Jamaica in December: Weather, Christmas and Travel Tips

December is when Jamaica comes home. The dry season returns to most of the island, hurricane season is over, and from mid-month the whole country turns toward Christmas: sorrel on every table, Grand Market on Christmas Eve, church and family on Christmas Day. It’s also the start of the busiest stretch of the year for visitors. Here’s what the weather does, how Jamaicans celebrate, which resorts are reopening this December, and how to handle the holiday rush.

December weather in Jamaica

The Meteorological Service of Jamaica describes the dry season as running from December to March, and December is when the change comes. Islandwide, average rainfall drops from about 188 mm in November to 126 mm in December. Average daytime highs settle at about 86°F (30°C) at Sangster airport in Montego Bay and 88°F (31°C) at Norman Manley airport in Kingston. Evenings are pleasant, and up in the hills the nights get cool.

The big exception is the northeast. The trade winds bring winter showers to Portland and St. Mary, so December is one of their wettest months.

Figures are the Met Service’s 30-year averages (1991–2020). Parish averages include the hills, which get more rain than the beach. The sea stays warm, about 83°F (28°C) on average in December in NOAA Coral Reef Watch satellite data for 2016 to 2025.

The Atlantic hurricane season ends on November 30, according to the US National Hurricane Center, so December storms are very rare. Growing up, we’d say the “Christmas breeze” had come when the evenings turned cool and breezy; it’s the sign the rainy season is behind you. For the rest of the year month by month, see my Jamaica weather guide.

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Christmas in Jamaica: how we celebrate

Christmas is the biggest celebration of the year here, bigger than New Year for most families. A few things you’ll see, hear and taste if you’re on the island in December:

Sorrel and Christmas cake

Sorrel is the Christmas drink: the deep red sepals of the sorrel plant steeped with ginger, pimento and sugar, and often a splash of white rum. Every family has its own recipe and will tell you it’s the best. It sits next to Christmas cake, the dark, heavy fruit cake soaked in rum and wine, which some families start preparing months before by soaking the fruit. Christmas dinner usually means ham, rice and peas (gungo peas at Christmas, if you can get them), chicken, curry goat or oxtail. My guide to Jamaican food covers what to order and where.

Grand Market on Christmas Eve

Gran’ Market, as most of us say it, is the night Jamaican towns come alive. The Jamaica Information Service describes it as an all-day Christmas Eve market in towns across the island, with crowds growing fast after 6 pm. Vendors line the sidewalks selling decorations, clothes, food and toys, and sound systems play late into the night. For children it’s a big outing: new clothes, a toy, balloons and a box drink. For visitors it’s a chance to see the real Jamaica at its most festive. Go with a local if you can, and keep your phone and cash close in the crowd.

Jonkonnu

Jonkonnu is one of the oldest Jamaican traditions, a masquerade that dates back to slavery, when it was performed on the few days off that enslaved Africans were given at Christmas, according to the JIS. Bands of masked characters, among them Cow Head, Horse Head, Pitchy Patchy and Belly Woman, dance through the streets to fife and drums. You’ll see it less often than in my grandparents’ time, but it still turns up at Christmas events and cultural shows.

Church, family and Boxing Day

Christmas morning is for church and family, and Christmas Day and Boxing Day are both public holidays. Many shops and local businesses close on Christmas Day, and some on Boxing Day too, so do your shopping early. The resorts carry on as normal, and most put on their own Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinners and a New Year’s Eve party. New Year’s Day is a public holiday as well.

Resorts reopening in December 2026

Several resorts closed since Hurricane Melissa are due back for the winter season. The Jamaica Tourist Board told JAPEX in September that just over 1,900 rooms are expected to return in December. These are the dates the resorts and their operators had given when I checked on October 8, 2026:

Sandals South Coast in Whitehouse, Westmoreland, is due back a month earlier, on November 18, 2026.

A word of advice on these. A resort’s first weeks after a big rebuild can come with unfinished work and new staff finding their feet, and reopening dates can slip. If your December trip is a once-a-year splurge, I’d book a resort that’s already open, or book a reopening resort only with a rate you can change. My list of which Jamaica resorts are open now shows the latest status of every resort we cover, and my picks for the best all-inclusive resorts in Jamaica include only resorts that are open.

Tips for the December rush

• Book early. The weeks from mid-December to New Year are the busiest and most expensive of the year, at the resorts and on flights. If you can, travel in the first half of the month, when the weather is already drying out and rates are usually lower.
• Allow extra time at the airport. Christmas and New Year bring visitors and Jamaicans living abroad home at the same time, so expect lines. Arrive early for your flight out.
• Book transfers and tours ahead. Drivers and tour operators get booked up, and some take Christmas Day off.
• Expect traffic on Christmas Eve. Grand Market jams the roads in and out of towns. Don’t plan an airport run for late on December 24.
• Pick the right coast for the weather. Montego Bay, Negril and the south coast are the safest bets for dry December days. If you’re going to Portland for the rivers and waterfalls, pack a rain jacket. See where to stay in Montego Bay if you want the easiest airport access.
• Bring a light layer. Evenings can be breezy, and air-conditioned restaurants are cool. If you head up to the Blue Mountains, bring something warm.
• Carry small notes for Grand Market. Vendors deal in cash, and change can be hard to find late in the night.

Getting your documents in order? Check the passport and entry rules before you book.