Jamaica in January

[bluewatertoy]

The wife and I will be going to Jamaica in late January. We will be staying at the Grand Palladium which is located halfway between Montego Bay and Negril, very close to a town called Lucea. We have dove mostly Cozumel, which we love and the Dominican last year. Any recommendations on dive operators would be greatly appreciated. Will any offsite operators pick you up or are you on your own?

 

[ReefHugger]

I believe the Grand Palladium is relatively new, as a result the lack of responses. Maybe you should be the first to review.

A couple quick observations. Whenever I've driving through the area, I've always thought that some excellent diving should be there - just judging from water colour and obvious reefs. And, make sure you come with wet suits (hood even). We have been having a series of cold fronts with more predicted. For the first time ever I've cancelled pool training (outdoor) due to water temp.

Looking forward to your trip report.

 

[tangfish]

Let us know how the diving is there!

 

[RDRINK25]

we are also going in late Jan going to dive with Sundivers and the Sandals Negril dive shop.

 

[craracer]

Make sure to let us know how your experience is with Sundivers, being that they've been under new ownership for a while now.

 

[Scuba One]

If you are diving from the Grande Palladium you might have the opportunity to dive areas that have not been dove much, since they are new and a long way from any other resorts. I remember staying at a Negril resort with a new dive boat and they routinely took us that direction to give us a chance to dive virgin reefs.

Please let us know how it turns out.

Sucba One Travel - Negril Jamaica Underwater photos

 

[Willar]

Green Island wall is the only site even close to there from Negril. Otherwise it's going to be all new dive sites since the Lucea area has just recently been developed with resorts.

Be sure to ask for the story about the Lucea clock tower. It's a good story. I don't recommend going into Lucea on Saturday since this is market day for all the locals. The town is a covered with locals, it's very hard to get around, and I've seen fights in the streets.

Please give us a detailed report upon your return.

 

[SeaSoulSelf]

Just got back from 2 weeks in Negril. Water temp was BRRR in the low 80's. My computer at one point said 86, but it sure didn't feel like it to me. I wore a 3/2 with a 3mm vest and I was still very cold. When we got back to STL, I went out and got a squidlid for next year!

Diving in Negril area seems to be getting the 1-2 sucker punch from the lionfish and overfishing. We did see some very nice marine life -- HUGE eagle ray, barracuda, bull ray, nurse sharks, and a great school of spadefish. Only a few turtles this trip. Dolphins were in the area as well. Since you are in the Lucea area, you should see some new sites that should have great wildlife, though probably not as prolific as what you would see in Coz.

I'm still wading through the photos -- viz was still stirred up from the monster cold front and high seas, so I didn't take as many shots as last year.


Happy Diving!

 

[ibj40]

Make sure to let us know how your experience is with Sundivers, being that they've been under new ownership for a while now.

Ditto! We'll be coming down in about a year, so knowing whether they have the same quality that we came to appreciate previously will be graciously appreciated.

 

[scorman]

We just got back from a week in Negril last week...hadn't been there for 26 years.
Water temp was 80F and it was sunny w/air temp around 80F also

The diving was decent, not spectacular ...the deeper you go the fewer fish.
Couldn't convince the crew to do more shallow dives <arg>, nor do the wall dive

The coral and sponges are fine and growing nicely, but there is a lack of decent sized fish
except for lion fish ... a guest DM was spearing about a dozen per dive.
Did not see a single French Angel, nor decent sized parrot, nor any large groupers....not in 6 dives ..
saw one small turtle, two eagle rays and a couple of large lobster, and one nurse shark in a cave ...that is for a full week! not as I remembered it!

the typical schools of grunts and sergeant majors,etc were only when snorkeling the shallows

Will be going back to Riviera Maya next year, where just from shore snorkeling we saw turtles , rays, and many more fish every day.

BTW, Negril is on the sheltered south west side of Jamaica with the wind comes from shore ...the new Grande Paladium is on the North side where the wind blows from offshore daily ...heard from another traveler that boat was only able to go out one day out of a week stay, whereas we lost only one day when a front came through.

Stew Corman from sunny Endicott