Jamaica?

[Diver63]

I have been considering going to Jamaica and was curious if anyone can tell me if the diving is good there and where would be the best place...Montego Bay/Negril? Also, on another note....is Rotan or Bonaire better for diving? Thanks!

 

[Doc]

I have been considering going to Jamaica and was curious if anyone can tell me if the diving is good there and where would be the best place...Montego Bay/Negril? Also, on another note....is Rotan or Bonaire better for diving? Thanks!

Jamaica due to its long term development and fishing is not known for reefs or critters. It is a great place to party and build up your log book of diving, gaining experience along the way.

Question: Bonaire and Roatan, which is better?

Answer: Yes

They are both great, for different reasons.

Bonaire, you go to a resort, but you "are never there". You have a rental car and off you go- shore diving. This is a learned skill, and Bonaire is a great place to pick up on this aspect of the sport. Most of the "house reefs" (the shore dives from your resort) are a mere shadow of some of the great shore dives available. The shore diving may be "easy", but it is a "next step" skill after logging enough warm water boat dives to be comfortable doing that.

Roatan? (If we may talk of AI resorts) You are absolutely tied to the resort. One resort has true shore diving, one kinda has it, another two claim that they do. Some of the resorts have absolute garbage for boats, some have flashy and fabulous boats that are unsuited for the local environment, some have custom dive boats, some have poor copies of those custom boats. On Roatan- it's all in the pickin!

Log a bunch of warm water dives in an inexpensive venue. Jamaica or the big islands of the Bahamas will do. Once your skills and buoyancy adapt to the weightless world, once you are able to recognize something smaller than a Yellow Schoolbus setting in 20 feet with the four ways on... then consider spending more money on trips.

Until then, dive-dive-dive, then dive some more! Jamaica is a great place to start!

 

[mike_s]

I have been considering going to Jamaica and was curious if anyone can tell me if the diving is good there and where would be the best place...Montego Bay/Negril? Also, on another note....is Rotan or Bonaire better for diving? Thanks!

I've always heard the diving in Jamacia "sucked", but We went to Negril for
a regular vacation trip and I did dive in the area south of Negril and was
not dissappointed in the diving there. The reefs were in decont shape
and there was fish life there. The fish life seemed to be a little "light"
compared to what it was in marine parks like the Keys, but it was still
good. I'd dive there again.

 

[bikeflip22]

i got back from jamaica about 2 weeks ago..
i stayed in discovery bay, its about an hour east of montego bay.
Here is my writeup...

hey, i just got back from discovery bay.. the water there is great, nice reefs, however tons of sea urchins..

the place is fished out, theres always spear fishermen going out daily so u wont see a fish much longer than a foot ( and thats if ur lucky )

other things to look out for are locals.. the driving there is horrible, we actually got into an accident avoiding a head on accident, instead we broadsided.. i was fortunate because i wasnt wearing my seatbelt. you'll be harrassed repeadly to buy things, they wont leave u alone till u give in. it is very trashy, they have large piles of trahs by the streets which they burn every night..

also you want to be carful of the bugs.. tons of little insects crawling around aimlessly, it was so bad that we had to spray ourselves with bugspray before going to bed.

things are also very expensive.. we had 4 dollars (usd) for a big of lays chips, about 2 dollars for a bottle of water..

1 dollar is equal to 60 jamaica dollars

i did not do any diving in discovery bay, i dove in runaway bay about 15minutes away, it is the bay over. the diving in jamaica in incredible(execept the fish problem), it made up for all the other problems and concerns, great visibility, and tons of coral. it is most unfortunate that there is such a loss of large fish...we did discover a LARGE grouper on a wreck dive, and a large sting ray.

i did lots of snorkeling in discovery bay.. in the middle and on the whole east side of the bay, it was quite nice, lots of sea urchins, i also was able to see some schools of baracuddas. i was also able to do some freediving in discovery bay.. depths range up to 196ft deep, and if u go to deeper water u can often see very large starfish, sea cucumbers, and sea urchins..

other than the diving and snorkeling, it wasnt a very enjoyable vacation due to the poverty, harrassment, and horibble drivers


i also was able to see ashlee simpson at the JFK airport, she was ahead of us in the line for security.. god is she hot.. and has some really big body guards too

It is definetly fished out.. u ussually wont see a fish bigger than maybe a foot...
however, the coral reef and buildup of marine life is amazing.. it is extremely beautiful.
If you like to see big fish, dont go. But if you like coral.. its amazing

 

[Diver63]

Thanks for the information. Good diving to you all also!

