Seasonality
The most expensive time for visiting Jamaica is during their winter season from December until May (when it is not the hurricane season or very rainy but warm and balmy). Because this is when the island has its best weather, this is when tourists from all over the northern hemisphere flock here in big numbers. This is also when all prices for everything everywhere are higher because this is when Negril's enterprises have to make their money to carry them over to the next season.
So to most economize on a trip to Negril come during the off season. But be prepared for some wicked heat, lots of rain and an occassional hurricane which if intense, can badly ravage the island and upset your vacation.
But if you want to come to Negril on season when its weather's to die for and Negril is full of action then to economize try to book everything well in advance and inland of the beach or the cliffs so that you get the lowest prices possible.
Airfares
Off season non-stop round-trip airfare with Air Jamaica (as of 2009) from Chicago or New York to Montego Bay by advance reservation can be on special for as low as $99 USD each way + taxes! But usually these round-trip airfares total out to be in the $400 to $500 USD range.
On season can be as low as $450 USD round trip from Chicago or New York to Montego Bay if booked in February or March for December thru May. Any later bookings and the airfares increase gradually up to abut $900 - $1,000 USD round trip non-stop airfares in November - December!
So to most economize on a trip to Negril come during the off season. But be prepared for some wicked heat, lots of rain and an occassional hurricane which if intense, can badly ravage the island and upset your vacation.
But if you want to come to Negril on season when its weather's to die for and Negril is full of action then to economize try to book everything well in advance and inland of the beach or the cliffs so that you get the lowest prices possible.
Airfares
Off season non-stop round-trip airfare with Air Jamaica (as of 2009) from Chicago or New York to Montego Bay by advance reservation can be on special for as low as $99 USD each way + taxes! But usually these round-trip airfares total out to be in the $400 to $500 USD range.
On season can be as low as $450 USD round trip from Chicago or New York to Montego Bay if booked in February or March for December thru May. Any later bookings and the airfares increase gradually up to abut $900 - $1,000 USD round trip non-stop airfares in November - December!
Air fares for flights with layovers or transfers in an airport on the way like Miami can be a little bit cheaper but they add at least a half day each way to a trip.
Airport Transfers
There are 2 unionized airport transfer bus services servicing Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay and all of the resorts in Negril. They are JUTA and JCLA and they are the cheapest form of transportation for visitors and locals. Both of these companies offer similar low rates for their bus trips back and forth to and from these places. As of this writing their prices were in the $30 to $40 USD range per pasenger for each trip plus tip. You can book yourself onto one of their buses when you land at Sangster International Airport as long as you arrive not too late (in which case you'll have to take a more expensive charter taxi).
Hotels, Resorts, Villas and Rooms
As a rule of thumb, staying in places that are off of the beach itself or inland of the cliffs will give you the lowest room rates. An inexpensive resort on the beach in the off season will rent their lowest cost room for - $50 - $70 USD. On season that same room will cost $75 to $125.
Right across the street at a resort (and maybe a pool) within easy walking distance to the 7 mile beach will rent an inexpensive room for $40 - $55 USD off season and for $50 - $80 on season. The same pretty much holds true for places that are on and inland of the cliffs.
Food
There are quite a few grocery stores all over the greater Negril area and there is a large Hi - Lo supermarket right downtown. Here all kinds of food, rum, beer, pop and other goods may be purchased to save you money over resort prices. Just be sure that you have a working refrigerator in your room or access to plenty of ice there if you elect to go this route (which will cut your food bills nearly in half compared to buying cooked food at even the cheapest street grills or restaurants. Many people go to places like Ossie's or 3 Dives to purchase jerked chicken or pork and they take it back to their room to enjoy with cheap beers ($100 JD each from the supermarket) in their refridgerator.
You can bring all kinds of snacks from overseas into Jamaica, just not any meat products. The Jamaican government wants tourists to spend money on the island for everything possible so thay make it hard for tourists to economize by bringing in large stocks of food or beer / liquor.
Restaurants
The rule of thumb for dining out is to ask the locals where they go to eat because they know the lowest priced good places. Ossie's and Selina's on the land side of the 7 - mile beach and Fatty's and 3 Dives on the cliffs are 4 places known for serving good sized portions of great food at low prices. These are places where you get more than enough to eat so you can take leftovers back to your room for consumtion later. Be careful though because some of the resorts have a policy of not allowing their guests to bring in carry-outs from other restaurants off of their premises.
