I would love to visit Jamaica but I don't want to stay in a resort. Is this something tourists can do? Is it safe? If anyone has experience traveling outside the resorts in Jamaica I'd love to hear what your trip was like and where you'd recommend staying and what you'd recommend seeing/doing. Thanks!

Jamaica is a great! Negril has lots to do off any resort and as I can tell by your post you are already cautious you should have no problem. If you want a lower key adventure with a real Jamaican feel head for the Trasure Beach area. Do some research before you go and you will never regret coming to Jamaica.nce you go, you know!

I have been to Jamaica many times - twice a year for 2-week stays for last few years. Mainly to Negril - have found it the best, but once in Ocho Rios, and a couple days in Montego Bay. I have found the crime warnings about Jamaica VERY overstated - to the point of being rediculous. So DEFINITELY get out of the resort and explore - just use common sense as you should traveling anyplace.

Violent crime is pretty much limited to Kingston, and just the drug areas at that, and I have read a couple local newspapers articles about robberies in MoBay - but not the big tourist areas like Negril, and Ochi, nor the more remote tourist areas like Port Antonio or Treasure Beach. Only if you call someone asking if you want to buy ganja a crime - then yes, crime is rampant - LOL. There is petty theft - but no worse than in U.S. cities.

To your question - Negril's 7-mile beach area is THE place for a first-timer. Hotels range from $30US/night cheap hotels to $$$$/night mega-resort AI's - with the sweet spot about $60-100US/night for small, clean, safe, locally owned hotels on non-AI plan. Negril also has a cliffs area, that is a more laid-back, local "vibe" than the party-area beach.

This site is good resource because has links to hotel sites, not just their prices: http://www.travel2negril.com/hotels.htm. But this one is good resource, too: http://www.negrilinfo.com. For hotel/resort advice - TripAdvisor.com has a great Negril forum. For a more repeat-visitor point of view on wide range of topics - http://www.negril.com/cgi-bin/discus.cgi is good forum.

We went to Jamaica(Port Antonio) with our 2 young children a few yrs ago & loved it!!! We did not stay in a resort, we did tour around & found the country & people beautiful. I have an extensive trip report here which could be an interesting read for you as I had fears about safety before departure as well.....

My name then was "willem", port antonio Jamaica trip report.

What area of Jamaica are you staying? When we went to Negril, we booked tours directly through our hotel. We did the Black River/Appleton Rum Factory/YS Falls and Mayfield Falls. We just took a taxi from our hotel and went to Margaritaville, the craft market and Rick's Cafe.

We are booked for Ocho Rios in July and have planned to go to Dunn's River Falls, Margaritaville, Coboya, Fern Gulley, and Martha Brea rafting. We'll book some through the hotel and plan on using a tour operator also.

a wonderful man, fodor's sn tivertonhouse (sasha davidson) used to post here. he lived on and was in love with jamaica. his company still rents villas. this site might interest you: http://www.jamaicaescapes.com/about_...house_llc.html

I booked a stay in Treasure Beach via Tivertonhouse's website and it was fantastic. Mar Blue Verandah was newly opened and he put together a package that included daily breakfast and some evening meals. We walked everywhere--to Jake's, to the treasure Beach Hotel, to the various beaches and other places for lunch. we also booked an excursion up the Black River and out to the Pelican Bar, which was amazing.

Mar Blue was fantastic and I've rarely had such good good anywhere--the chef is one of the two owners and his food was amazing. He'd chat with us each day about what was fresh, we'd pick from those items, and then he'd cook each meal to order. Axel and Andrea are the two owners and they couldn't have been more lovely. The staff was friendly and the rooms were exceedingly comfortable--with a/c in the bedrooms, large balconies or porches with a daybed for lounging on, and pretty spacious. There's a small pool on the property and the beach is right there--the balconies overlook the beach.

I couldn't recommend Treasure Beach area more for people looking to get a taste of non-resort Jamaica, and Mar Blue offers a top-notch place to stay.