jmark18
Contributor
I dove Sandals Negril in the early 90's and it was terrible. I can't imagine it could be any better now. Try the sailing. Much more fun
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I dove beaches Montego bay last year. It was the single worst diving experience of my lifetime. Reef was completely barren/dead anything that was alive the divemasters chased and tried to pick up. It’s was abysmal.
Yeah I see a lot of Youtube videos where the DM's are handling the wildlife and horrible divers.I dove beaches Montego bay last year. It was the single worst diving experience of my lifetime. Reef was completely barren/dead anything that was alive the divemasters chased and tried to pick up. It’s was abysmal.
My only other bit of advice for visiting Jamaica is NEVER eat the whole brownie ;
The reefs near Negril are in much better shape. More conservation efforts from the local dive operators combined with less cruise ship traffic than Montego or Ocho possibly.
Yeah I have been seeing that the reefs look fairly healthy. I am aware that its not Cozumel but I am pretty sure it will be better diving than the muddy lakes and dead quarries I have been diving in Texas.
only slightly....
While my experience is somewhat jaded as the wind/waves were insane due to a storm that was quite unusual, and diving was cancelled the whole week, letting us get one dive on the house reef the last morning of our stay and limited by no-fly times, the house reef at Samsara - Negril was somewhat algae ridden, and little to no fish larger than the size of a cell phone. We were lucky enough to have two spotted eagle rays rip through, and sitting on shore one morning I watched a dolphin jump its way across the reef.
Watching numerous fishing boats just off shore on the edge of the reef certainly explains the lack of aquatic life.
Having dove other places (Bahamas, Bonaire, Key Largo, and Curacao), "underwhelmed" is to me the appropriate thought.
Negril is supposed to have the best diving on Jamaica, and I have friends that said Ocho Rios was just awful... none of it is worth going there specifically for diving.
YMMV