Renting a car in Falmouth Jamaica

nj1k

Earning My Ears
Joined
Sep 21, 2017
Hi all,
So looks like our 10/7/17 Eastern Caribbean has become a Western Caribbean.

We wanted to rent a car to drive down to Occho Rios to see some old friends for lunch. How doable would this be if we tried to rent a car from the Falmouth pier? I know this port is not tendered but I fear that with all the itinerary changes there will be enough ships that we might get tendered.

Should we just cab it?
 
I can't speak to Falmouth and renting a car...but driving in Jamaica is a crazy proposition. If you look at many car insurance policies they specifically exclude coverage when driving in Jamaica. Unless you have been to Jamaica before and know exactly what you're getting into, I would avoid driving in Jamaica. Could your friends come pick you up? Or could you hop on a hotel shuttle? We took a shuttle from the Montego Bay airport to Ocho Rios, which is about a 2-hour ride.
 
Completely understand the caution and I really do appreciate it. I have driven in Jamaica before quite a few times and actually found it one of the easier places to drive in compared to some of other locales I have driven in.

My main concern was the time it will take to disembark and then go through the rental process etc. How easy is getting a cab in Falmouth and any idea as to what it would cost to Occho Rios?
 
I rented an 8 seater minivan from the falmouth port a few years ago. It was very easy. I think it was from island Car Rental or something like that? It was cheaper than the big names. They're right in the port area (amongst the shops). We just headed straight there after we got off the ship. It did take a bbit longer than a typical US rental car office - maybe about 30+ mins? No big deal. It wasn't as slick as it is in the US, but we were completely safe and did not deal with any upselling.

I chose to use a credit card that covered insurance in Jamaica (I read the fine print carefully) and did not have to pay extra. It was very inexpensive - cheaper than paying a private tour guide (which was the initial plan).

Driving to Ocho Rios was easy - there is a coastal highway (that was in great condition when we drove it a few years ago). We did Dunns River Falls by ourselves and it was sooo much better than joining those tour groups with the endless line of people holding hands. We paid $20/pp for entry and got to climb it at our pace, stopping whenever we felt like it to soak in a pool or under a waterfall.

On the way back, we stopped at a roadside stand to buy a $1 coconut (it was funny since the guy had a machete - we sent my DH out by himself while we locked the doors haha!). Once we felt safer, my girlfriend went out to take photos. We also stopped at a restaurant off the side of the highway - we chose one that looked larger and cleaner across from small tourist hotels with a bunch of tourists around. It was fun to have some local jerk chicken.

We saved a bundle renting a car and gained a lot of freedom. Friends were freaked out when we said we were going to drive in Jamaica - but frankly, the roads were good and we were perfectly safe the whole time. You do need to stay aware and take some extra safety precautions. All of us have also driven in 3rd World countries and I personally did not find Jamaica that much different.
 


Thanks!

This is great information. I am looking into Island Car Rental but they are charging me $20 for dropoff and pickup. So I might try some other can rental agency.
 
Can someone advise on what times realistically we can get to the car rental counter? We wanted to have breakfast on the ship.

Also what time should we be back to the car rental counter?
 
Thanks!

This is great information. I am looking into Island Car Rental but they are charging me $20 for dropoff and pickup. So I might try some other can rental agency.

Interesting. When I rented from them they had an office onsite at the port. Guess it must have changed now. Definitely worth shopping around.

Not sure what time you would make it there...we found it a quick process to debark the ship so my guess is it will depend on how early you get up for breakfast and how long it takes for you to eat. Also, what time you are allowed to get off.

I ensured we were back about 1.5 hours early I think? Maybe even 2 hours early. Did not want to take any chances of accidents on the road. I think we got a tiny bit turned around when we returned (we also had to stop for gas) so an extra 5-10 mins there. We spent our time wandering the port area shopping (nice because the shopkeepers here don't pressure you) and then strolled on board in the last half hour.
 


IMO its too much risk in missing the ship if something goes wrong, either with traffic, or your car, etc etc. It took us 45 minutes to go to a plantation that didn't seem that far from port. You say you have driven there before so I assume you know what you'd be getting into, so if you are willing to risk it, good luck!
 

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