Guest post by Sabine, who accompanied us for part of our journey in Jamaica.
Jamaica tour – from Montego Bay to Kingston…
Easter holidays March/April 2026
The direct flight from Amsterdam to Montego Bay on Tuesday, March 31st, went perfectly. I landed in Jamaica that same afternoon – with a seven-hour time difference. Since I slept soundly on the plane, I hardly noticed the jet lag in the following days. When Bernd picked me up with the dinghy at the Pier 1 beach restaurant and took me to the "Joline," we stayed on the boat for the rest of the day, and I went to bed early. Besides Petra and Bernd, I spent the first few days on the boat with two other travelers, Zsuszanna and David. What I hadn't expected on the day of arrival was how much it rained. The next day also brought several rainy spells. At least in the morning, the weather was dry, so I explored the city of Montego Bay. In just over an hour, I had practically walked through the entire old town, which was characterized by car horns and a sweetish scent wafting from many corners. At the craft market, I buy myself a necklace, earrings, etc. in Jamaican colors.
On Thursday, we went to the famous Rick's Café, a combination bar, restaurant, and party hotspot with reggae music. It's spectacularly situated on the West End Cliffs and is famous for its sunsets and daring cliff divers. We had our coffee in the café, watched the dancers, and then watched the cliff divers leaping into the water from a height of about 10 meters. One of them even went to the 25-meter platform and attempted jumps from there, while the spectators held their breath. Everything went well; he's an experienced diver and entered the water with minimal splashing. Then I plucked up my courage and went to the cliffs myself. I targeted the 2- and 3-meter cliffs and jumped from them several times. David tackled the 10-meter cliffs, which he cleared with ease.
The next day we continue on to Negril. Zsuzsanna and David are leaving today. We say goodbye to them at dawn. Negril is known for the longest continuous stretch of sandy beach in Jamaica, Seven Mile Beach. Before breakfast, I set off by swimming along the beach. I don't manage seven miles, but at least a few. I get out of the water and walk back along the beach towards the boat. On the way, I buy a T-shirt in Jamaican colors with the slogan "Jamaica no problem" in one of the gift shops that are just opening. I'm back on the Joline almost in time for breakfast.
In the afternoon, we wanted to explore the river in Negril more closely, but at first we weren't sure how to get the dinghy in, as the water level was very low at the entrance. When we saw a local boat going in, keeping close to the bank, we followed suit and were indeed able to navigate the channel. We saw many pelicans, herons, and trees covered with dozens of white birds.
In the evenings we eat delicious ginger chicken, shrimp with pumpkin rice, homemade fries, drink cocktails, etc. in a small restaurant right on the beach with a view of the sea and listen to live music from a band.
Next stop: Black River, a Jamaican town at the mouth of the Black River. Its main sources of income are tourism and the timber industry. However, Hurricane Melissa wreaked havoc here last October, hitting the town particularly hard. We hope to see the crocodiles that are supposedly plentiful on the Black River. One of Jamaica's most famous and longest rivers, it gets its name from its jet-black riverbed, lined with dense mangrove forests. It's a hotspot for ecotourism. During our river trip, we see only one tourist boat and many broken, snapped mangrove trees. But we also see many different exotic birds, water lilies, and water hyacinths. We travel on the river in a dinghy; there's supposed to be a "restaurant" somewhere along the way. But we suspect it's gone after the hurricane. After a few kilometers, we arrive at a bridge without having seen a single crocodile. Lou's Stop is just before the bridge. A woman is sitting there; she leads us into her "restaurant," and we drink something cold. The only food available is sweets and snacks. She tells us that hardly any tourists come and is understandably depressed by the situation. It's now midday, and we start heading back. Just before we're finished, when we've almost given up hope of seeing a crocodile at all, we spot one on the bank! We swim closer. But after a short time, it slips into the water, perhaps startled by our presence, and we watch as it slowly swims away.
One of our next stops is Savanna-la-Mar. In the evening, after we arrive, I swim to a pier there that was badly damaged by the hurricane. Several young Jamaicans are hanging out at the pier, showing off their diving skills and playing around. When I, a "little white woman," swim up, they greet me and immediately ask if I'm not afraid. Of what? Answer: Sharks! And then they laugh. Of course, I don't take it too seriously, since they're being silly about the strange woman swimming.
