Jamaica Tours, Guides and Vacations

So of course we are moving to Jamaica and I decided that on our return flight after the holidays I was going to bring back as much stuff as I could possibly carry on the plane. We had a whole house full of stuff back in storage in Florida and it made little sense to me to buy all new stuff here in Jamaica when shipping a barrel seems so easy and the cost was pretty cheap actually.

I carried over 8 checked bags for the 4 of us at a max weight of 50 lbs each for a total of just under 400lbs of stuff we had loaded on the plane plus each of us had a carry on piece with personal effects and two days clothing in case our luggage was lost. It seems like this would be enough for any family but I decided that I would bring even more stuff and load a 55 gallon steel drum with the really heavy stuff. I ended up stuffing it full with all sorts of housewares and in the end it weighed over 260 lbs.

We were driving to Fort Lauderdale Florida from Ocala with a rental vehicle so I got some pricing information on barrel shipping online and actually came up with a great deal via Spirit Airlines and their shipping partner at Finlays Shipping. I paid a total of $70 US to have them ship a barrel from Lauderdale to Kingston. In 8 to 10 days I could pick up my barrel in Kingston and not have the hassle of dealing with customs at the airport but on my own time and schedule at a later point.

It took me a little while to find the shipping terminal in North Miami but once I did it took less than 15 minutes to fill out forms and process our shipping order. The entire process of shipping a barrel to Jamaica consisted of me loading it on their ramp, filing one simple form and sealing the can for delivery. Finlays provided me with the wire to lock up my barrel and we wrote the shipping address on the barrel in permanent marker. It is suggest you lock you barrel but I only wired mine and everyting arrived here in Negril with no trouble mon.

Upon arrival here in Jamaica I had to pay an additional charge of $2,000 JA or about $30 for handling fees and of course my import duties. My estimated value for the barrel was $24,000 JA and my duties were $3500 or about $50. I’ll include more details on dealing with Jamaica customs in the follow up post “Dealing with Jamaican Customs at the Kingston Wharves”.

We left Florida and arrived here in Negril on January 11th. It took a couple days for me to get online and some new pics posted but I will hopefully be back to blogging about Jamaica and our newest adventures again.

It’s so nice to be back in Jamaica and I am very excited about how glad our kids were upon our return home. Both of my sons are completely happy here in Negril and I was very worried that a month back in the States would mess with them but it worked out for the best. In the end they like Negril and our new place here at Devine Destiny more than all the vacation time and grandma gifts of the past few weeks. I was most impressed with my oldest son AJ who has been very vocal about “going home” and was the most excited about our plan travels and arrival in Montego Bay.

This trip was not quite as smooth as I had hoped for and we still need to sort out some post arrival planning so we can avoid things like an empty fridge on a Friday evening and some other things. I drove home and it was probably a mistake for me to drive so soon after a long flight. I got turned around in Mobay and kept chit chatting with our friend Kevin while driving lost in a rain storm and we lost about two hours because of it. Once we got to Negril and opened up the house everything was irie and everyone felt better. Better planning will avoid this on future trips.

We brought back lots of stuff and we’re prepared for lots of activities this go around. We have the van and now two bicycles plus a trailer we can haul the kids in which should allow us to travel just about anywhere in Jamaica by van or bike. Now we just need to get motivated on some more trips this time.

There is something about Jamaica that makes it very easy to spend lots of time doing much of nothing and taking long naps in the middle of the day has become the norm for us here in Negril. What should take me minutes to do may take me days to actually get around too here and I’m usually a bit slower on Jamaican time.

I do find myself spending more time observing nature and the beauty around us more so while I’m here. In just the past few days we’ve been here I have already seen and photographed so much Jamaican wildlife and tropical flora. I need a good book on identifying the numerous varieties of birds, butterflies and flowers around us. If not I’ll just have to name them all on my own and that will take too long.

View more pictures of our arrival in Negril in our Jamaica photo gallery here!!

Posted in the Jamaica forums for discussion under this topic!!

So it finally happened to us. We had something stolen from us after all I have done to make certain it was a safe trip. I had a couple to many Green Stripes one evening and went to bed with the cameras on the front porch of Heartbeat almost a month ago now. It was a long day really and we had spent the day at the beach and all over town taking photos and video to add to our collection. I had taken some great sunset photos and was going to load them to the site the next day. I lost some nice pictures and video plus any chance of documenting the last month here and our move to a new apartment.

