Help me to avoid Jamaica!

[full fin]

Hi, planning my second big trip (first Belize) with a group of people (6 or so) that range from the about to be minted divers to much more experienced than I. I am at a loss for a good destination four our interests and am looking for advice for a proper place.

That is, we are looking for a place that has 1) both good diving and 2) land based activities. The diving is self explanatory, but for land activities I mean something more than what a typical flat tropical island affords.

At this point, Jamaica is high on our list because there is alot to do other than dive and lay around and get drunk at the pool (mutually exclusive activities of course). It has jungle, mountain trek (Blue Mountain), culture, and of course plenty of opportunities for indulgence. The bad part is, I am quickly learning the diving is mediocre.

If it were just me and hardcore divers, it would be straight for Bonaire. Unfortunately, we want to make the group happy. So any thoughts of other locals with more than a hotel, dive shop, and a bit of mangrove?

p.s. is Bonaire that awesome? Trying to keep this trip relatively affordable (i.e., sub 2K a head for a week).

 

[wcl]

How about Curacao? Good diving, a little more other stuff than Bonaire.

Had a great time when we went.

-- Walter

 

[dvrliz1]

Let's see...Bonaire has guided snorkeling, mangrove kayaking, sailng, beaches, landsailing, parasailing, an amazing pink beach almost 1/4 mile long, the salt piles & salinas, amazing butterfly farm, donkey sanctuary, horseback riding, cave snorkeling, a cool whale skeleton at the museum at the entrance to the natural park, island tours, windsurfing, kitesurfing, waterskiing/waterboarding, sailing, sailing on a thai junk at sunset with munchies and drinks, day trips to klein bonaire with BBQ, some shopping, especially the local market at Wilhemina Park, the Casino at Divi, Pool lounging, tours with Jerry Ligon and amazing bird watching, Gotomeer (Goto Lake) and flamingos, prikechi's and loras.....and I know I'm forgetting more....

Why not Bonaire?????

 

[PARADISE HUNTER]

I might also point out that Jamaica is a BIG island. The best diving is in the Negril area and there are not a lot of top side activites (besides indulgence) in that area. Some minor shopping, a half day trip to some minor falls and sport fishing come to mind. Also, Jamaica is not a safe place to just tour by yourself. Don't get me wrong, I love Jamaica, but for me it is a place to relax. I do not think of it as a great diving nor a place with a lot of topside adventure. If you do go, take a look at Couples Negril. We loved the place. The food is four or five star quality.

You might consider Cozumel. It is easy to get to and can be done on a cheap budget. Some top side activites are: golf, deep sea fishing, flats flyfishing, mayan ruins, great shopping and dining in San Miguel, numerous beach clubs, atv tours, submarine trips and a rustic east side that is dotted with awesome beach bars. You can also take a half day trip to Playa del Carmen or full day trips for cenote diving to the Akumal area. There is also short flights to Chitzanitza(sp?) or full day ground tours to Chitz, Tulum or Coba. But the best part of Coz is the diving. Drift diving with massive corral heads, lots of wild life and gin clear water. The island is very very safe. BUT be careful, the one dangerous thing is that the little island can become addictive.

 

[drl]

How about St. Lucia? I haven't dived there but I've heard good things about it, and the island is beautiful and has many topside activities to offer.

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

Easy . . . .Cozumel.

 

[ianr33]

Dominica

 

[mrp7480]

