Jamaica / Special Interests / Solo Travel

Jamaica has the depth to offer plenty to single travellers. There are busy resort towns with crowds that are easy to join in with if you are looking for company - there are even a couple of hotels that specialise in singles - but if you are looking to hide yourself away for a week on your own, then there are also plenty of cool and quiet hotels where you will be well looked after and made to feel part of the family. Port Antonio is an incredibly charming, quiet spot with some delightful small and friendly places to stay, and with activities that are easy to join in on without feeling spare (such as hiking and bird-watching). Similarly Treasure Beach is cool if you want to escape, though there is not as much to do there. In Negril you can find both solitude and action side by side. There is the seclusion of the fantastic small resorts on the cliffs (and a couple on the beach too), but then there is plenty of activity if you want to go out.

Of course Jamaica has endless tours. These are a little more difficult as lone travellers tend to stick out a bit more, but you might go horse-riding or on a plantation tour where everyone is mixed in. There are of course the sports to concentrate on, windsurfing or diving. They are not the best in the Caribbean, but there is enough to keep you busy.

For all its tricky reputation, general life in Jamaica is no more difficult as a lone traveller than as a couple. Single women are likely to get a bit of attention (perhaps make sure to go to a ‘private’ beach, within a hotel compound or one of the public beaches that are closed off), but in the main tourist resorts everyone can expect to be approached (this is general hustling, not with any sexual intent). Act sensibly. Just give them a firm but polite no and they’ll eventually go away. As always though, Jamaica rewards the adventurous, so it is well worth getting out there to explore.