Jamaica – Montego Bay

by Trevor Thorpe

I decided to go to Jamaica because I’d heard that the diving there was very good, but also because I am a very big Reggae fan and this island is where Bob Marley was born and is buried. Jamaica was also was on the verge of becoming the first English speaking Caribbean country to qualify for the football world cup – and I’m a huge football fan!

I booked the 2 week holiday through Eclipse the direct sell arm of First Choice and the holiday cost me just under £1000 staying at the all-inclusive Jack Tar which is about 15 minutes walk from Montego Bay. After a 10+ hour flight from Gatwick we touched down at Montego Bay airport and after clearing customs and reclaiming my baggage we headed for the exit and our onward transportation.

This is when I had my first confrontation with a drug seller. As I normally travel alone I am used to being a target for unsavory charecters, drug pushers, prostitutes etc. but as I was still in the airport concourse I thought I’d be safe. But- Oh No! He honed right in on me.

Anyway we eventually got to the hotel which was very nice, the rooms were very comfortable and the food was great. On the downside, the beach was very small. There were two swimming pools which were good. It is an adults-only resort and they have entertainment every night, mainly a reggae band which I really enjoyed.. I didn’t know at the time but most tour operators advise clients not to leave the hotel on their own, but I didn’t know this and went shopping in Montego Bay several times. I was on a desperate quest to get a Jamaica football shirt, which I finally managed to find. The only downside of my shopping trips was that every time I left the hotel I got asked if I wanted drugs, but a firm but polite NO sent them away.

Although the diving was my main priority I did do several tourist trips: the Bob Marley museum which is in Kingston on the other side of the Island. To get there you have to go through the Blue Mountains, a world famous coffee growing region. Because of the elevation it gets quite cool up there but the views are spectacular and you get taken around a coffee house. After a stop in the Blue Mountains you descend into Kingston where you can either go around Bob Marley’s old recording studios/museum or you can go around a former plantation owner’s estate. I chose Bob Marley’s museum. There are also other tourist trips; Dunn’s River Falls, Rafting on the Martha Brae river which are both fantastic.

Anyway, on to the diving: As I had only just passed my open water certification, I decided I would take my Advanced Open Water, so after a good night’s sleep and breakfast I went looking for the on-site dive shop which I found and after talking to the dive guide and showing him my medical certificate, which I always carry when I’m planning to dive, I signed up.

I decided to do 5 pleasure dives to accquaint myself with the equipment I had rented before doing 5 dives for the Advanced certificate which also required more theory work. The 5 pleasure dives were done at Sergeant Major at 30ft. 35mins.,Valentine Reef 30ft. 36mins., Creole Wall 66ft. at 31mins. We saw some beautiful Sting & Spotted Rays at Creole Wall. We also dived Archers at 60ft. 27mins., and Airport Reef at 40ft. 35mins.

I then did my 5 dives for the Advanced at Dark Valley 69ft. at 26mins. Boat Dive, Sergeant Major at 35ft. at 46mins. Naturalist Dive, Dark Valley 77ft. at 28 mins. Deep Dive, Sergeant Major 30ft. at 41mins. Navigation Dive and my Night Dive at Valantine Reef 28ft. at 40mins.

They did 2 dives in the morning and then 1 in the afternoon but I only did the morning dive as I was either studying or just sunning myself. The weather was lovely and the water was really warm so I never wore a wetsuit, which I prefer not to, if possible. The boats they used were very well equipped for divers with cutouts for the bottles. They were very fast, which meant you could be over the dive site in 15-20mins.

Would definitely recommend Montego Bay for a diving holiday as well as a good all round holiday location.

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