Taxis are the most reliable transportation in the city. Most cabs are found along Gloucester Avenue.
Car Rental To rent a car you must be over 25, have a valid driver's license from another country and have a valid credit card. Security deposits may be hefty. Gas stations accept only cash. Safety seats for young children must be brought with you from home. (Rental of a car in Jamaica is not recommended for a first time visitor).
The international airport is a half hour's taxi ride away.
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1/5/2019 Anchored one the east side of Lucea Harbour 500 meters inside the concrete pier. Excellent holding in 3 meters. Do not expect to see the two charted lighted markers at night. Nice calm anchorage in prevailing easterlies. No one bothered us.
When checking in at Montego Bay make sure you ask for the “Customs Transire” and “Coastwise Clearance” forms if you plan to make any other stops in Jamaica (this information is given in noonsite’s main Jamaica Formalities section).
We told both customs and immigration that we were checking out at Port Antonio and were only given an immigration shipping form that we were told we should show to officials in any coastal port as we worked our way east to Port Antonio.
When we went to check out at P.O. we were chastised for not having the correct forms and told that a very steep fine could be incurred for not having a customs form from ports in between.
Apparently, we were the 3rd boat this month with the same issue. Customs in P.O. was super nice and did not fine us, but warned us that there seems to be a bit of a breakdown in communication and it is the cruiser’s duty to have the correct paperwork.
Posted on behalf of SY Blue Flyer:
The arrival into the Montego Bay Yacht Club is simple and the channel is well marked (for the cruise ships). Check-in involves an awful lot of forms from Health, Customs, Immigration and the club. Maybe an hour filling out the same questions over and over. Crew have to be present as well. Good news is, there were no fees involved.
Marina is Med style using your anchor and a buoy in our case. Fuel and water on the dock and 110 and 220-volt power using American plugs. The club is a long way from town, so car rental is worthwhile. I used Apex car rentals, good, open to negotiation and friendly. They drove me back to the club.
There is a large shopping area about 30 mins walk away, including a supermarket, frozen yoghurt shop and a multiplex cinema. All in all a good and enjoyable stopover.
Hugh Pilsworth
SY Blue Flyer
We like Pier 1 Marina. I find it very protected and an easy walk to everything. Berthing is stern tie, with no wake or swell. There are water and bathrooms but no showers, laundry (laundry can be found at “city center”), or electric.
The Marine Park office upstairs were helpful in calling customs and immigration for us and asked nothing for doing so, but I made a small donation to the park. Pier 1 has a great restaurant/bar that is popular with the locals, and a small marine and fishing supplies store.
Update for Montego Bay for Noonsite from Wapiti June 2015
The approach to Montego Bay is clearly marked and easy to enter by day or night. Anchorage for yachts is adjacent to the Yacht Club between moorings and the big ship turning circle marked by buoys and beacons. This is used frequently. The anchoring area is very limited with indifferent holding so extra scope is required to allow for fresh winds which blow the length of the harbour most days.
Wash from big ships and their bow and stern thrusters can create considerable turbulence. Anchorage is also available near Pier 1 but is not secure, and in Bogue lagoon but neither have any facilities. Customs, immigration and health come to the club and there are no charges in normal working hours. Overtime is $68 which can be shared with other yachts.
The Yacht club charges $11.50 per person per day including tax for yachts at anchor for the use of the limited facilities, which is one of the most expensive I have come across in many years of cruising. Marina berths are $1.15 per foot including tax but the only berths available are stern- to from a mooring ball to the pontoon exposed to the full force of winds coming down the harbour which can exceed 30 knots. Also, big charter cats use the pontoon and on one occasion one lost control and hit our mooring lines, bending a fairlead.
Other damage was also done to the boat. Electricity was charged at $11.50 per day for 115 Volts and $23 per day for 230Volts. In our case that would have amounted to about $6 per kwh, again the most expensive we have ever encountered, so we had to use our generator. The facilities of the club are rather run down, with broken showers and toilets. Visitors are not entitled to any of the member’s discounts at the restaurant and other places. We did not find the club at all friendly and got the impression their attitude was to see how much money they could make from visiting yachts.
I sent an email to all the committee members about this but only got one reply saying they were thinking of putting in electric meters. Customs came on several occasions and sent the club launch to demand our attendance ashore. This amounted to harassment and when we complained they said they could demand to see us every day if they wanted.
There are two good supermarkets – Megamart and Progressive – within a short taxi ride (for which they will try to overcharge), or easy cycling distance but a bit too far to walk comfortably In fairness they allowed us a discount as we were stuck for 4 weeks, initially waiting for repaired parts then by bad weather. However, it is not a place we recommend.
Posted on behalf of Sigrid Greven, SY Lucky Bitch (Belgium)
I just want to inform you about my delightful stay @ Montego Bay, Jamaica. Due to a death in the family, I had to quickly go back to Belgium for 2 weeks. I received the bad news while I was in another beautiful bay of Jamaica: Ocho Rios. Nevertheless, the local people and insiders over there told me not to leave my boat ONBEWAAKT there. It would be LEEGGEROOFD very soon for sure.
So, I sailed the 55 NM further, a very good way of ROUWEN, to Montego Bay, which is at the west of the island Jamaica. In Montego Bay, you could have a berth at the pontoon in the marina, grab a mooring (if there is one free) or anchor. The anchorage is not good: dragging, bad anchor ground, rough water and a lot of passage (from cruise ship today charter). At the moment I arrived, there was no space in the rather small pontoon marina.
So, David, the harbormaster helped me picking up a mooring which was safe and good to leave my boat when I travelled to Belgium. David is the type of harbormaster you take away all your ZORGEN on these moments of fuzz. He is a good sailor, great technical man, a very dedicated harbormaster and also social GEENGAGEERD.
Not only David, but also the Club Manager Mrs. Judith Dear, her assistant Heather and the colleagues of their office, even the Taxi driver and Cleaning Lady were the best.
I felt very at ease in the yacht club surrounded by those people. Thank you all. I wished all marina personal, harbormasters and marina offices I met and will meet on my further world sailing around, were and will be like those in the Montego Yacht Club.