My boyfriend and I went to Jamaica last year, without doing any research into the diving... and it sucked! He was a new diver, but had seen more exciting things off the coast of Washington! I've been diving for about 10 years, and I was greatly disappointed. We stayed at Couples in Ocho Rios, and used their on-site dive shop to take advantage of the included diving for free. The divemasters were too relaxed & did not go over the dive plan, everything was very rushed, and there wasn't anything to see once we were in the water. Seriously, I think the first dive we may have seen a total of 20 fish. The next day was a little better, they took us to a ship-wreck, but again, not a lot of fish. The final day we went way deeper than planned (hit 120 ft last I looked) and we did see more fish, but nothing compared to what I've seen in Maui, Mexico, & Catalina. When we got back, we found out that Jamaica doesn't have a great diving reputation & a lot of the reefs have been killed off - from what I'm not sure - guessing too many tourists, boats, etc. Another thing that sucked is that there is no shore-diving or diving by yourself or with a buddy. Apparently, you're not allowed to dive in Jamaica without a divemaster. (of course, the resort may have just been telling us this, but we were pretty much confined to the resort.) It may be different in Negril, but at Couples Ocho Rios, we really couldn't leave the resort to do anything in town, because the town was so far away, we couldn't walk & the taxis rip you off. We ventured out on one of the hotel trips to the shopping plaza (rip-off central) and to Dunn's falls, where the idiot tour-guides make you hold hands with everyone in your group & walk up the falls to the top & that's it. All in all, the trip was good, the diving sucked, the drinks were good, water was warm, but hey, I was on vacation so I still had a good time. Definitely would never try to dive there again though. Hope this helps!

 

[DiverDebbie]

mrp7480 - Sorry to hear your Jamaica experience wasn't very good. I haven't been to Ocho Rios, but I have been to Montego Bay and Negril. The diving in MoBay wasn't great. It was ok, but there just wasn't a whole lot of marine life.
Negril was much better. It may not be the top diving location in the world but we really liked it. There wasn't a ton of fish and other marine life, like other places I've been like Maui or Australia's great barrier reef, but the reefs we dove were all in pretty good shape. We did see turtles, rays, eels, and even dove with dolphins all around us!. It was a thrill I've experienced no where else ever, and it's quite a common occurrence in that area. Many even saw nurse sharks.
We dove with Couples Swept Away and found them to be awesome and very, very concerned about safety. The conditions were perfect for very easy diving. The water was flat calm every morning. Not once did we get surface chop or swell, and there was no current to speak of. Of course that may change in hurricane season, but otherwise, it's pretty much the norm. Our profiles were a bit short and shallow, but I think that's a resort thing. We had every type of person in our group (along for our wedding) from non divers to 3 instructors, 1 DM, very well traveled divers, new divers, first time resort divers, and one who finished her certification there. Everyone had a great trip. It's a great place for beginner divers to gain a ton of confidence and have a lot of fun. We didn't mind the easy diving. Our previous trip to another nearby Caribbean island was all about diving to the max profiles, very rough conditions, and many damaged reefs. It was disappointing and far from relaxing. So this was a treat.
For us it was an all around trip to get married, lay on the beach and dive. For that it was perfect. We even had a very long list of available excursions to water-falls (not over crowded Dunns) and such, but we didn't get around to any of them. Everyone was too busy. As well as with the diving, the non-divers found the snorkeling quite decent (actually we went once and couldn't believe all that we saw! ..octopus, eels, turtles, rays...snorkeling! Plus we went hobie-cat sailing, kayaking, water skiing, on a cat cruise... and relaxed of course. Seven mile beach is fabulous. Sure, there are some bigger resorts like Couples and Sandals, but for the most part it's lower key places. No Marriott's, Westin's or Ritz hi-rises clogging up the view here. Negril may be a little laid back for some, but at least it isn't extremely overdeveloped like some locations. There's no cruise ship pier depositing thousands upon thousands of people every day, or worse, cruise ships dragging their anchors over the reef.
If you don't decide on Jamaica consider the reality of your options. Some of the places that were once pristine are deteriorating rapidly due the extensive tourist development, improper waste management, lack of recycling, and of course, those nasty cruise ships. It's horribly sad what's happening in many places. Not that Jamaica is perfect, mind you!... but I have seen much, much worse.
I'm not talking about Bonaire though! My husband went and it's still his favourite dive location in the world. He wants to take me, but we didn't go for our wedding/diving/beach trip because he just wasn't impressed topside with the lack of activities and small pebbly beaches. We'll go for a hard core dive trip. But kudos to Bonaire for being so determined to maintain their reefs as they do. I wish all the islands (or mainland) were so diligent.

 

[Papa_Bear]

It is due to poor management! Not numbers! Cayman has done a great job balancing both as well as Cozumel! Years of miss-management of fishing resources! Don't go and support the country till they do something! Don't reward them for miss-management! Look at Roatan and you will find a great example of an island that cleaned up their act and are saving their reefs!