The Caribbean travellers finest resource

Email this page to:

Close

Jamaica / Special Interests / Scuba Diving

By James Henderson

Jamaica is not renowned among Caribbean islands for its scuba diving, but just because it is not that well known does not mean that it is without interest for a few dives while on a holiday on the island. There is a pretty good range of diving and the principal areas, which happen to be around the major resort towns, are covered by the few good dive operators. Some of these are ‘tied’ to the hotels in which they are located, but others are not exclusive and allow outside divers. Most dive shops have a collection policy if you are not located in the hotel where they are based.

A wall runs along almost the entire length of Jamaica’s north shore, generally between half a mile and five miles off the coastline. The main dive sites are along it, some on the main wall itself, others within it, on miniature walls and on coral heads that stand in a sandy bottom. The water is usually less than 100 feet deep. The marine life has clearly suffered through over-fishing, but the corals have good colours in many places and visibility is a reliable 60-100 feet unless the swell is up (when it can be too rough to dive many areas anyway). The south coast is different – it slopes off into shallower, (often dark) sandy water with fewer coral heads - and with far fewer hotels it is dived much less. However there are certainly areas of interest for divers there too. Near Kingston is something unique, the submerged remains of the historic city of Port Royal (it requires a permit to dive the submerged town and the historic wrecks) but there is also diving around the cays outside Kingston harbour. Water temperatures in Jamaica stand at around 26-29C/78-85F, depending on the time of year and the best diving conditions tend to be during the drier months of December to April and mid June to end of July early August.

Inevitably the diving is concentrated around the resort towns, though there are hotels in between the towns which have their own dive shops and dive their own areas. The calmest waters tend to be around the town of Negril at the western end of the island (where it is sheltered from the weather, which arrives mainly from the north-east), and there the underwater terrain is fairly flat out to the reef several miles offshore. On the north shore the sea floor is often more broken inside the reef and so between Montego Bay and Port Antonio you find miniature walls, caves and coral heads. Near Port Antonio itself you also find excellent coral colour because of the minerals from fresh water springs creates around the Blue Hole/Lagoon.

Marine life encountered around the coastal waters is varied and does occasionally include turtles, nurse sharks, even hammerheads on a deep dive, and dolphins. There is a variety of stingrays to be seen (yellow, Caribbean, spotted eagle and southern rays), eels (key worm, garden, gold spotted and sharp-tailed) and morays (purple mouth, chain, green and spotted). Some dives are known for their striking colourful sponges, some for swathes of black coral, others pillar coral or gorgonians.

There have been some efforts to protect the reefs in Jamaica, with the establishment of marine parks in Negril and Montego Bay (though the funding for the latter was withdrawn in 2005), but they have had mixed success as fishermen continue to fish the protected areas. The Jamaica Association of Dive Operators has also made conservation efforts, such as increased use of mooring buoys.

A recompression chamber is located at the Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory. The Jamaica Defence Force Coast Guard also has a chamber, located at their headquarters in Port Royal.

Contributors: Deana Bellamy

Recommended accommodation view more

  • Round Hill Hotel & Villas Hotels & Resorts

    Jamaica’s most refined hotel, in an exquisite setting of villas and hotel rooms on a hillside and private peninsular just west of Montego Bay. 36 rooms and 27 villas with 74 suites. Read more

Browse Diving on other islands

Anguilla | Antigua and Barbuda | Barbados | British Virgin Islands | Cayman Islands | Dominica | Dominican Republic | Grenada & Carriacou | Nevis | Saba | St Barthélemy | St Eustatius | St Kitts | St Lucia | St Martin/St Maarten | St Vincent and the Grenadines | Tobago | Trinidad

Or read our other island guides

Anguilla | Antigua | Aruba | Bahamas | Barbados | Bermuda | Bonaire | British Virgin Islands | Cayman Islands | Cuba | Curacao | Dominica | Dominican Republic | Grenada and Carriacou | Guadeloupe | Haiti | Jamaica | Martinique | Montserrat | Nevis | Puerto Rico | Saba | St Barthélemy | St Eustatius | St Kitts | St Lucia | St Martin/St Maarten | St Vincent and the Grenadines | Tobago | Trinidad | Turks & Caicos Islands | US Virgin Islands

island_map View on map

Jamaica’s weather

Jamaica weather chart

When to go and weather

Looking for inspiration?

  1. Sample some fiery jerk chicken or pork at one of the many stands in Boston - the home of jerk 
  2. Take a tour of Appleton Estate, Jamaica's oldest rum producer
  3. Spend the day exploring Dunn's River Falls & Park
  4. Enjoy a round of golf at one of Montego Bay's five, 18-hole courses
  5. Immerse yourself in local culture and pay a visit to the Bob Marley Museum in Kingston

Jamaica Events

View calendar