Bars
There are a couple of hundred bars and restaurants in Negril, each more colorful and more fun than the next because of thier wonderful, friendly Jamaican vibe. Usually everyone in them is colorful, nice and polite, even their tourist patrons. The price of beers in them starts at a low nowadays of $200 JD ($2.25 USD). Rum and fruit drinks are usually double that and up.
Transportation within Negril
Negril provides a free shuttle bus every 2 hours which traverses One Love Drive from the 7 - mile beach all the way to the lighthouse in the cliffs. This bus may be flagged down all along its 14 mile route by tourists and locals. It's purpose is to pull 7 mile beach resort patrons up into the cliffs to increase their tourist enterprises' trade there. This bus is the cheapest form of transportation other than walking but you have to time your hookups with it on the road to its schedule of going past wherever you are on it.
The next cheapest form of transportation in Negril is the route taxi. These run either up and down the beach portion of One Love Drive to and from downtown or up and down the cliffs portion of One Love Drive, also to and from downtown. Either trip is $80 - $100 JD (about $1 USD) one way no matter how far within these 7 mile routes you desire to go. Since this is only about $1 USD per ride most tourist passengers alos give a tip of anothe $100 JD to the driver.
Licensed route taxis have red license plates and should not be confused with unlicensed robot taxis that are not legal to use and that are sometimes unsafe for tourists to enter. The red plate route taxis are often speed demons because they have to run enough trips a day to pay for their vehicles before they make anything for themselves. So many of Negril's tourists will not use them and instead opt for their resort's safer driver at twice the price or more.
Anytime a tourist enters a taxi of any kind in Negril they should first negotiate the price per passenger for their trip! Some unscrupulous drivers (usually route taxi drivers) will charge exhorbitant rates at the end of a ride because this was not done. Don't just jump in a taxi and expect a fare box to be there to compute your trip as you would do in many overseas cities because they do not have them. They have designated
Entertainment
The least costly entertainment available in Negril is to just walk the beach or the cliffs road for free and observe the goings on of some of the more colorful locals. However, when tourists do this they are invariably hounded by scammers and hawkers but this in itself can be entertaining. Tourists should always be polite in their haggling over price and when they're ready to go on, they should be firm but polite in their refusal of any more goods or services.
Single women can be accosted by obvious gigolos and some enjoy the attention and the flattery but many don't so this may or may not be a form of entertainment to them. If a woman is polite and firm in her rejection of these suitors they will back down but some of them can be so aggressive that the lady may have to threaten to call for an officer. But that can be fun too, especially if there are a couple of girls who are out together reinforcing one another.
Negril has a number of clubs and entertainment centers on the beach, in the cliffs or inland of both which have something going on every night in one or another of them. Some are free but some may charge a small entry charge because the local bands and entertainers there are usually great and ell worth paying a little to see. The Red - Stripes at these occassions are $300 - $400 JD ( $3.50 - $5.00 USD) which is very reasonable considering the high level of entertainment found at some of these places (add another $100 for Heinekin's).
Airport Transfers
There are 2 unionized airport transfer bus services servicing Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay and all of the resorts in Negril. They are JUTA and JCLA and they are the cheapest form of transportation for visitors and locals. Both of these companies offer similar low rates for their bus trips back and forth to and from these places. As of this writing their prices were in the $30 to $40 USD range per pasenger for each trip plus tip. You can book yourself onto one of their buses when you land at Sangster International Airport as long as you arrive not too late (in which case you'll have to take a more expensive charter taxi).
Hotels, Resorts, Villas and Rooms
As a rule of thumb, staying in places that are off of the beach itself or inland of the cliffs will give you the lowest room rates. An inexpensive resort on the beach in the off season will rent their lowest cost room for - $50 - $70 USD. On season that same room will cost $75 to $125.
Right across the street at a resort (and maybe a pool) within easy walking distance to the 7 mile beach will rent an inexpensive room for $40 - $55 USD off season and for $50 - $80 on season. The same pretty much holds true for places that are on and inland of the cliffs.
