Transportation in Jamaica is never anything short of an adventure!

Transportation In Jamaica, By: Karrie Williams

Jamaica drives on the left. From honking horns, even at the stop lights to arbitrary parking and stopping by some taxi drivers to roads that are pothole laden, driving on the island is never anything short of an adventure.

Although speeding is against the law, many drivers ignore this rule and can quite literally turn any average road way into an instant race track. Luckily, police personnel are stationed every few miles to intercept speeders with heavily priced speeding tickets.

Still if you obey all the standard road rules, you can find that driving in Jamaica is not particularly hard; simply ensure that you pay close attention to the road and other drivers and above all, you do not speed.

There are three international airports and several service stations which are scattered all over the island to facilitate transportation in Jamaica. Some service stations even stay open for 24 hours; therefore topping up on gas should not be a problem.

One of the good things about driving in Jamaica is that the freedom of the road does offer the opportunity to explore a lot more of the island than you would normally.

Please note, Jamaica is larger than your average Caribbean island; therefore you cannot explore the entire island in a day. It might take 24 hours if you drive non-stop and even then that would be quite a stretch. See distance table below.

If you plan on doing a lot of exploration during your trip, renting a car to facilitate your transportation in Jamaica is certainly not a bad idea. Still it really depends on you as there is no shortage of taxi operators within resort towns to offer you transportation services.

Public Taxi

Your wait time for a public taxi can be less than a minute in some areas such as Negril for example. Please note that taxis are shared; however you can charter one exclusively at a higher cost.

Please note, licensed public passenger motor vehicles carry a red license plate at their front and back; it is highly recommended that you take these.

Unlike some of the other Caribbean islands, for example Saint Thomas, there is no standardized taxi fare for tourists. Because of this drivers can get away with charging tourists high fares for transportation in Jamaica.

Please ensure that you find out from your hotel how much the fare should be for a trip into town etc. and always ensure that you have the correct fare to pay your driver.

It is also highly recommended that you verify with a driver what the fare is before entering the taxi. It is not uncommon for drivers and tourists to argue about taxi fares mid-journey resulting in unscheduled walks for the tourists.

Car Rental

On an average, you might find that it costs you less for transportation in Jamaica to rent a car rather than to travel by taxi.

If you fall into any of the categories below; it would actually save you money to simply rent a car.

• You plan to go on a minimum three tours/excursions
• You plan on venturing away from your hotel regularly
• You are travelling in a group of at least three individuals

Foreign nationals are allowed to drive in Jamaica for a period of six months using their foreign license; after which time you must either apply for an international license or a local Jamaican driver’s license.

There are several car, bike and bicycle rental agencies in operation across the island, including the airports; with a higher concentration of such being located within tourist towns.

The standard requirements for car or bike rental are a valid driver’s license and an insurance deposit (Fully refundable upon return of the motor vehicle, providing no damages were done to the vehicle).

As a guide, a bike or scooter rental can cost you anywhere in the region of US$25-30 per day if you are renting for a period, the minimum of which is five days; for shorter rentals an average daily cost can be between US$35-40. The same goes for cars, whereas bicycles usually rent for an average US$10 daily.

I hope you found this article on transportation in Jamaica very informative, my aim is always to deliver great quality info to you!

Want to find out about airports in Jamaica? Go here.

Drive safe.

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