Has anyone dove in Jamaica lately?

[Canukdiver]

I'm looking to book a private dive in Jamaica at the end of the month. Are there any recommendations out there? Our ship does not offer any dive excursions at this port.

[Capt_BJ]

there is a reason your cruise does not offer a dive excursion

 

think about it . . .

 

In Cayman you can't book sky diving

 

In Cozumel you can't book a NASCAR drive experience

 

In Jamacia you can't book SCUBA

 

There IS decent diving to be found in JA, it just isn't near Montego, Fal', or Ocho

 

My work took me to MB, Kingston and Ocho many times, and parked me there for R&R. I dove .... to get wet and kill a half day. But the diving is really very very poor. I'm biased, since I've been active diver for 40+ years and have dove many many places with repeat dives to elim' the "one day" bias. JA is NOT a place I'd pay to dive at, any more. It was/is consistently poor in the major tourist areas (the locals over fished to feed tourists for many many years)

 

Get out to Port Antonio .... well that's a different story.

 

Walk down a beach in Ocho and you WILL find a dive shop tho ..... with a boat in the sand and they will be HAPPY to take you out.

[Canukdiver]

Thanks for the input....just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something. I've never stopped in Jamaica on previous cruises.

[Whodat26]

Im going on a cruise in May and porting in Ocho Rios I have found a good dive shop in Runway Bay Scuba Jamaica Ltd They will pick you up at the port in Ocho and drive you to Runway Bay do a two tank dip and return you to the port by 2 p.m.

I know it's not going to be Cozumel or Grand Caymen diving but I will be DIVING :) Instead of holding hands with 50 people walking up a creek or getting harrased by vendors. Try it I am!

[Middleager]

Im going on a cruise in May and porting in Ocho Rios I have found a good dive shop in Runway Bay Scuba Jamaica Ltd They will pick you up at the port in Ocho and drive you to Runway Bay do a two tank dip and return you to the port by 2 p.m.

I know it's not going to be Cozumel or Grand Caymen diving but I will be DIVING :) Instead of holding hands with 50 people walking up a creek or getting harrased by vendors. Try it I am!

Please get back to us with your experience.

 

Ocho Rios does not have good diving. They overfish and polute the environment. But it is warm water, and certainly good to get wet there compared to say Lake Ontario even in the summer.

[Whodat26]

Usage

Please get back to us with your experience.

 

Ocho Rios does not have good diving. They overfish and polute the environment. But it is warm water, and certainly good to get wet there compared to say Lake Ontario even in the summer.

Middleager

 

 

Click on the link in the original post and read the reviews already posted. And you dive out of Runway Bay not Ocho Rios.

 

I would be glad to post my experiance.

[Whodat26]

I did a lot of research about scuba diving in Jamaica. Almost everything I read about it said "don't bother with it and just go to Dunn's River Falls". *

Then I found the dive op, Jamaica Scuba Divers, *here on Trip Advisor with overwhelming good reviews. *I called and spoke with Christian who answered some questions for me in a timely manner. We paid our deposit on PayPal and it was booked very easily. *

We arrived in Ocho Rios, Jamaica by the Carnival Freedom. * Since the Carnival *Freedom departs from Fort Lauderdal, FL ships time was an hour ahead of Jamaica. Christian was able to accommodate our early arrival and picked up my party of five outside the gates of the cruise ship pier and we were on our way to Runaway Bay, Jamaica. *After about a thirty min drive we arrived at FDR resort where Scuba Jamaica is the resort's dive ops. *Upon our arrival my party was given their rental gear (which was in great condition). They already had it set up with the right sizes since we sent that info in an e-mail. *The reef is close to shore which means short boat rides from the boat Captain *JR and getting to do our surface interval on land at the resort. *Marcia was our Dive Master who was great. She was very thorough and gave a great pre-dive briefing and review of safety measures.

*Our first dive was a wall dive at a site they called the Canyon. *It was one of the best sites I have ever dove. On our second dive we were joined by a diver from the resort who we quizzed about the FDR. He had nothing but positive reviews for the resort and their staff. The second dive was Paradise reef. *

On both dive sites we were amazed by the marine life. I could not believe the coral and fish we saw. *We did a three tank dive in Grand Cayman the day before this dive and Runaway Bay, Jamaica was just as good (my wife even preferred it). *Total surprise for us considering all of the negativity concerning Jamaican Scuba diving. *We snorkeled in Montego Bay a few years ago and it was disappointing. *Dead coral and no fish. It's a shame that the rest of Jamaica isn't as passionate about protecting its reefs as Christian and his team. *

We were so impressed with the facility's attention to details and the ease of scuba diving with Scuba Jamaica that after our dives we asked Christian for a tour of the resort. He found a staff member to give the tour, which was very nice and very kid friendly. *

Christian gave us a ride back to the cruise ship pier in Ocho Rios with ample time for us to shop and get back on the ship.

In all, I would say that Scuba Jamaica is talented, fun, and above all safe. They gave my family experiences together that we'll treasure (for instance, my daughters got to see a sea turtle at Paradise). The sea life was abundant. And the coral reef did not disappoint. Christian and his gang have a great thing going on in Runaway Bay and I look forward to visiting again.*