On & Off in Montego Bay

My wife and I are going end of May. I went last fall and took a taxi to Magaritaville.

Bars are not my wife's thing but I seem to remember an on and off bus thing that

you could just ride around the island. Anyone got an opinion of this. Was it worth

it ... was it safe?

Does Carnival have a version?

JT :rolleyes:

I have no idea about whether such a service is offered. However as to the safe part, I would not do it. MoBay is not exactly a safe area to be wandering around. Only stay in tourist areas with other tourists from your ship and don't engage in talk with the natives particularly ones who have a "deal" for you. Remember there is safety in larger numbers so don't get separated.

I will politely disagree. Montego Bay is a small city, and yes, I would not recommend walking down any dark alleys at night, but you can definitely enjoy yourself here. There is a hop on, hop off bus that usually goes from the cruise port to the Hip Strip area (Where Margaritaville, Pork Pit, Doctors Cave Beach, shops, restaurants are). It isn't a "tour around the city" type of ho-ho, but it will get you there and back.

Really.....don't talk to the "natives"? Unreal. Jamaican people are some of the friendliest people in all the Caribbean. If you engage inconversation with them, I guarantee you will have a good time. Are there vendors that want you to purchase their items? Yes, and some can get aggressive, but we've found a polite "no not today" and keep walking along does the trick. I urge you to talk to the waiters, waitresses, shop owners. They are really lovely people and will definitely enjoy talking to you.

My first cruise will be in June. After some research on here, I'm going to be doing the hop on hop off shuttle & will be visiting Dr caves, hip strip, & maybe margaritaville or back to the ship for a quick lunch. None of the excursions really sounded that great.

My first cruise will be in June. After some research on here, I'm going to be doing the hop on hop off shuttle & will be visiting Dr caves, hip strip, & maybe margaritaville or back to the ship for a quick lunch. None of the excursions really sounded that great.

I love myself some Margaritaville for entertainment and some drinks, but for food, consider walking a little farter past it on the Hip Strip to the Pork Pit for some delicious, inexpensive authentic jerk food!!

And so you know, Margaritville has some water toys (trampolines,etc.) and a large waterslide that you ride from inside the bar and you end up in the beautiful clear blue sea!! It's fun, so if you want to cool down or enjoy swimming, take your suit and a towel!!

I will politely disagree. Montego Bay is a small city, and yes, I would not recommend walking down any dark alleys at night, but you can definitely enjoy yourself here. There is a hop on, hop off bus that usually goes from the cruise port to the Hip Strip area (Where Margaritaville, Pork Pit, Doctors Cave Beach, shops, restaurants are). It isn't a "tour around the city" type of ho-ho, but it will get you there and back.

 

Really.....don't talk to the "natives"? Unreal. Jamaican people are some of the friendliest people in all the Caribbean. If you engage inconversation with them, I guarantee you will have a good time. Are there vendors that want you to purchase their items? Yes, and some can get aggressive, but we've found a polite "no not today" and keep walking along does the trick. I urge you to talk to the waiters, waitresses, shop owners. They are really lovely people and will definitely enjoy talking to you.

Absolutely this. I love Jamaica and have nothing but good experiences with the people there. I was approached once by a shady looking guy going into a shop to buy coffee on one trip. He made me slightly uncomfortable at first, but he engaged me, so i talked. We stopped and chatted about my hometown, about the NBA, food, etc for about 15 minutes; We shook hands and we went on our way. He was just curious about the new guy at one of his hangouts i guess.

Sure people will bug you to buy things, and some are agressive. Keep in mind, these guys have a family to feed and their ability to do so depends on your willingness to purchase their stuff. Their whole economy is based on these big ships coming in every other day or so, so they have to try hard when they can. If you arent interested, dont buy it. No thank you usually works, No thank you and move on always works. No one is going to beat you up over it.

We did the hop on / off shuttle last time we were there and it was fine. A little pricey perhaps, but cheaper than any excursion by a large margin. We took it to Dr. Cave Beach and spent an awesome day hanging out in the water. Looking forward to doing it again this October. I can't wait to go back to Jamaica.

Could not pay me to go back to Mbay after a 1 week vacation there. Drug dealers at every turn, guards on the beach, obnoxious vendors and bad food.