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I was invited by the UK Jamaica Tourist Board to experience first-hand the delights of Jamaica – so firstly I would like to thank Torrance Lewis the Jamaica UK Sales Manager – who was a wonderful host, and an excellent Ambassador for Jamaica. He oozed the Jamaican karma – very relaxed, nothing was ever a problem, and taught me the following expressions which seemed within the areas travelled, to be used quite commonly:

Irie Man - meaning :“good”, “fine”, “okay”, “hi”, “happy”, “pleasant”, “high”, “alright”
Yeah mon (tourist areas) or Yeah Man (Kingston) - "it’s okay / I agree"

One of the objectives of the Jamaica Tourist Board itinerary was to get a better understanding of the Jamaican tourism landscape and experience the resort destinations first hand. Sample Jamaican food, absorb the music and enjoy the cultures and hospitality that Jamaica is so well known for.

Flying with Virgin Air from London Gatwick to Montego Bay located in the northwest of Jamaica .The flight time outbound is 9 hours 50 minutes and return 8 hours 50 minutes – so a relatively short duration long haul flight.

On arrival in Montego Bay (located North West Jamaica) I was then transferred to another beachside resort East of Montego Bay, later to stay also in Montego Bay itself, followed by Negril (located West of Montego Bay).

The itinerary was designed to highlight some of the resorts that are ideally suited to a wide range of clients also including some specialist options, while also giving a taste of the many activities that Jamaica has become known for.

Jamaica is an island nation 234 kilometres (145 miles) in length and as much as 80 kilometres (50 miles) in width, and amounts to 10,990 square kilometres (4,243 sq. miles). It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about 145 kilometres (90 miles) South of Cuba, and 191 kilometres (119 miles) West of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Once a Spanish possession known as Santiago, in 1655 it became an English, and later a British colony, known as "Jamaica". It achieved full independence in 1962 (2012 it will be celebrating 50 years of independence). The population is 2.8 million people. It remains a Commonwealth realm with Queen Elizabeth II as head of state. Kingston is the country's largest city and the capital

Ian Fleming who lived in Jamaica, repeatedly used the island as a setting in the James Bond novels, including Live and Let Die, Doctor No, For Your Eyes Only, The Man with the Golden Gun and Octopussy and The Living Daylights. In addition, James Bond uses a Jamaica-based cover in Casino Royale. So far, the only James Bond film adaptation to have been set in Jamaica is Doctor No. Filming for the fictional island of San Monique in Live and Let Die took place in Jamaica.

From canopy tours to swimming with Dolphins, plantation tours to pleasure catamaran cruises on the high seas, Jamaica as I experienced has a wide variety of exciting attractions and activities. Admittedly, time did not allow me to sample many more of the 150+ attractions across the island, but it did leave you with the taste for wanting more. However I did manage to squeeze in some cliff jumping as seen on the photo.

One of the main features of Jamaica which really stood out for me was the calmness of the sea as it is literally surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and has no Atlantic Sea aspect unlike many of the other Caribbean islands. Something which I feel might be easily overlooked when thinking of travelling to this part of the world. This makes it an ideal destination for families – as the sea level is always very flat, inviting and warm.

Travelling in September, for those who will ask what is the best time of year to go, then normally this would be seen as an off season month , with the potential for heavy rainfall and possible hurricanes as this is the time of year when they might occur. The weather was superb , yes there were some heavy rainfalls but short and snappy – lasting only for one or two hours and then everything returned to bright sunshine and back to sipping rum and lazing by the pool, or sea.

For those interested in travelling to Jamaica there was one particular accommodation which really stood out – if you are interested in finding out more about this then please give me a call.

‘Once you go, you know.’