Jamaica - The Recap

I haven't yet worked out exactly what the denouement of a trip should be.  I had given some thought to trying to rate each place, but after some consideration, I realized that while I can probably put some sort of three or four point scale together (i.e., must see, highly recommended, recommended, meh) that would probably be the extent of it.

I really wanted to like Jamaica - and I think in the end, I did like it, but that was it.  My experience was that once off the resort, the people tended to want you to buy drugs, booze, or miscellaneous trinkets, or asked repeatedly for tips for things that were part of the job description (for example, collecting tips for the bus driver when you paid to go on a bus tour, after you've tipped the tour guide).  The repeated attempted sales of pot really got annoying after a while, and it seemed like just about everyone would ask.  On the other hand, I don't really see the value in traveling if all you're going to do is stay at the resort. Another point is that the people do seem to be repeatedly plying you with rum punch, which is fun for a while, but I also came away convinced that every place on the island had the same rum punch recipe (hint: ingredients are listed in order of most to least).

We got to explore a little bit, and there's definitely a few things we missed out on, but time is always finite, so you do what you can and move on.  That said, the sights of Jamaica are few and far between.  The main attraction (assuming you don't go for the "green") is probably the beach, sun, and possibly the music scene, or at least the music history scene.  I think there's a few decent snorkeling spots around, and a review of some of my reference books shows a couple of pages dedicated to the island, which tends to indicate at least a few spots of interest.  That said, I don't think that anything we experienced fell into the "must-do" category, nor do I feel particularly compelled to go back for the other things that I have read about.  Jamaica has multiple entries in 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, but that's another post for another day.

From a food perspective, the food overall was good.  There's plenty of tropical fruit, as would be expected, and the island jerk is pretty tasty, with the scotchbonnet pepper adding a unique flair to the food.  On the other hand, there were no true food moments that I can recall.  To be fair, since we were all-inclusive, that also meant most meals were at the resort, so there were minimal possibilities for any sort of great food experience.

So, for me at least, Jamaica hits the, "if that's your thing, go for it" category pretty solidly.  I'd be willing to go back and try it again, but it is way down the list for a retry.  Too many other places to go that I haven't been to first.