It’s been a real bummer and the primary reason I have not written much. The camera and photo taking kinda inspired my blogging and having them both stolen really hurt me. I’ve been a few places and done a few things since but not having a camera to record experiences has been upsetting to say the least. Lessons learned on double checking my safety before we go to sleep. I left us open to the loss by leaving valuables on the porch over night. I’m sure someone drifted through and took advantage of an opportunity. Sadly the camera is now most likely useless because I have the cables, batteries and accessories to run it and I bet no one will make the effort needed to replace them here. I have no idea who it was ort where they went to but I asked a few folks in the neighborhood to lookout for them. Most people acted shocked it would happen but then soon came around to the fact crack heads roam properties on occasion to take advantage of open windows and more.

So my blogging has been slow since I lost my camera but I’m going to start writing again. We’re heading back to the states for the holidays and I have a lot to clear up still. if you live in Negril and you fgind my cameras please contact me

I bought The Rough Guide to Jamaica 4 (Rough Guide Travel Guides) for our planned move to Jamaica because it was the most up to date book on Jamaica travel that they had and I had a bad experience on my first trip by carrying an outdated travel guide. On my first trip here many of the locations in the guide had closed or changed hands and things were not what they were supposed to have been. I was very disappointed and made the decision my next guide on Jamaica vacations was going to be the best one available. I think I made a great choice with The Rough Guide to Jamaica 4 by Rough Guide Travel Guides. It’s been an incredibly valuable tool in my adventures and I think it will do much to help you with yours.

The Rough Guide to Jamaica 4 (Rough Guide Travel Guides) is perfect for just about any traveler to Jamaica, it’s a bit larger than some travel guides at 7.6 x 5 x 0.9 inches and slightly heavy for backpackers at 15 ounces shipping weight but if you have the room for an all around perfect travel guide than you must grab this one. It’s breaks the island up into easy to digest sections based on major tourist areas like Negril, Montego Bay and Ocho Rios but it also includes very detailed information on all the places in between. Find directions to out of the way places like Treasure Beach and Port Antonio as well as Jamaican tourist favorites like YsFalls and Fern Gully and see the Real Jamaica in comfort with this trustworthy trafel guide.

I have had the book in country since June and it has carried me all over the island with accurate maps and landmarks that have been a blessing while driving around Jamaica for the first time in many cases. When I bought the van in Kingston it was 5PM in the evening when I decided to drive home to Negril and this guide helped me navigate the dark streets of Jamaica on my trip home. The book is laid out well and it’s very easy to jump through sections because of the tabbed layout and color coordinated features. Finding things like maps of downtown Kingston or how to drive to Mayfield Falls was simple with this guide and a little back up from my Garmin GPS. I’ve been busy mapping down tracks and waypoints that I need to upload and soon.

I found great places to stay like Leighton House in Kingston and super places to eat like Chelsea Jerk Center also in Kingston. I used the book to find places like Royal Palm Preserve, Mayfields Falls and Roaring Rivers and I have lots more places still to go. If you’re interested in traveling with us on our adventures then Contact Us for more details.

Rough Guide Details

* Paperback: 528 pages
* Publisher: Rough Guides; 4 edition (January 15, 2007)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 1843536919
* ISBN-13: 978-1843536918
* Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.9 inches

We needed a package shipped from the States with some things from the house to make our stay more comfortable. When we packed I left the speakers for our entertainment unit at home for space and weight savings knowing I would regret it and i sure did. Within days it was obvious the built in speakers in our 22″ multi function tv/monitor were not enough to watch a movie from and we needed a sound boost. We brought about 50 movies along and forgot the remote unit to play regular DVD movies on the Xbox with plus my son scratched up his favorite game in the first week and was pretty upset about it. He seemed to yearn for home until I was able to get him one shipped. I was lucky to also find a copy in Kingston which I snapped up before the package was able to arrive to us a full three weeks after it was shipped.

We stopped in to check on a PO Box at Negril Post Office but were told basically we didn’t need one and we could use the one from whatever resort we were staying in. Our official address is Heartbeat Resort West End Road Negril Jamaica

We have since had to ship packages on more than one occasion and it varies by what you are shipping. I was in a rush to send some documents that I had signed and I had to call DHL and have them stop by the resort on the next day because there is no drop off point here in Negril. It seems silly to me but not one of these internet cafes around here has stepped and made themselves the official drop off for any of the carriers. Not UPS or FedEx has an office locally. There are supposed to be FedEx drop offs here but I have not sen one yet. They say it’s just better to call. Price to ship 2 sheets of paper to the States via DHL was $2000JA or about $35US with a 3 day delivery.

The Negril Post office offers registered mail for about $5 US but there have been stories of lost packages and delays. I myself had a package disappear during Hurricane Dean and it has never been returned or deliverd. Of course I have no receipts for it but it would never matter anyway. It’s just gone and thats the way things go in Jamaica. If you need to ship or receive packages in Negril you should plan ahead and figure out what the best carrier would be. Grab a local Jamaica phone book and call UPS, FedEx and DHL for faster delivery or important packages, or if you can afford to lose it you can try the Jamaican postal service.