BomberoDiver
Registered
Here's the dive report I wrote in Jamaica to post when I got back:This is my review of diving in Jamaica. I hope it is not too lengthy, but I hope you can find this information useful. I myself find SCUBABOARDs forums very useful prior choosing dive sites or operations.
We were at Jamaica from June 1 to June 15, 2006. The first three days we stayed in Negrils Country Country Hotel which was excellent. I was kind of disappointed that we couldnt find a scuba shop that rented equipment, specifically tanks. We later found out at Discovery Bay that Jamaica government regulates dive operations and does not allow them to rent out equipment and wants all certified divers accompanied by a Master Diver.
We dove two tanks with Negril Escape Diving in front of their hotels/scuba shop reef. Max depth in those dives were 50 feet. Neville was the Master diver who took us out. He was great. Since my wife and I just bought our first Dive gear, we explained Neville that our first dive we wanted to get to know our equipment, which he was helpful with. Our second dive was the best. I concentrated that dive in taking my underwater video camera and filming. Good thing I did! We saw eels, that worm that looks like a flower and hides when you approach ( I dont know its name), lobster, a caterpillar type that really burns as I was told by Neville later, and then best of all a turtle. I had read so many reviews about Jamaicas reef that I was expecting the worst. That was a good thing because I was not disappointed with diving Jamaica since I had my mind set to expect-the-worst mode. Of course like every review here in SCUBABOARD says, dont go to Jamaica to dive, but if you are there dive.
We met our family and rented a Villa in Discovery Bay about 15 min away from Runaway Bay, our next two tank dive on the North Coast which was also beautiful. Our first dive that day was a wall reef, now I dont know if it is the Cayman wall or just called Runaway Bay Wall, but it is directly behind FDR Hotel/Resort with Jamaica Scuba. I made arrangements with Christian Rance whom I think owns or manages that operation. He dove on our first dive but the Master diver was Stacy, a nice petite Jamaican. My wife and I felt comfortable with her. She was young, maybe about 25-28 but looks can be deceiving. Really nice though. Now, it is very true, you can tell the signs of over fishing, since ahe all the places we dove had fish traps and we never saw big fish. The wall in Runaway Bay was beautiful, probably the biggest fish we saw, maybe 10 inches or so. Well, the second dive with Jamaica Scuba was at Nursery Reef not far from the Wall. It was pretty. Of course, not the best Ive seen but more than I expected.
Now, the two dive operations I used were not cattle boats, but then again it is hard to tell since I did not see many tourists on the island. In Negril, It was 6 divers for the master diver including ourselves. In Runaway Bay with Jamaica Scuba it was 5 divers but my wife and I were paired only with Stacy which was great.
But rating the diving in Jamaica overall from 1-10 and 10 being the best, I would have to say a 7.5 since it was better than I expected. Well hopefully this review will be helpful for all you guys. If you have any questions feel free to ask me. I have video from the dives but I have no idea how to upload on here. By the way I am writing this review here in Jamaica outside our Villa with the sound of the waves crashing against the rocky reefs on the back of our property. Really nice, hopefully this is my souvenir when I take back and when I get nostalgic of Jamaica I will read it, Irie mon!
6/11/06 -Jesse
We were at Jamaica from June 1 to June 15, 2006. The first three days we stayed in Negrils Country Country Hotel which was excellent. I was kind of disappointed that we couldnt find a scuba shop that rented equipment, specifically tanks. We later found out at Discovery Bay that Jamaica government regulates dive operations and does not allow them to rent out equipment and wants all certified divers accompanied by a Master Diver.
We dove two tanks with Negril Escape Diving in front of their hotels/scuba shop reef. Max depth in those dives were 50 feet. Neville was the Master diver who took us out. He was great. Since my wife and I just bought our first Dive gear, we explained Neville that our first dive we wanted to get to know our equipment, which he was helpful with. Our second dive was the best. I concentrated that dive in taking my underwater video camera and filming. Good thing I did! We saw eels, that worm that looks like a flower and hides when you approach ( I dont know its name), lobster, a caterpillar type that really burns as I was told by Neville later, and then best of all a turtle. I had read so many reviews about Jamaicas reef that I was expecting the worst. That was a good thing because I was not disappointed with diving Jamaica since I had my mind set to expect-the-worst mode. Of course like every review here in SCUBABOARD says, dont go to Jamaica to dive, but if you are there dive.
We met our family and rented a Villa in Discovery Bay about 15 min away from Runaway Bay, our next two tank dive on the North Coast which was also beautiful. Our first dive that day was a wall reef, now I dont know if it is the Cayman wall or just called Runaway Bay Wall, but it is directly behind FDR Hotel/Resort with Jamaica Scuba. I made arrangements with Christian Rance whom I think owns or manages that operation. He dove on our first dive but the Master diver was Stacy, a nice petite Jamaican. My wife and I felt comfortable with her. She was young, maybe about 25-28 but looks can be deceiving. Really nice though. Now, it is very true, you can tell the signs of over fishing, since ahe all the places we dove had fish traps and we never saw big fish. The wall in Runaway Bay was beautiful, probably the biggest fish we saw, maybe 10 inches or so. Well, the second dive with Jamaica Scuba was at Nursery Reef not far from the Wall. It was pretty. Of course, not the best Ive seen but more than I expected.
Now, the two dive operations I used were not cattle boats, but then again it is hard to tell since I did not see many tourists on the island. In Negril, It was 6 divers for the master diver including ourselves. In Runaway Bay with Jamaica Scuba it was 5 divers but my wife and I were paired only with Stacy which was great.
But rating the diving in Jamaica overall from 1-10 and 10 being the best, I would have to say a 7.5 since it was better than I expected. Well hopefully this review will be helpful for all you guys. If you have any questions feel free to ask me. I have video from the dives but I have no idea how to upload on here. By the way I am writing this review here in Jamaica outside our Villa with the sound of the waves crashing against the rocky reefs on the back of our property. Really nice, hopefully this is my souvenir when I take back and when I get nostalgic of Jamaica I will read it, Irie mon!
6/11/06 -Jesse
