It might sound crazy that the act of bathing in Jamaica can be expanded into an entire multi-part story, but believe me it deserves one. You probably couldn’t even write a full paragraph about ways to bathe in North America. You get in a shower and get out; you get in a bathtub and get out. End of story. Maybe once in a while you jazz up the process with a cool smelly bath product, but other than that, bathing at home is regular affair.
I’m positive that many of you have been exposed to the multiple ways one can bathe in Jamaica, if you’ve ventured off the mega-resort path even a tiny bit.
My eye-opening experiences with bathing started on just my second trip to the island; the one where I stayed in my first local home. I quickly learned two things that trip. First, pipe water is cold. And second, you should be grateful if you get it!
I have also since learned that the number of stars on your accommodations has no bearing on whether you get water on any given day.
In reference to private homes in Jamaica, there are days when a shower is a luxury. It’s not the quality of the home that dictates whether you get water, it seems to be where you fall in the row of houses using that pipeline, or whether that house has a spare water tank on the rooftop. But sometimes, even the water tank is of no use….if it’s empty.
There was a day during that second trip where my hosts put a basin under the tub tap and it literally took a full day for the basin to fill up with the slow drip coming out. Once the basin was full of water, that’s what we used to wash.
Then there was the home where the pipe water was only in abundance at night, probably because that’s when the least amount of people in the neighborhood were using it. I still smile remembering the single stream of water coming straight out of the bare pipe protruding from the wall. No shower head. Cute.
Then there was the few-star boutique resort that was without water for an entire day because the pump broke. Thank God they had a pool because it’s just gross waking up in a hot country with no fresh water to dip into.
And finally, there were ALL the accommodations in the last fifteen years, where I’ve had to wait for a water truck to show up and fill the rooftop tank. Sometimes that water truck never comes, as captured in this story - which happens to be my worst no water experience of all time.
Without a doubt my most favorite way to bathe in all my Jamaica years was the outdoor shower we scored at the Negril cabins my son and I stayed at, way back in 2004. These are the things that resort goers will never be able to brag about. I bet they don’t remember their all-inclusive showers for years to come and then write articles about them.
An outdoor shower experience is second to none. When I tilted my head back to wash my hair all I could see were gorgeous palm trees hovering overhead like umbrellas in the sky, with glistening sun rays shining through the leaves. I could hear reggae music coming from somewhere next door, the water was cool and refreshing and there was a little lizard that sat on the fence every day watching me bathe. I absolutely adored it and would do it again in a heartbeat. By the middle of that seven day vacation I was parading around the property wrapped only in my towel and waving ‘good mornings’ to all the staff on site, shyness and paranoia gone.
There’s just a certain freedom that Jamaica offers. They have a saying, “wear what you have”, and it’s not uncommon to see entire families head to local waterfalls and rivers to swim or bathe in just their underwear. Men in their undershorts, women in bras and panties and kids in their underoos. It’s not an issue.
River bathing is a necessity in Jamaica and I’m thankful for ALL the rivers I’ve had the privilege of visiting because of no water. This one in Middle Quarters was definitely the prettiest necessity bath I’ve taken.
Several years ago, in the neighborhood near my apartment in Ocho Rios, there was a beautiful waterfall (Milford Falls) in a quiet place where lots of locals used to go as part of their daily routine. They would bring their soaps, toothbrushes and shampoos and just bathe. I also went there many times to shower in the surroundings of nature. Sadly, that little community waterfall soon turned into an opportunity for locals to make money when they realized tourists wanted to enjoy it, so I had to stop visiting it.
Here’s what Milford Falls looked like back when I lived near enough to walk to it. Excuse the commentary, my friend behind the camera was on the phone with his wife while shooting this video.
My funniest shower memory in Jamaica was in my very first apartment in Jamaica. Mine was one of four apartments in the building and my bathroom window was right beside my neighbor’s bathroom window so we could hear through open windows when each other was taking a shower. Luckily my neighbor was also one of my best friends and one night, when I heard him showering at the same time I was, I started laughing and said out the window “we’re practically showering together!” We both laughed at the awkwardness of it.
The one bathing style I have yet to try is at a home with absolutely no water supply. I stayed at one such home in Spanish Town. Their only source of water were the rain barrels all around the yard. They collected rain water and used it for everything, from cooking to laundry to bathing. If they needed to cook or wash clothes they would simply scoop out the water from a barrel and put it in a pot or wash basin. If they needed to bathe they stood in the yard in their underwear and scooped the water over themselves to wash. I was only there for one overnight so I decided to wait until I was back at my guest house to take a shower but believe me, this is normal for some and we certainly can’t knock it. God makes rain for a reason and this is one of them.
Last but not least in this comprehensive article about bathing, I’ve learned there are two types of pipes in Jamaica. There are the buried kind that emits water cold enough to cause shrinkage in men, and the above-ground kind which slightly warms the water with heat from the sun before it hits your body. The above-ground pipes produce a mildly cool shower that’s so refreshing.
I shiver just remembering all the times I’ve had to conduct a full shower from the buried, cold water kind of pipe. It’s unbearably cold even in the hottest weather and it’s almost too much of a shock to the system to fully submerge.
One might read this and think of the sheer inconveniences that having no water can cause. Yes, it sucks to be stuck without it when you want to brush your teeth but at the same time, the no water issue has also created countless opportunities for me to experience true local life.
For people who live in Jamaica, it’s often not an option. For us, it’s an “experience”.
This issue is one of my occasional free rides, available for everyone to read. Consider becoming a full subscriber to gain access to ALL Beach Dirt issues, like this one:
The truth about being a single white female in Jamaica is simple: You MUST be somebody’s wife because there’s no possible way you can be there alone.
READ: The ruder you are, the more intriguing you become. It’s the law of Jamaican attraction.
Wow, I never had to experience no water longer than a few hours, (not like electricity) but cold water for a shower was the norm - heated water a luxury. Outdoor showers were sublime! Catching river bathers while driving by - well, that was often an image of divine nature... or, even sometimes looking like a porn intro. Shazam!! And the geckos! Little green pervs clinging to the stone walls eyeballing your parts. :)