Jamaica

America • Jamaica

Jamaica

Current local time

23:16:12

Saturday, May 30, 2026

UTC offset

UTC-05:00

No daylight saving changes

Jamaica does not observe daylight saving time. Clocks stay on UTC-05:00 all year long.

Timezone details

Identifier
Abbreviation
—
Transitioned
May 30, 2021 at 08:00 PM
Featured city
Kingston

Location

Latitude
17.96805
Longitude
-76.79333
Country
Jamaica

Eastern Standard Time (EST)

FAQs

Eastern Standard Time (EST) is the time zone that keeps much of eastern North America—from Toronto to Jamaica to Panama—on the same page, ticking in sync for business hours, live broadcasts, and late-night calls. Most of the region springs forward into daylight saving time, but a handful of holdouts like Atikokan (our representative) and Cancun stay put at standard time year-round.

  • How many places actually sit in EST right now?

    Only five of the 20 member zones are in EST at the moment—Atikokan, Cancun, Cayman, Jamaica, and Panama; the other 15 have already flipped to Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).

  • Why does Atikokan never switch to daylight saving time?

    Atikokan opted out of DST decades ago; it stays on UTC-05:00 all year, so its clocks never change and it never shows EDT.

  • Does the whole region change clocks on the same day?

    Almost. Most zones that observe DST jump forward on the second Sunday in March and fall back on the first Sunday in November, but the exact moment differs by location because of their longitude.

  • Which countries have zones in both EST and EDT?

    The United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Turks and Caicos Islands all have at least one zone that shifts between EST and another zone that stays on EST.

  • Is Mexico fully on EST?

    No. Only Cancun and nearby Quintana Roo sit on EST; most of Mexico City and central Mexico use a different time zone (America/Mexico_City) and their own daylight saving rules.

  • Do Caribbean islands in this region change their clocks?

    Most don't—the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, and Panama keep standard time all year, syncing with EST permanently without daylight saving adjustments.

  • What's unique about this region's mix of DST observance?

    Out of the 20 member zones, 15 observe DST and 15 are currently in DST—meaning nearly every DST participant has transitioned, while a few permanent standard-time zones remain stable.

  • Why doesn't this region have a known next transition?

    Because Atikokan—the representative zone—doesn't observe DST, there's no scheduled clock change; any next transition data would need to come from a DST-observing zone.