Checklist for your Jamaica Vacation- 10 Things you didn’t know you need

Planning a vacation can become quite hectic. A lot of running around to get things done, making sure your passport is up to date, putting things together to take with you, and making arrangements for the kids. Sounds familiar right? One of the best ways to stay organized and make sure you’re not leaving anything is to make a checklist. Take it from us, it will save you the headache of feeling like “this is too much.” While most vacation checklists will be pretty similar, some things should be on your checklist that is specific to the destination you’ll be visiting. Here are 10 things that you should have on your Jamaica Vacation Checklist.  

1. Beginner’s Jamaican Patwah (patois) Guide

While English is our formal language and we speak it every day in a formal setting, when we are talking to each other we are almost always talking Patwah. Jamaican Patwah (patois) is our local dialect and it’s a mixture of broken English, with languages that were retained from our ancestors and some fun slangs that were created over the years. If you want to immerse yourself in our culture and connect with our people, one of the best ways to do that is to learn our local dialect. It’s pretty much the same as if you were going to France for the first time, you’d want to learn a little French before you go. Saying a few words in Patwah to locals always leaves them feeling delighted and appreciated, and definitely gets the conversation going. If you say “Wah gwaan”(translates to “what’s going on” or “what’s up”) to a Jamaican they’d be curious about where you learned that and might even take it upon themselves to teach you a few more things in Patwah. 

2. Jamaica Travel Itinerary

Before you get to the island, you should have an idea of what you want your trip to look like. For instance, if you’re going to do some relaxing activities like bamboo river rafting, something adventurous like jumping off a cliff, shopping or simply just seeing the town that you’re staying in. Too often we’ve heard “we wanted to do something fun but weren’t sure what activity is right for us, so next time we’ll figure it out.” You might want to plan ahead so that when you’re on vacation, you’re not fussing about what to do. This will help you stay relaxed and keep you in vacation mode. Plus, you’ll have something fun and exciting to look forward to, knowing what you’ll be doing, other than laying on the beach and eating some delicious Jamaican food. A travel itinerary will outline the details of your trip, give you an idea of what your trip will cost, and what your vacation will look like, and maximize your vacation time so you don’t waste time trying to figure out certain things while on vacay. You can even leave a copy of your Jamaica travel itinerary with a relative or friend so they’ll know what you’ll be up to on your trip. 

3. Download WhatsApp Messenger

Being able to communicate with family and loved ones while in a foreign country is very important. We all know that getting international service from your telecommunication company is quite expensive. WhatsApp will save you money because it’s free and you can use it to make a voice call, video call, or message anyone anywhere in the world who also has WhatsApp. It doesn’t matter if you have an Android or iPhone, you can download it from the Apple store or Google Play Store and start using it right away. Everyone in Jamaica uses WhatsApp so you’ll need it to communicate your travel needs to concierges, drivers or hosts. 

4. Jamaican music playlist

You might be wondering why would I need a Jamaican music playlist. It’s all about getting to know our culture and becoming involved when you visit our island. When traveling to our country for the first time, you can create a playlist with some popular Jamaican songs. Even if you’ve been here before and you’re planning to revisit, it’s not too late for you either. Your playlist can have a mixture of some Bob Marley songs, some oldies, and some popular new songs as well. Especially if you’re visiting our island to go to a music festival like Reggae Sumfest or a party experience like Dream Weekend or you like clubbing when on vacation, you might want to get up to date with some Jamaican music. Even if you don’t plan to go to those kinds of events, who knows, even at your hotel hanging at the bar or the nightclub will put you in the mix. This way you will feel involved and have an even better experience at one of these places.

5. Jamaican water shoes

When you’re visiting a foreign country, especially for the first time, you want to look the part. It’s like going to Egypt or Dubai, we’re pretty sure you’ll have some outfits that just by looking at a picture of your vacation, everyone will know you’re in Egypt or Dubai, right? Our island is surrounded by lots of water bodies, not just the ocean, but rivers and waterfalls. So you can guess that a lot of the activities that you’ll enjoy here will be water activities, and for safety and comfort, you’ll need water shoes to do these activities. If you’re going to climb the world-famous, Dunn’s River Falls or enjoy the Blue Hole experience, among many others, then you’re definitely going to need water shoes. So why not do so in true Jamaican fashion? A lot of visitors have dressed in branded Jamaican clothes, swimsuits, and water shoes. 

6. Waterproof phone pouch

When on your vacation in Jamaica, we have no doubt that you’ll be doing water activities. After all, how can you visit Jamaica and not do something fun like snorkeling, diving, swimming in the ocean, or going to a waterfall? And when you do, you’re going to want to capture the moments of your amazing experience here in Jamaica. To protect your phone, you can get a waterproof phone pouch with a string attached around your neck to put your phone in. This way you can capture all the beautiful memories without damaging your phone.

7. Jamaica wide-brimmed sun hat

Jamaica is a tropical destination and it’s sunny almost all the time. A wide-brimmed sun hat can help to protect the sun from burning your face and decrease the amount of sunlight in your eyes. This is not a replacement for your sunscreen, it will simply add an extra layer of protection from the sun. Plus, there’s nothing that says Jamaican vacay like a Jamaican-branded wide-brimmed sun hat for the ladies. 

8. Coffee cup

One of the best coffees in the world is Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee and we’ve noticed that a lot of people, especially American visitors usually have a thing for coffee. A loving relationship we would say. When vacationing in Jamaica, you can usually get coffee in abundance at your hotel. If you’re a coffee lover, you can take your coffee cup with you so that you can fill your cup and take it around with you without having to make too many requests for coffee refills. 

9. Insect repellent

Jamaica, being located in the tropics, is prone to insects such as mosquitos, ants, and sand fleas. While it is not a must that you’ll be staying at a location that has many mosquitos or sand fleas, it’s best to prepare for it, especially since mosquitos are quite common during the evenings. As you might know, most of our activities on the island are water activities, going through rainforests to get to a waterfall, and more. So if you like leaving your hotel or villa to do activities, to protect yourself from insect bites, you should take insect repellent with you and use it generously. 

10. Sand-free beach blanket

Yes, we said it! Sand-free beach blankets. They come quite handy when visiting Jamaica. After all, when you visit Jamaica it’s almost certain that you will be spending some time on our beautiful white sandy beaches. While some people might be okay with walking in the sand and even laying and rolling in the sand, we know that not everyone likes the feeling of sand on their bodies. That is why sand-free blankets will come in handy and you can lay on your blanket in the sand without having to worry about sand sticking to your blanket and your body. 

And that’s a wrap

Now that you know a few things you might not have thought of for your Jamaican trip, you can add a few of them to your Jamaican Vacation Checklist. Remember planning makes your trip preparation much easier and will save you the stress of feeling like you want to put off your vacation for next time. We hope this helped with your vacation plan. Until next time- live, laugh and explore! 😊