US Changes Travel Advisory for Jamaica Following Devastating Hurricane

The U.S. State Department on Jan. 17 changed its travel advisory for Jamaica and indicated a lowered risk for U.S. citizens who want to travel to the Caribbean island nation.

The agency reduced its advisory for Jamaica from Level 3 to Level 2, meaning that U.S. citizens who travel there should use “increased caution,” citing “crime, health, and natural disaster risks.” Some areas in the country have a higher risk than others, it said.

Previously, the department’s Level 3 advisory stated that U.S. citizens should reconsider travel to the country because of crime, health concerns, and disasters.

Jamaica was slammed by a powerful major hurricane, Melissa, which caused catastrophic damage when it made landfall in late October 2025. More than 100 people were killed by the storm, and officials estimated that $10 billion in damage occurred. Before Melissa, tourism to Jamaica in recent years had surged, officials said.

Although the United Nations said in 2025 that more than a third of the country’s wealth was wiped out by the storm, Jamaican officials have said they are working quickly to recover.

“The very thought of a Category 5 hitting anywhere and its consequences would evoke an immediate level of caution by any country,” Jamaica Tourism Minister Ed Bartlett said in December 2025, according to local media outlet Caribbean National Weekly.

“The fact that we have shown that level of resilience and have had a recovery … is phenomenal.”

Some countries in the Caribbean have heightened travel risks for varying reasons. According to a map updated by the U.S. State Department, Cuba, the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, and the Turks and Caicos Islands are currently listed at Level 2. The island nation of Trinidad and Tobago, located to the north of Venezuela, is listed at Level 3.

Venezuela was recently the target of a U.S. operation that resulted in the capture of its leader, Nicolás Maduro, who is now facing drug-smuggling charges in the United States. The U.S. military in recent weeks has also attacked drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and the Pacific and seized several oil tankers that are suspected of trying to evade sanctions by transporting oil from Venezuela.

This comes as the State Department noted in a social media statement earlier this month that 21 countries are currently under its highest alert, Level 4, which advises U.S. citizens not travel to those destinations.

Along with Venezuela, they are Afghanistan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Burma, Central African Republic (CAR), Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Niger, North Korea, Russia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen, according to the agency. Reasons vary for the warnings, but they’re primarily issued because of crime, terrorist activity, armed conflict, kidnappings, and health concerns.

The State Department’s map also lists several Mexican states as Level 4 amid cartel violence in the country.

At the same time, the Trump administration has moved to limit travel from nationals from a number of countries in recent months. Starting on Jan. 1, nationals from Burkina Faso, Laos, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, and Syria, as well as people with Palestinian Authority documents, have been prohibited from traveling into the United States except under specified conditions.