Couples Negril Diving - review

[tomd]

We had a great time, the food was wonderful, the facility was impeccable, and the service and staff were great. The drinks while free were always available, I thought you would have to wait a long time - but it was immediate. However, my wife and I are both divers, we have 20+ years of experience many, many trips. The dive itself, the underwater topography and life was nice - the reef was akin to Key Largo, the fish life was minimal but what was there was cool. The dive operation and the instructor who ran the trip were horrendous. We dove one day and did not go back. The operation had simple procedures all messed up. Wt. belts are set up on the boat before you get to the dive site (five minute ride) this is after they asked how much wt you want. We got to the dive shop 20 minutes ahead of time to make sure of all the details, then sat there doing nothing only to be rushed in the five minute boat ride. The dive staff did nothing for you - zero. The drift line is tied to a cleat on the side of the boat not the ladder, so when you pull to the boat you end up having to grab the swim deck - in 3-4 ft seas this is simply dangerous. Tie the rope to the ladder!! Worst of all there is no dock. You have to carry your gear to a dingy that takes you to the dive boat which is on a mooring. The instructor was arrogant at best. After walking to the dingy on the beach, the dive instructor to us to get all the sand off the dive bag so there is no sand on the dingy - our dive bag has wheels.

My recommendation is this is an excellent place to vacation, well worth the money and travel. I would love to stay there again. If you are a diver - don't bring your gear. The dive operation was the only down side to the entire vacation. Kudos for the facility (bars, bedroom, dining etc) Kudos to the staff, Kudos to the cooking staff. But diving operation should start all over again.

 

[mike_s]

I dove at Couples in Negril in 2001 and had a great time. I couldn't say anything bad about my dive experience there.... of course this was in 2001 and it seems things have changed... sorry to hear you had a bad experience. When we were there we really liked the guys running the dive op. But I'm sure employees have changed since then.

The reefs though were nice, but I don't think as nice as Key Largo. But I do agree the marine life was much less than key largo, but it wasn't terrible or anything....


The only thing is that I can say that most hardcore divers won't like this place. They do a 1 tank dive departing at 9am and a 1 tank dive departing around 1pm. That's it. All dives were 60 feet or less as they often had "resort divers" on the boat. They do a 2 tank morning dive on Saturday and that includes a deep dive (about 95 feet) followed by a shallower dive. No afternoon dives though on Saturday as they do boat maintenance, etc. I'm not sure if they dive on Sunday. Don't think they did.


If you liked the staff and resort of Couples Negril, check out Couples in Ocho Rios. I personally though the staff and food there was much better than in Negril, but the beach and water wasn't as nice and clear...