Going to Jamaica, might as well dive...

[snorkbot]

Hi -
My husband and I are going to a wedding in Ocho Rios, Jamiaca in April. I've heard that the diving is not fantastic in Jamiaca b/c of overfishing and reef damage. But since we're already going...

Any thoughts on (1) dive ops and (2) where some of the better diving can be found around Ocho Rios?

Happy diving!
Snork

 

[laserdoc]

Have been to the island 2 times in the past 20 years. Went diving both times. Was not good either time. No fish and alot of dead staghorn coral. Go to another island. Was not impressed with Jamiaca either time,,,on top and under the water.

 

[Aquatic Eagle]

Hello there. I dove there last week before I left my ship. I work with Norwegian Cruise Lines and I was going along on one of the dives there run by Watersports Enterprises. The diving was very boring and nothing to see really. The big reason to avoid this dive op is that there was a dive accident this day with one of the ship guests that could have easily been avoided. It all boiled down to the guests BCD having a hole in the bottom, me pointing this out to the instructor with WSE and him ignoring it and letting the guest dive anyway. I thought after pointing out the hole that the instructor was going to switch out the BCD because he said he was going to. Then he never did and the guest ran out of air near the end of the dive. He had been trying to put air into his BCD and it kept coming right out so he ran through his air very quickly. The guest ended up running out of air and came close to a drowning situation. He inhaled some water into his right lung and missed his safety stop. Luckily the guest is fine now but the instructor did not understand why the guest didn't want to join them for the second dive after all of that. He had no concern for safety at all.

 

[Jamdiver]

Hi -
My husband and I are going to a wedding in Ocho Rios, Jamiaca in April. I've heard that the diving is not fantastic in Jamiaca b/c of overfishing and reef damage. But since we're already going...

Any thoughts on (1) dive ops and (2) where some of the better diving can be found around Ocho Rios?

Happy diving!
Snork

Hey Snork,

Oof Ocho Rios really is not a good spot in the island when it comes to diving.
The only dive site of note there is the Catherine's wreck an old World War II Canadian minesweeper in about 50 fsw.

What I would recommend, depending on your schedule of course is do a half day or all day excursion to Discovery Bay, Runaway bay, Montego Bay or Negril.
The diving there is much much better than anything near Ocho Rios.

Check out my thread here for info on dive sites and dive ops..http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=94128

Don't let the naysayers depress you or possibly lower your expectations some very good diving can be had here it just depends on the sites you go to.
Coral cover on some sites is very very good, the fish diversity is there but depending on the site they'll be smaller than what you'll probably find in the rest of the Caribbean.

Feel free to pm or post again with any more questions.

 

[Kat]

Go to another island.

Somehow, I don't think they will be able to change the location of where they are traveling.

My husband and I are going to a wedding in Ocho Rios, Jamiaca in April.

 

[JodiBB]

I've never dived in Jamaica, but we go there all the time...I have snorkeled in Negril and have always seen some great fish and usually a ray or 2 each time....I can't wait to go back now that I'm certified and go SCUBA diving!!

 

[snorkbot]

Thanks everyone!

Any thoughts on dive ops in OchoRios/Runaway Bay/Discovery Bay?

Jamdiver - I think we'll be able to make it to Runaway and/or Discovery Bay, but probably not Montego or Negril. I'm a little unclear from your trip report which sites are in what areas. Can you help clarify? Many thanks!

NatureDiver - Thanks for the tip - I'll be sure to avoid Watersport Ent.

Cheers!
Snork

 

[Torontonian]

I learned to scuba dive while at the Beaches Ocho Rios resort 3 years ago. Diving was included in the resort amenities, so I made use of it. At the end got OW certified.

Because it was my first dives, I liked it. The next year dove at Veradero Cuba, also wasn't that good (visibility, fishes, coral growth all mediocre). But the trip to south Cuba at Bay of Pigs was really good. The wall and wreck diving there was excellent, saw lots of beautiful colors in the pristine coral growth. Last year dived at west Oahu (including Makaha Caverns), and Kona Coast. The marine life in Hawaii is excellent.

After those experience, I have to say the diving in Ocho Rios was not very good. Not a lot of coral growth, not very colorful, not a lot of fish. But if you like to dive, it's warm waters. Many people don't even wear any suits. The DMs wear 3mm shorties. So that's a plus.

 

[cdiver2]

Hey Snork,

Oof Ocho Rios really is not a good spot in the island when it comes to diving.
The only dive site of note there is the Catherine's wreck an old World War II Canadian minesweeper in about 50 fsw.

What I would recommend, depending on your schedule of course is do a half day or all day excursion to Discovery Bay, Runaway bay, Montego Bay or Negril.
The diving there is much much better than anything near Ocho Rios.

Check out my thread here for info on dive sites and dive ops..http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=94128

Don't let the naysayers depress you or possibly lower your expectations some very good diving can be had here it just depends on the sites you go to.
Coral cover on some sites is very very good, the fish diversity is there but depending on the site they'll be smaller than what you'll probably find in the rest of the Caribbean.

Feel free to pm or post again with any more questions.

To get to M/bay from O/Rio 2-3 hours, longer to get to Negril. So if your dive boat leaves at 8:30am you would have to leave OR at 6am at least.

 

[Jamdiver]

I'd say about 1.5hrs to 2 hrs to get to Mobay from Ocho Rios..

Snorkbot the sites that i'm familiar with in Discovery Bay and the Runaway bay area are all shore dives, so to be honest my telling you the dive site locations probably won't help as you'd need local help to find the entry and exit point.

Not really familiar with most dive ops on the north coast since we generally don't use them, but this one Jamaqua seems decent and is maybe an hours drive from Ocho Rios..

http://www.jamaqua.com/Homepage.html

Discovery Bay and Runaway bay are in the parish of St. Ann, Montego bay and the marine park there is in the parish of St. James..
This is the link for the Montego Bay Marine Park in case you're interested
http://www.mbmp.org/