 

[Jamdiver]

Hey diver63,

Just want to add my 2 cents here. As stated by other posters here, overfishing is a problem. I think though that it's not necessarily a result of the average Jamaican's rapacious desire for fish. But rather as a result of high unemployment which leads people with limited skill sets to pursue fishing. Hence overfishing and fish pots galore..
I still remember the first time that I saw a fully grown Mutton Snapper, I was like what the @$! is that!

Anyway just trying to give you some background there. Montego Bay generally has pretty nice diving, especially within the designated Marine Park area which is more or less a no take zone (illegal for fishermen to fish there). Fish diversity and density are pretty good along with their sizes.

Coral cover is impressive also in Negril and Montego Bay. I still remember the huge barrel sponges, tube sponges and gorgonians that I saw there. Saw some Black coral too which was unexpected.

Anyway in summation, I'd say generally the north coast has the best diving. Montego Bay, Negril and Portland on the north-east side of the island.

Happy diving oh and if you're feeling adventurous.., you should try the Pedro Cays.
I need to get out there one of these days...

http://www.nature.org/wherewework/caribbean/jamaica/features/ (make sure to check out the pics in the slideshow!)
An earlier thread of mine with some info on diving here. http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=94128&highlight=Dive+sites+in+jamaica

 

[gem1]

3 years ago I spent a week at Grand Lido Braco where the diving was included in the all-inclusive package. Despite the free diving (except for divemaster tips), I only dove twice. I was not impressed with the size and variety of fish as there were very few available for viewing. The reefs also appeared to be mostly dead. It was nice to get underwater and we did see a nice turtle and ray, but otherwise pretty blah.

Last November, I returned to Jamaica with my scuba equipment in tow, but never even made a dive even though there was a dive shop in the resort. Like at Grand Lido Braco, the food, drink, and service of the staff at our resort were so enjoyable, a day on the beach was more fun than a boring day in the water. (Gasp!, I can't believe I made that statement - heresy for sure on this board, LOL) OK, feel free to flame me if you like, but Jamaica is a great place when you are on the resorts - Just close your eyes while you are en route.

Diving? I'll rate is as fair to poor and say there are much better places to dive.
Resorts? Unless you are really picky, there are many exciting and inexpensive places to have a greeeeeaaaaat time.

Just my dos centavos worth.

 

[Jamdiver]

I realised I didn't answer your question fully before.
Lol, delayed reaction. Roatan or Bonaire would almost certainly be a better bet.
I'd prefer Bonaire if I were going, just because I love shore diving so much.
If you travel here though, the Montego Bay Marine Park, Negril and Port Antonio all have good diving in the vicinity.
I know some good dive sites especially around Mobay.
Where did you decide on going anyway?

 

[scubajcf]

Dove Negril about a year ago. We were staying at Sandals. Dive shop was right at the resort ... a short 2 minute walk from my room.

I would definitely bring my own gear. All inclusive diving, however, they only offer two or three boars a day. Dive spots are all within 15 minutes of the shop. Boats are in "rough condition".

Dive conditions were decent. Totally fished out. Coral is in fair shape. Saw a couple of turtles. Some pretty neat wrecks: Tug Boats, Planes, etc. On the first dive of the day, you can usually get deep (90+ feet).

Not the best diving I have done. Not the worst diving I have done. Wouldn't plan a dive trip around Jamaica. However, I would dive there if I was vacationing.

Remember to be careful if you are doing some "out of water activities" after diving. The mountains on Jamaica will put you at Altitude. Not a good thing to do in the afternoon after a 110 foot morning dive.

Have a good trip.

John

PS - I think Bonaire is marginally better than Roatan, but I would be willing to go back to both places and judge them over again for you. In either case, two world class diving destinations.