The next morning, I was out on the boat with Bernd early, looking out at the water, as I was planning to swim out to the jetty. Suddenly, less than two meters from our boat, we spotted a shark on the seabed! Bernd explained that it was a nurse shark. This type of shark is rather sluggish and probably sleeps there on the bottom; it's not dangerous. If I hadn't known this beforehand, I would have been terrified if I had gone into the water and suddenly seen this animal on the seabed.
So I calmly enter the water and watch the shark from the surface. It slowly swims away. I swim towards the jetty and after a few meters I suddenly find myself in a huge school of millions of small fish. At first it feels quite uneasy, but these creatures don't harm me either; instead, they glide gracefully past me.
At the dock, there are other young locals in the water who curiously ask me where I'm from, etc. It's easy to strike up a conversation with them. Later that morning, the three of us take the dinghy towards the dock, intending to moor somewhere in town to do some shopping. Before we know it, five Jamaican boys climb aboard our boat and join us, searching together for a place to dock.
In town, we go shopping, and a young Jamaican kindly accompanies us and helps carry our purchases back to the boat. To my surprise, I'm greeted at the market by the same young Jamaicans I'd met on the water. They greet me with "Hello, I know you... from the water," and I realize I'm apparently already quite well-known in town.
At the market in Savanna, I bought Scotch Bonnet chilies, a type of chili pepper that looks like a small bell pepper. At the market, I'd already been warned, "Careful, it's hot!" I looked it up, and indeed, it's a Caribbean chili variety that gets its name from its shape, which resembles a traditional Scottish cap. With a Scoville rating of 150.000 to 300.000, it's extremely hot and, at the same time, has a fruity, apricot-like aroma when eaten raw. However, this fruity note disappears when cooked.
One evening I wanted to prepare jerk chicken on the boat. Since I had already tasted the spiciness of this type of pepper, I didn't want to make the food too hot. However, I ended up using too little Scotch Bonnet pepper, so the food wasn't very spicy.
We sailed to Pigeon Island, a typical Caribbean island with a white sand beach. It's supposed to be great for snorkeling, among other things. However, we didn't discover much of note at the two reefs, apart from some black-and-yellow striped and dark blue-and-yellow fish. As I swam further along the second reef, a large turtle finally appeared next to me.
The next morning, while swimming near the beach, I suddenly saw a stingray in the shallow water below me. I watched it as it gradually swam away in its characteristic undulating movements. When I later told my friends about it, they were slightly shocked and informed me that a well-known marine biologist had once been killed by a stingray while conducting research in the marine environment. It's a good thing I didn't know that beforehand.
There's also a fishing camp on Pigeon Island. The fishermen we chatted with in the evening promised to bring us freshly caught fish the next morning. Sure enough, the fishing boat pulled up alongside our Joline the following morning, and in exchange for whiskey, gasoline, and cash, we received fresh fish, which the fisherman carefully gutted. That evening, we enjoyed the delicious fish grilled on the grill.
My last stop is the capital city of Kingston, with approximately 600.000 inhabitants. We're moored in front of a marina very close to the airport, as that's where I'll be flying home from. We take a half-hour bus ride into the city to explore Kingston. We decide to skip visiting the famous Bob Marley Museum and instead walk through the old town to the waterfront promenade. The old town is full of stalls selling all sorts of things: clothes, souvenirs, and so on. We go to a restaurant on the waterfront for dinner, where we sit on the first floor and have a view of the airport and our boat.
Since Petra and Bernd wanted to return to the boat, as they still had the next few days to explore the city, I strolled around on my own, bought some Jamaican-themed shirts, and picked up a few last souvenirs for home. As I would have had a long wait for the bus in the early evening, I took a taxi back to the marina. The taxi driver, Anthony, had a rather fast-paced style, clapping enthusiastically at the wheel to reggae music, which made me a little uneasy. The next morning, he was supposed to take me to the airport very early. This time he seemed tired; there was no sign of him dancing at the wheel, and he got me safely the short drive. My wonderful time in Jamaica was sadly coming to an end!
Sabine
