Do you want to report "I want to hike the Blue Mountain Peak without a guide"
The guide I talked to quoted me at $30000JMD and that is more expensive than I would like to spend. From what I’ve read, the trail itself is easy to navigate and hard to get lost on so I’m thinking of doing it on my own. Does anybody know a good way to get 4x4 transport from Kingston to Penlyne Castle?
I’m a pretty experienced hiker and I’ve hiked solo in plenty of places. I’m not gonna try any sunrise at the peak or anything like that and I have good hiking boots so I am not too worried.
It doesn’t seem like it has any technical hiking at all. Am I wrong?
You could negotiate and you could go with a cheaper guide; as though I don’t want to question your hiking skills.
How much do you know in terms of real experience of the region you’re travelling to? Because if it’s nil, you’re going to be in a part of the world you don’t know, you don’t know anyone and if you wander in the wrong direction being lost is not your only problem anymore.
Find cheaper, that guide sounded like they tried to scalp you, try negotiating if that doesn’t work. Try someone else.
Real experience: I’ve been staying in Jamaica for about 2 months and I’ve done several hikes in Portland and St Andrews.
You think he was tryna rip me off? From what I’ve heard (from other sources) taxi transport from just Mavis Bank to Penlyne Castle is like 7500JMD one way so the 30k JMD price the guide gave me seemed more or less reasonable since it includes park passage, transport to and from Kingston, and the actual guide services. But I’m not sure
Keep in mind most things If not all are negotiable in Jamaica. Unless he has a line of people waiting for his services he’s going to want to work something out. Most of all DO NOT PAY 100% UPFRONT. no matter how much you trust him.
Safe travels. Stay blessed
You mean 30 grand for the whole experience from pick up to the actual hike? The last time I hiked Blue Mountain we got all the way up to Mavis Bank with local transportation then I called the Guest House (Jah B’s) to pick us up with the 4*4 transportation which cost about 4 grand. We stayed at Jah B’s, used one of their guides that was about $60/70 US. Some people couldn’t pass Portland Gap due to being so tired so they had to turn back with some of their group. Our guide and us went all the way. No easy hike, Jacob’s ladder being the hardest. Took us about 4 hours to get u and 5 hours to get back to Jah B’s as legs were tired. But so worth it. Do the sunrise tour if the weather is good. It’s not a complicated trek but think best to go with a guide or maybe you’ll meet some doing it on their own. People have camped out and done it. Whatever you decide to do, all the best.
Thanks a lot for the information and the recs! And yeah 30k for everything. I found another guy on Airbnb that is asking $100 US for transport plus guide services so I think I’ll take that offer.
To get to Mavis Bank did you take the bus from Papine? I heard there are buses that wait outside the pharmacy over there that take you to Mavis Banks.
Yea, a bus from Papine. That’s what we did. Fees might raise from years ago. We called Jah B’s before and they were pretty helpful with info. The view at this guesthouse was great. You can even ask the guide to stop by a coffee farm, not sure if that’s an extra cost (ask beforehand). Bring snacks, water, be ready to take photos (nuff nice flora). It was nice looking at the sky at early morning as the guide had us leaving out at 2 am to get there in time for the sunrise. The sunrise was breathtaking, like absolutely no words in my head but wow. I have never seen the sun like that. If the clouds were solid, one would be tempted to walk across and touch it. Be safe, use your wits, be alert and careful where you’re walking, Jah B’s has internet when we visited, have fun. Maybe you can tell us about it when you get back.
Yeah but that is including transport to and from Kingston. I think its a fair price it is just a lot more than I was hoping to spend. I think I’ll try taking the bus from Papine to cut costs but I may still have to pay like 7500JMD each way to get from Mavis Banks to the trailhead.
Blue mountain on not,please please DONT ever try going somewhere you’re not familiar with without a guide,ask around until you get the price that suits you,because a lot of stuff could happen that required you to seek help/aid,happy travels
I think it kind of worth it if you’re coming from kingston and it can also be negotiated too. When I went there twice last year what I did was pay this tour guide guy I know to pick me up from Mavis bank to Jacob’s ladder and then we walked the rest of journey to port land gap and stayed at the cabin and 4am next day we head to the peak to watch the sunrise. Then when we were ready to leave we met back the tour guide at Jacob ladder and he took us back to Mavis bank where we got public transportation back to papine. The guy charged us 8,000 JMD. I went there last year January and june. I wish there was a way for me to give you his number because he is very reasonable and very reliable.
I wish you all the best on your hike and a safe and cheaper way of doing so.
