Connecting each other...
Getting in touch with your (overseas) friends or family from within Jamaica is not really a problem. There are several ways to communicate, and most work fine.
Post
The Postal Corporation of Jamaica Ltd. is Jamaica's postal service.
In every town in Jamaica you can find a post office or agency. Keep in mind that small post offices or post agencies do not offer the complete selection. For example, in an agency you can send a letter, but not use a telegraph or banking services.
The best way to send mail overseas is by airmail. To North America it takes one to two weeks to get there, to Europe two or three weeks. Sending by regular mail is very slow.
Some postal rates (letter, per 15g, in J$, August 2004)
By Airmail
| Caribbean, Bahamas, Bermuda, Guyana, Canada, USA, Central & South America |
60.00
|
| United Kingdom, Europe (except Cyprus) |
70.00
|
| Far East, Asia, Australia, Africa, New Zealand |
90.00
|
| Pictorial postcards to all countries |
50.00
|
| Inside Jamaica |
30.00 |
For more detailed rates info, visit http://www.jamaicapost.gov.jm/
|
To send a letter to Jamaica, don't forget write the name, street, number, town, parish and 'Jamaica W.I.' on the envelope. The 'W.I' (West Indies) should work fine.
If the recipient does not have a mailbox or street address, use the address of the closest post office (or agency), in our experience this works ok (e.g. Mr. DutchJamaica.com, Belmont District, Bluefields P.O., Westmoreland, Jamaica W.I.)
Collecting stamps
Most Jamaica stamps are very colorful. They often are images of Jamaica's nature or history and are favorite souvenirs for both collectors and non collectors.
The philatelic Bureau in Kingston (P.O. Box 7000, Central Sorting Office, Kingston) will be pleased to provide all the information you want on collecting stamps.
Phone & fax
The phone system in Jamaica is reasonable modern and works fine. Besides the regular system, two GSM network providers are active, Cable & Wireless (1900) and Digicel (900). Both offer roaming facilities. Check you own provider for rates and availability of these services.
In the coastal regions coverage of both providers is not bad, but inland you can not use your mobile phone everywhere.
There is a good system of pay phones, for which you have to purchase a calling card (coins are a bit old-fashioned). These are available in selected banks, hotels, some post offices, and local shops displaying the 'phone cards on sale' sign, in denominations of J$20, J$100, J$200 and J$500.
If you want to bring your own calling card, be sure it will work in Jamaica, because not all do.
Make your phone calls in your hotel can be expensive, most hotel rates are high. Better is to use a public phone or use the internet to make your calls or send your fax messages. You also can send fax messages from the post office.
Jamaica's phone directory (white and yellow pages) is online at http://www.jamaicayp.com.
Codes
All Jamaican numbers have seven digits, which you dial in the same parish. To dial a number in another parish, add 1 before the 7-digit phone number. Toll-free numbers begin with 800 or 888.
Jamaica's area code is 876. You can call Jamaica direct from North America (876-7-digit number). From other continents dial 00 1 876 7-digit number.
Cyberspace
Internet access becomes very common in Jamaica.
More and more hotels provide in-room internet access for laptops or offer internet access by desktop computers in public rooms.
The amount of internet café's is growing steady. In tourist areas there are enough places to get on the net, most for reasonable rates.
In non-tourist places you maybe have to look around for a while, but mostly internet access is not far away anymore.
In the bigger cities DSL is more and more available, but in the mountains and inland regions most internet access is available using dial-up connections.
A list of internet café's in Jamaica is coming up soon (drop us a note if you know some!).
communication 
