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Dive Sites in Jamaica (Caribbean)

Jamaica is a great destination, excellent coffee and rum and home of reggae! Marine species are currently less diverse than other Caribbean islands but there are some amazing caverns and rock formations and coral reefs.

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Dive Site Overview for Jamaica

Jamaica, famous for Reggae, rum and blue mountain coffee, is a lush Caribbean island about 90 miles south of Cuba.

There are plenty of shallow reefs to explore close to shore that offer excellent sites for beginners and to the north coast there is some wall diving along the Cayman Trench.

Marine life here is less abundant that other Caribbean destinations due to overfishing but the topography is excellent with huge caverns and tunnels to explore.

The Throne Room near Negril is a large cavern about 20m deep filled with yellow sponges and a huge throne-shaped elephant ear sponge. Sometimes there are a few nurse sharks sleeping in here, snappers, barracuda, the odd eel and even sea turtles.

Around Montego Bay the most popular site is Widowmaker’s Cave where you can see barracuda, black coral and parrot fish. You enter the cave at 25m and exit through a small chimney at about 12m.

The WWII Canadian mine-sweeper The Kathryn is a great wreck near Ocho Rios purposely sank to create an artificial reef. You can still swim into the wheelhouse and have a good look around.

There are several marine parks around the island, coral harvesting is now prohibited and you are not allowed to dive with gloves on. These efforts will hopefully encourage the regeneration of the reefs and attract more marine life.

The sunken city of Port Royal is an interesting dive but requires permission from the local authorities –this can usually be organized through a dive operator.

The water temperature ranges from 26°C to 29°C in summer (April-October). Although you can dive all year round, visibility is best in summer (up to 45m) but can be limited to about 10m in winter.