven’t seen all year. Every town or district gets a facelift. The places seem cleaner and lighter during Christmas. Houses are clean and painted, and new curtains have been put up.
Females get their hair done and buy the latest fashion to attend many parties. Traditional foods and drinks are in abundance. The Celebrations start on Christmas Eve with Grand Market. Every major town’s street buzzes with shoppers ensuring they have everything for Christmas day. Music on every street corner and street parties that last the entire night.
There can be no Jamaican Christmas without Christmas dinner. Food is in abundance at the table. Parties are frequent, from Grand Market night to the New Year. New Year’s Eve is special for religious folks; they normally spend the entire night at church singing and praying. However, some people will stay in church until midnight and then go to parties.
It is a tradition for the new year to catch people at church, whether; they are Christians or not. Sting is a one-night reggae show held on 26 December for over thirty years at Jam World in Portmore. Its Dancehall focus is used as a litmus test to determine who is the hottest dancehall artist. You will enjoy this show if you are a fan of this genre (the younger version of Reggae). Trending artists have lyrical battles to decide the (worst–Jamaican for best) DJ on the island, with the crowd of up to thirty-thousand people being the ultimate judge.
December: Grand Market Extravaganza
Sting’s crowd is unforgiving and will let a performer know when their performance is not up to par. Few boos and an unresponsive audience is early warning. Failure to take a cue and leave the stage can be detrimental. Glass bottles landing on the stage signal that an entertainer needs to leave immediately.
Rebel Salute is a reggae festival held annually on 15 January. It started in 1994 to celebrate the birthday of reggae icon Tony Rebel. Thus the name Rebel Salute. This festival started in Manchester, Jamaica but later Moved to Richmond Park Saints Anns after spending some years in St. Elizabeth. It was also a one-night event but expanded to two. This is the biggest music festival on the island, which focuses on Roots Reggae.
They sell no meat or alcohol at this event, except for fish. So if you are a jerk pork or chicken lover or red stripe beer drinker, this is not the festival for you. If you sacrifice meat and alcohol for a few hours, you will get wholesome Roots Reggae entertainment of the highest caliber. That is a worthwhile trade. As with the Rastafarian religion, weed is in abundance at this festival. They got special permission to have the herb at this event in 2016. So patrons could indulge freely without interference from the police. The venue is just 15 minutes outside Ochi, about an hour from Montego, and 1 1/2 from Kingston.
April Carnival Season: SocaRobics and Road Marches
So guests can stay at resorts in Ochi or Montego Bay or travel from Kingston. Carnival season kicks off in Ocho Rios and ends in Kingston with a road march. Carnival preparation starts in late December with a series of fitness activities called SocaRobics. Road marches and popular parties start from mid to the end of April. Calabash is a literary festival held every two years at Jakes Hotel in Treasure Beach, Saint Elizabeth. Best-selling Jamaican author Colin Channer teamed up with Justine Henzell and Kwame Dawes to start this festival in 2001.
Held over three days, this literary event exposes Jamaican talents among international writers and presenters. With the Caribbean sea as its backdrop and the rustic Jakes’s property, Calabash is like no other festival on earth. Thousand of Jamaicans and visitors have partaken in this unique experience.
Calabash 2021 will be from May 28-30. This is the best time to visit Jamaica if you have soul cleansing and an authentic Jamaica experience. The famous Jacke’s property offers commotion at its villas and boutique. Eat locally grown organic food from Jack Sprat restaurant or chill at Lover’s Leap and enjoy the scenic view.
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