Just got back from Beaches Negril. Was pleased overall and the staff at Beaches Negril were great. Diving was twice daily with reservation made the day before(get there at 8 since the boat will fill up fast). Dive times are 9:00 in the morning for deep dives, 11 for beginners, and 1 for shallow dive. Note: Pre-plan your trip and the activities in advance! Get there and knock out orientation and sign up for the required shallow dive the next day at 11. After that you sign up to dive on the following day, the day before. First come, first served!
*There was a post somewhere on here by someone who mentioned that DM's didnt have to do orientation. That is FALSE! It's apparently their policy to do this with all divers!!!!!
Most of everything was small but really nice. Dive Crew: Glen, Karen (sp?), Norm, and crew were great. Be sure to get there the day you arrive and knock out the pool requirement and schedule an 11:00 dive as these were required. Dives lasted between 21-39 minutes dependent on depth and other conditions.
Some of the things I saw: Dolphin on one dive. EEL, turtles, lobster, lion fish, octopus, fan coral, tugboat wreck, Squirrel fish, etc.....
The only thing that was a hassle was the slow down at Montego Bay due to some situation where some staff members offended someone(contract staff?) and they basically protested by moving slowly processing people. This was happening during in and out processing. When we got there it was a 2 hour bag drag. On the way out it was effortless so maybe they cleared up the issue.
The ride from Montego Bay to Negril was an adventure in itself!
They offer night dives at Negril for $80.00 and I could never get my schedule right to do it. But Divemon was there and they did a plane wreck dive which was cool.
I brought my own gear and just used their weights and tanks. Seals on the tanks were hit or miss. On the morning dive tank pressures were 3000-3500. On the mid-morning and afternoon you would see 2800-3200.
The resort was cool and the tours are pretty neat. If you want Cohiba's, go to time square and stock up. Resort prices were double. Nothing moves fast in Jamaica except the vehicles you are in. The people are friendly and their culture is really cool. My family and I loved it.
The only two negative things I can post are the airport in-processing from the slow down. The other was the drink issue while you are waiting. For some reason its really slow to even get water before you finish a meal. It would be really nice to have more dive time options since some divers may be with family or non-divers and the times conflict with other tours or activities. <----not a negative, just a comment.
Positives were plenty: Meals, drinks at the bar, grounds, staff friendliness, free room upgrades, tours, diving (although most creatures are small, was nice), activities, and beaches were exceptional! The resort is really nice and secure. The beach is really busy with powered vessels though so dont venture too far out.
Diving was done without a wetsuit since the water was really warm. It seemed to rain daily after 11 or so which presented some motivation to get in the water quickly to warm up.
We loved it!
*There was a post somewhere on here by someone who mentioned that DM's didnt have to do orientation. That is FALSE! It's apparently their policy to do this with all divers!!!!!
Most of everything was small but really nice. Dive Crew: Glen, Karen (sp?), Norm, and crew were great. Be sure to get there the day you arrive and knock out the pool requirement and schedule an 11:00 dive as these were required. Dives lasted between 21-39 minutes dependent on depth and other conditions.
Some of the things I saw: Dolphin on one dive. EEL, turtles, lobster, lion fish, octopus, fan coral, tugboat wreck, Squirrel fish, etc.....
The only thing that was a hassle was the slow down at Montego Bay due to some situation where some staff members offended someone(contract staff?) and they basically protested by moving slowly processing people. This was happening during in and out processing. When we got there it was a 2 hour bag drag. On the way out it was effortless so maybe they cleared up the issue.
The ride from Montego Bay to Negril was an adventure in itself!
They offer night dives at Negril for $80.00 and I could never get my schedule right to do it. But Divemon was there and they did a plane wreck dive which was cool.
I brought my own gear and just used their weights and tanks. Seals on the tanks were hit or miss. On the morning dive tank pressures were 3000-3500. On the mid-morning and afternoon you would see 2800-3200.
The resort was cool and the tours are pretty neat. If you want Cohiba's, go to time square and stock up. Resort prices were double. Nothing moves fast in Jamaica except the vehicles you are in. The people are friendly and their culture is really cool. My family and I loved it.
The only two negative things I can post are the airport in-processing from the slow down. The other was the drink issue while you are waiting. For some reason its really slow to even get water before you finish a meal. It would be really nice to have more dive time options since some divers may be with family or non-divers and the times conflict with other tours or activities. <----not a negative, just a comment.
Positives were plenty: Meals, drinks at the bar, grounds, staff friendliness, free room upgrades, tours, diving (although most creatures are small, was nice), activities, and beaches were exceptional! The resort is really nice and secure. The beach is really busy with powered vessels though so dont venture too far out.
Diving was done without a wetsuit since the water was really warm. It seemed to rain daily after 11 or so which presented some motivation to get in the water quickly to warm up.
We loved it!
