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Climate - Weather

Jamaica's climate is tropical with constant warm to hot temperatures all year round, though cooler in the higher, central areas. The wettest months are between May and November, when short sharp showers can be expected. The heaviest rains occur in September and October and the hurricane season runs from June to November, though, despite the powerful Hurricane Ivan in September 2004, relatively few hurricanes touch Jamaica.

Jamaica

Ever since Errol Flynn cavorted here with his Hollywood pals in the 1930s and 40s, travellers have regarded Jamaica as one of the most alluring of the Caribbean islands. Its beaches, mountains and carnal red sunsets regularly appear in the sort of tourist brochures that promise paradise.

Unlike other nearby islands, it caters to all comers: you can choose a private villa with your own private beach; laugh your vacation away at a party-hearty resort; throw yourself into the thick of the island's life, or concentrate on experiencing the three Rs: reggae, reefers and rum.

Jamaica's character arises from its complex culture, which aspires to be African in defiance of both the island's geography and its colonial history. Jamaicans may have a quick wit and a ready smile, but this is not the happy-go-lucky island of Bacardi adverts and Harry Belafonte tunes. The island's sombre history is rooted in the sugar-plantation economy, and the slave era still weighs heavily on the national psyche. Rastafarianism may mean easy skankin' to some, but its confused expression of love, hope, anger and social discontent encapsulates modern Jamaica - a densely populated, poverty-ridden country that is struggling to escape dependency and debt.

Events

Jamaica hosts a full calendar of musical, artistic, cultural and sporting events. Reggae Sunsplash and Reggae Sumfest are the biggest funfests on the island, held about one week apart in July/August. Sunsplash is held near Ocho Rios, Sumfest in Montego Bay. Both are frenetic beachy music festivals, with A-rated fun and X-rated dancing. Carnival the week after Easter in March/April, takes place on the university campus in Kingston and at various other places around Jamaica. It's a big blow-out, mainly for Jamaicans, with reggae, calypso and dancehall soca the main booty-shakers, but it's also a tourist attraction in its own right.

There are a number of yacht races on the calendar: the Pineapple Cup Yacht Race, held each February, starts in Miami and finishes in Montego Bay. Cricket matches are held from laneway to lawn throughout the year. In April, the West Indies team takes on an international challenger in the Kingston Test Match. Jonkanoo is a traditional Christmas celebration in which revellers parade through the streets dressed in masquerade. The festivity has its origins among West African secret societies and was once the major celebration on the slave calendar.