Holiday to Jamaica - what's the point?

[ImJustMadAboutSaffron]

On a call with a friend last night, she mentioned that her sister and her partner are going to Jamaica in April next year. They are staying in a hotel that is one of three similar, and plan to spend all their time around the hotels as they don't feel safe out and about in Jamaica (I'm not sure what resort it is, my friend didn't know).

I don't see the point in this, as it is no experience of a place, culture or anything different to what you would find in any old "fully inclusive" holiday.

Has anyone been to Jamaica and felt unsafe? What do you think?

I suppose the point is the weather, the pool and the beach.

it's been many, many years since I was in Jamaica but we were advised not to go anywhere without a guide. This is true of many places though.

I went to Jamaica for work, and mainly stayed in the hotel (PR stuff).
The people were Jamaican and super friendly and you get to experience culture through this. I chatted to loads of them and learnt a lot.
The Jamaican food and cocktails were amazing too.

The weather was Jamaican and hot!
Beach and water sports were amazing too.

You can leave the hotel and visit some amazing waterfalls, historic sites and so on, it’s only really the cities after dark we were told we’re dangerous.

Hot tropical weather
Beaches
Warm seas
Scenery
Nice food
Rum cocktails

What's not to like?

Very strange post. People go on holidays for all sorts of reasons and an AI in Jamaica isn't going to be the same as one in Spain.

I've been to Jamaica twice and hired a hotel taxi and driver as a guide. We were able to see the country with someone that knew how to keep us safe.
Excellent experience.

I go on holiday for weather, beach, pool, i very rarely leave the hotel if i'm doing all inclusive.

Everyone is different and wants different things from holidays

I get what you mean a friend went to Mexico all inclusive it was very exspensive and they never left the hotel you can get a fraction of the price of somewhere in Europe if you did the same there so what's the point travelling so far

Jamaica is April will be lovely and hot whereas Europe won’t be at that time of year.

Jamacia you should go with a guide. The off chance you end up lost and alone somewhere dodgy isn't worth the risk. We stopped at a cashpoint in a town with the guide and it was 'uncomfortable' I'll admit, especally as you had to lock yourself in a little glass cubicle to use it.

I don't see what is strange at all. I am asking would anyone go away spending thousands and then simply hang around a hotel for the fortnight.

I’ve thought the same, OP.

Each time I’ve been in Jamaica, visiting family and friends, we’ve spent time relaxing on completely empty beaches, and sailing on empty stretches of sea. And we’ve looked across to neighbouring resorts and seen a crowd of people hemmed into a small area, almost elbow to elbow on their sun loungers, beach and sea both crammed …

It did seem strange to me. I get that they feel ‘safer’ there, but it’s an awful long way to go to stare at your neighbours in swimwear. Europe would surely be cheaper. But then they wouldn’t be able to talk about vacationing in the Caribbean, I suppose.

I suppose it depends what you want from a holiday. Loads of people do this with the various 5 star all inclusive resorts all over the world - literally rock up to the resort on day 1 and stay there until they leave. I can’t think of anything worse as for me part of a holiday is to visit local towns / see how other people live / experience different cultures etc.

I have a friend who goes to the same 5 star resort in Spain every single year for 2 weeks and she never sets foot outside the hotel complex! It just makes me laugh as we’re so different but it’s what she likes!

Jamaica is a beautiful country however we wouldn't go back because of the safety aspect .
We were advised not to venture off the hotel complex without official guides and at the airport going home we bumped into another couple we met on the flight over and the guy spent his whole holiday in hospital having been stabbed in an attempt to steal his watch .

If I wanted a total relax / veg holiday and not bothered about sight seeing I could stay in a nice hotel for a week .

People like different things. Have you genuinely got to adulthood and are only now surprised by this?

Having been to Jamaica many many times, this response is the most true to reality.

Trips out should/can be accompanied by JUTA or hotel taxi.

Other than that, behave no different to anywhere else in the world.

Oh for heavens' sake it's a discussion. Of course I have, but it doesn't mean we aren't allowed to debate or discuss.

We are going next year but have an apartment and a rental motorcycle, we will be exploring ourselves. No idea why anyone stays in resort all week. It's no more dangerous than other places people go to eg USA

That's really very naive, Jamaica (though utterly beautiful) has crime levels and poverty many woukd be unable to comprehend.
Yes it's possible to do it safely, but generally that means via a guide or family who already reside there.

People like different things ... you couldn't pay me to go to Glastonbury, skiing, Lapland .... and for years I snobbishly sneered at AI beach holidays ... until I tried one and loved it. . But for me personally, I can't really understand why anyone wants to travel abroad at the moment.

@motogirl i think you need to rethink. It’s a third world country with high levels of poverty. High levels of violent robbery and crime. Beautiful and with many wonderful things to see and do- no doubt- and lovely people, interesting rich culture…. But you need to know the risks you face as a tourist.

@ImJustMadAboutSaffron its not really a discussion though, is it? It’s you sneering at people for spending money on something you don’t consider worthwhile.

FWIW it would be my idea of hell too. I went to Jamaica about 5 years ago and it was absolutely beautiful but unless you had a local guide or had fully researched exactly where it was safe to wander around and where it wasn’t it was very easy to get in danger very quickly. DS was only 2 at the time so we did end up spending a lot of time just at the hotel and I was nearly gnawing my arm off with boredom by the end of it. There were loads of people that stayed at the hotel the whole week, went to the same sunbeds by the same pool everyday and probably had a lovely time. Horses for courses.

It's a lot of money and hassle to be able to say 'oh we were in Jamaica last week/month/year'

I'd rather save that money and be in my garden in the days we get. I have travelled but it was to meet people from other countries, not see the country itself. If I was not going to interact with local people I would not want to go. I don't need to sit on a beach or a chair to feel relaxed, in fact I am most relaxed at home, with a bit of work on, the day ahead of me, and my tassimo.

Yes I have, and yes I felt very unsafe outside the hotel.

Well on one hand I think this is a bit of a snobby post, as you must know lots of people do this.

On the other hand, I wonder what it would be like to live in a beautiful country like Jamaica or the Maldives and have so much of your country fenced off for the benefit of wealthy tourists. Knowing that more and more of the revenue from tourism is being siphoned off into large multinationals running massive AI resorts and cruise ships.

Not to mention the CO2 causing climate change which disproportionately affects poorer people who didn't cause the emissions. In 30 years time the Maldives will be under water. The tourists will just go somewhere else but what about the people who call it home?

This post made me laugh. I've been to Jamaica twice and would love to go again. First time was as naive 25 year old staying in a small family run hotel on best (IMO) beach on the island (Negril) - was sold huge bags of strong weed within an hour of arriving. Didn't experience any untoward behaviour from our walkings into town but that might have been luck. Or different times.

Later we went all inclusive as were cash rich and fancied it. Still enjoyed the beach, climate, food, reggae, scuba diving and paragliding activities you couldn't in Bognor Regis.

I remember a gnarly mate exclaiming outrage that another mate was going to an all inclusive resort in Cubs instead of staying in a basic Airbnb.

Guess what they still experienced more of Cuba than if they had stayed home or gone to Devon!

The point is relaxation with the perfect beach, warm carribean sea, nice food etc.. Not every holiday should be about culture.. People are perfectly capable of liking both. They can do city breaks in Vienna and relaxing holidays in AI hotels. They just serve a different purpose. You do sound judgemental