Food
There are quite a few grocery stores all over the greater Negril area and there is a large Hi - Lo supermarket right downtown. Here all kinds of food, rum, beer, pop and other goods may be purchased to save you money over resort prices. Just be sure that you have a working refrigerator in your room or access to plenty of ice there if you elect to go this route (which will cut your food bills nearly in half compared to buying cooked food at even the cheapest street grills or restaurants. Many people go to places like Ossie's or 3 Dives to purchase jerked chicken or pork and they take it back to their room to enjoy with cheap beers ($100 JD each from the supermarket) in their refridgerator.
You can bring all kinds of snacks from overseas into Jamaica, just not any meat products. The Jamaican government wants tourists to spend money on the island for everything possible so thay make it hard for tourists to economize by bringing in large stocks of food or beer / liquor.
Restaurants
The rule of thumb for dining out is to ask the locals where they go to eat because they know the lowest priced good places. Ossie's and Selina's on the land side of the 7 - mile beach and Fatty's and 3 Dives on the cliffs are 4 places known for serving good sized portions of great food at low prices. These are places where you get more than enough to eat so you can take leftovers back to your room for consumtion later. Be careful though because some of the resorts have a policy of not allowing their guests to bring in carry-outs from other restaurants off of their premises.
Bars
There are a couple of hundred bars and restaurants in Negril, each more colorful and more fun than the next because of thier wonderful, friendly Jamaican vibe. Usually everyone in them is colorful, nice and polite, even their tourist patrons. The price of beers in them starts at a low nowadays of $200 JD ($2.25 USD). Rum and fruit drinks are usually double that and up.
Transportation within Negril
Negril provides a free shuttle bus every 2 hours which traverses One Love Drive from the 7 - mile beach all the way to the lighthouse in the cliffs. This bus may be flagged down all along its 14 mile route by tourists and locals. It's purpose is to pull 7 mile beach resort patrons up into the cliffs to increase their tourist enterprises' trade there. This bus is the cheapest form of transportation other than walking but you have to time your hookups with it on the road to its schedule of going past wherever you are on it.
The next cheapest form of transportation in Negril is the route taxi. These run either up and down the beach portion of One Love Drive to and from downtown or up and down the cliffs portion of One Love Drive, also to and from downtown. Either trip is $80 - $100 JD (about $1 USD) one way no matter how far within these 7 mile routes you desire to go. Since this is only about $1 USD per ride most tourist passengers alos give a tip of anothe $100 JD to the driver.
Licensed route taxis have red license plates and should not be confused with unlicensed robot taxis that are not legal to use and that are sometimes unsafe for tourists to enter. The red plate route taxis are often speed demons because they have to run enough trips a day to pay for their vehicles before they make anything for themselves. So many of Negril's tourists will not use them and instead opt for their resort's safer driver at twice the price or more.
Anytime a tourist enters a taxi of any kind in Negril they should first negotiate the price per passenger for their trip! Some unscrupulous drivers (usually route taxi drivers) will charge exhorbitant rates at the end of a ride because this was not done. Don't just jump in a taxi and expect a fare box to be there to compute your trip as you would do in many overseas cities because they do not have them. They have designated
Entertainment
The least costly entertainment available in Negril is to just walk the beach or the cliffs road for free and observe the goings on of some of the more colorful locals. However, when tourists do this they are invariably hounded by scammers and hawkers but this in itself can be entertaining. Tourists should always be polite in their haggling over price and when they're ready to go on, they should be firm but polite in their refusal of any more goods or services.
Single women can be accosted by obvious gigolos and some enjoy the attention and the flattery but many don't so this may or may not be a form of entertainment to them. If a woman is polite and firm in her rejection of these suitors they will back down but some of them can be so aggressive that the lady may have to threaten to call for an officer. But that can be fun too, especially if there are a couple of girls who are out together reinforcing one another.
Negril has a number of clubs and entertainment centers on the beach, in the cliffs or inland of both which have something going on every night in one or another of them. Some are free but some may charge a small entry charge because the local bands and entertainers there are usually great and ell worth paying a little to see. The Red - Stripes at these occassions are $300 - $400 JD ( $3.50 - $5.00 USD) which is very reasonable considering the high level of entertainment found at some of these places (add another $100 for Heinekin's).
Some of you readers probably have many more suggestions on how to economize during a visit to Negril so I hope that we will see many comments on this post to give us all additional thoughts on thei matter.
