Dollar on Jamaica: visiting the younger brother

Jamaica – Tourist Paradise. This has already managed to make sure of this experience not very, however, numerous while resting from Russia who visited this fertile caribbean island. They return from there in obvious admiration and fully approve the choice of American tourists, who in many respects have long turned Yamaica to continue Florida. With you, the Americans brought many attributes of their lifestyle, including money – in the literal sense.

US dollars walk on Jamaica practically on equal rights with local currency. By the way, local money is also called dollars, only naturally, Yamai. The main difference between the two dollars is in their cost: at the official rate for one American give 30 Jamaican.

True, you can not change the foreign currency for this course everywhere. At the airport, immediately after arrival, exchange offices are offered by ignorant tourists course, one can say, robber: 25-26 Jamaican dollars for US $ 1. Have a hurry to flee to these windows – banks and exchange offices in the city give a course close to 30: 1.

Branches of banks on the streets of the Yamaician capital Kingston are not very often. They work with 9.00 to 18.00, except Saturday and Sunday. Exchange points are available in all major hotels, shops and restaurants. They work on the same schedule. Na Jamaica, unlike many other countries, Currency exchange tickets are not engaged in. There are special exchange offices in hotels, and after they close, it is impossible to exchange money. On weekends only work exchange points at the international airport.

Exchange points usually work with three types of currencies: US dollars, British pounds sterling and German brands. In the banks, the list of accepted currencies has a dozen two items. In the head office of Bank of Jamaica (Central Bank of the country), you can change the money of the most exotic, including currencies of some African and Middle Eastern countries. True, Russian rubles are not taking there.

In principle, if you arrived on Jamaica with American dollars, then you can live there without exchanging. In tourist centers, these cash units are usually indicated on the price tags. In stores for simple Jamaians, price tags – in local dollars, but American and there are taking free.

HE be sure to go to the bank and credit card holders. Cards of all major international systems are accepted everywhere. True, problems may arise if your card is issued to any country remote from Jamaica, for example in Russia. In this case, store sellers do not always ilitly agree to mess with authorization (verification of your solvency) and tend to send you much away, say, to the bank.

Due to the very liberal general approach of the Jamaican authorities to the parallel access of local and foreign currency on the island to have any restrictions on the import-export of currency meaningless. NO and NO. You can not only ride how much SLE ash, but also to take with them how many Yamaican dollars (however, the last, not very reasonable: outside the Caribbean, England and, maybe, a few more European countries, the Jamaican currency is useless).

Huge joy of Jamaica money can be delivered to bonistam (collectors of paper money) and, especially, numismators. In appeal to Jamaica are banknotes in dignity 2, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 dollars. There is also a banknote in 1 dollar, but it has practically disappeared from circulation and it can be used (for the collection) only earning in this bank employees at a price of 10-15 times higher than the nominal. Yamai bills, firstly, beautiful, and secondly – informative. On them you can get acquainted with the natural wealth of the island and understand which of them is the most important for the local economy. Thus, bauxite mines are depicted on a 10-dollar paper, and local beaches and hotels on 50- and 100-dollar. Watermark on most banknotes serves a stylized image of pineapple.

Coins are even more diverse. They are worthy of 5 cents (cent = 1/100 dollars), 10, 20, 25, 50 cents, 1 and 5 dollars. And in parallel, the coins of the two main series (80s and the 90s) and the mass of jubilee. For the amateur, this film can be the cause of small errors: for example, the old coin of 5 cents is almost twice as much as modern 5 dollar and them, with unusual, you can confuse. But for a collector handful of Jamaican little things will be a wonderful gift. Wholes from local metal money – not round, and seven. Decorate them, usually, very carefully engraved "Portraits" local birds, animals and fish.