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Jamaica Dance Vacation
About Jamaica
Jamaica is naturally beautiful. Our land gleams in Technicolor, as lofty Blue Mountains spill onto verdant plains, shimmering sands and turquoise seas. Our rich history and culture provide a plethora of ideas, images and untold stories.
With its unparalleled beauty and year-round vacation opportunities, Jamaica is an ideal tourist destination. Each year over one million visitors flock to our island to experience the delights of our exciting resort centers – Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Negril, Port Antonio and the South Coast. As our biggest industry, tourism provides jobs in sectors other than its own. It helps to fuel our economy, empowering people in all sectors, from the farmer whose crops are used in hotel kitchens to the artist selling his craft in a shopping village.
It’s no wonder Jamaicans pulse with a creative energy that overflows into whatever we do. It’s in the way we talk, walk, dance, dress and in the countless other nuances making up the fabric of our everyday lives. Our creativity, however, is perhaps most tangible in our visual art, which uses our country’s inspirational palette to give a physical reflection of everything we are, have been and will be.
Our island is as much an animal lover's paradise as it is a botanist's dream. There are over 252 species of birds, of which 27 are found nowhere else in the world. These endemic species include the national bird – the streamer-tailed hummingbird (doctor bird), and the bee hummingbird, one of the world's smallest birds. The Jamaican tody, also known as the robin redbreast, lives solely on this island. This tody is even more unique because it makes its nest not in a tree, but in a hole in the ground.
Jamaica enjoys a tropical climate, characterized by high temperatures and humid conditions year-round. Average temperature ranges from 19 degrees Celsius (66 degrees Fahrenheit) to 32 degrees Celsius (99 degrees Fahrenheit).
Though we’re known for our warmth and sunshine, the island does get rain, but don’t worry. Most times, the short tropical showers provide a welcome break from the afternoon heat – just look at it as liquid sunshine, not rain!
Jamaica is well connected to the rest of the world. Direct international telephone service operates in all areas 24 hours a day, and telephone operators will gladly facilitate collect, third-party or credit card calls.
The electrical supply in Jamaica is 110 volts/50 cycles standard, and electrical appliances use plugs that are two-pronged and flat (such as those used in the United States and Canada).
The official language of Jamaica is English, although most of us converse using ‘Patois', a dialect as colourful and intriguing as our Jamaican personalities. It may take some time for you to become accustomed to it. When that happens, though, you'll have fun trying the local expressions.
Jamaica falls within the Eastern Time Zone (UTC/GMT -5 Hours) and does NOT observe Daylight Savings Time. At times in Jamaica, however, it seems as if we don't observe any time at all, so for the least amount of stress on your vacation, you may want to think about leaving your watch behind! At approximately 18 degrees north of the equator, the island falls within the tropics, and as such does not experience drastic seasonal changes in sunrise and sunset times. Year-round, the island averages between 11.5 and 12.5 hours of sunlight per day – always enough time to do everything, or never enough for anything!