re: Headed to Jamaica in late December

I've posted about it elsewhere, but my experience in Jamaica was very different from most people's. We actually researched and chose to go off the beaten path away from the typical tourist destinations. We went to a fishing village called Treasure Beach which is set up for small scale community tourism. This means there are fewer "amenities" like restaurants and clubs, but the people are super chill and nice (lots and lots of true rastas in the area). Negril, Ocho, and Mo Bay are all where you run into the constant hassling because the locals have developed a parasitic relationship with the tourists. That's why so many people say to just not leave your resort in those areas to avoid all the hassling.

Ironically, if you completely leave the heavy tourist areas, you start to see the "real" Jamaica and its people, and it's pretty awesome. We ended up getting invited to eat dinner with a nice retired couple (they had left the island to work in England then retired back to the island) at their house and they drove us around the island and such. It was a great experience.

We ended up doing a couple of nights in negril as well, and it kind of sucked due to all the hassling, so I understand why people feel the way they do. But very few people get out and experience the real island.

If that interests you, a great "accessible" hotel to stay at which is really cool is Jakes.

We also stayed at Ital Rest, which is like a rasta commune, basically. Cool treehouse huts, though.