Sandals - Montego Bay

[kcDiver]

Hi all,

I just finished my certification and am booked for a week in Jamaica at Sandals/Montego Bay. I'm going for a wedding (not mine) so it's not specifically a dive vacation but I was wondering if anyone had been to Sandals/Montego Bay and could comment on the diving and/or dive staff.

All comments are welcome. I want to make sure I'm prepared to dive there.

Thanks,

kcDiver

[DiverDave]

Hi there KCDiver.

Not been to Montego Bay, but was in Sandals St Lucia in Feb. Making the bold assumption that they will carry standards and style accross locations, you'll have a great time.

The diving operation in St Lucia was well organised with good kit available and friendly, experienced instructors as guides. There were a lot of restrictions such as no separate buddy groups, everyone dived as a single group. Max depth was capped at 20m and dive times generally limited to 30mins. These limits make for ideal diving for infrequent divers and for those newly qualified like yourself, but seemed a little restrictive on more experienced divers. I'm sure it has something to do with insurance and US litigation.

All in all, the diving would have been perfect for someone in your position. I thought the rest of the Sandals set up was superb also. Hope you enjoy Jamaica as much as I did St Lucia.

Cheers,

DiverDave.

[kcDiver]

DiverDave,

Thanks for your response. I'm really looking forward to some warm weather diving! I'd heard that all dives were guided at Sandals. It's good to know they have a good staff. I have heard you can go to 30m @ Sandals Montego Bay. I should have my Advanced Open Water completed before I go. Hopefully I'll be able to put those new skills to use.


kcDiver

[KimmieR]

Do the Sandals resorts provide regulators, SPGS, depth guages etc? I don't have all of my equipment yet but would very much like to go diving in Sandals Ocho Rios?

[DocVikingo]

Hi kimmie,

Yes, they should have that for rental. Can always e-mail to verify.

Have a great trip.

DocVikingo

[Warhammer]

But my wife and stayed at Sandals Negril last October. We had a great time both above and below the surface. The equipment, especially the regulators, was a little run down. Leaky regs and such. You can read my report here (http://user.intop.net/~greggg/trips.html#jamaica)

[Natasha]

You can call 1 800 Sandals. They can answer all your questions.
Have a great time!
:sunny:

[Normunds]

This year I was diving in Couples Negril. The gear was completely weared out - leaking regs and rotten BCDs. Another thing - I got impression that in those all inclusive where you are not paying directly to the diving center they are kind of a low pay employees and therefore not much assistance is provided. Before I was diving from the 5 str Padi center in Club Ambiance(around Ocho Rios)and want to say that the attitude was completely different.
Anyway I recomend to bring atleast your own reg.(I always take all my gear with me - just another bag).
Normunds

[kcDiver]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. After careful consideration I've decided to purchase a BC and Reg before my trip. I was planning to buy equipment this year anyway, so why not before Jamaica.

For those interested, I've chosen a ScubaPro Superhawk BC with a ScubaPro Mk20/G250 Reg.

Now if I could only afford a computer too...

kcDiver

[Warhammer]

Great, you'll be proud of those regs once you get to Jamaica, trust me. If you want a good computer, for a cheap price, have a look at the Genesis Resource computers. Great little computer for the price.