Negril on the west side of Jamaica island has the best long sandy beach on the island and some very good diving. The reef goes along the entire famous 7 mile beach and beyond. As most reefs around Jamaica and the Caribbean, it is degraded and algae dominated with limited fish population. But Negril reef has very impressive formations with swim throughs and some fish life. Topside on 7 miles beach is excellent. We dove in Negril many times over a couple of years and video has some highlights.
And here are some stills of sea life.
Most of the reef looks like a wild jungle of macroalgae or seaweed, as it is commonly known. Corals suffered badly from decease, storms, overfishing, runoff and earlier bleaching events. Jamaican reefs are well studied. Findings show that coral cover declined from more than 50 percent in the late 1970s to less than 5 percent by 1990s.
Because of all the weedy jungle, we did not realize there was quite some hard coral still around as reef was slowly recovering despite obstruction by macroalgae. In the fall of 2023, because of high water temperatures, reef bleached and suddenly we saw white spots everywhere. All the little patches of hard coral trying to grow were now overheated and bleached. The extent of bleaching was similar to what we saw in Belize.
Bleaching was very extensive and lasted more than two months. Amazingly some corals were able to withstand it like on this photo below, though majority did not do too well.
In February of 2024 Negril got hit by a storm with very strong waves and big swell that damaged reefs. We were diving soon after and there was sponge rubble all around and seaweed on the reef looked battered.
By March of 2024 waters cooled a little, and some corals recovered, but many did not make it through. Sadly with all the warming keeping pace, risks of another bleaching event are high. Negril is still a worthy diving location with all its formations. Besides, with corals’ future not looking the best, one might as well catch a look of what is still there. Beach on the topside in Negril is definitely the best in Jamaica.
Even flounder pretends to be a white bleached coral on a reef rather than normal blending in color.
Logistics
Negril is about 4 hour drive from Kingston. From Montigo bay where most international flights go, it is about 1.5 hours. The main action is along the 7 mile beach – actually more a 7km stretch of nice white sand beach. The main advantage of Negril is that one can walk along the beach, unlike on the north coast of Jamaica where every resort is more or less an enclosed enclave. In Negril, large all inclusive resorts are on the northern side of the beach. The southern side of the beach and the cliffs side has smaller resorts catering to more independent travellers.
Some of the big resorts have dive shops on site and include diving in their packages. These dive shops allow outside divers (those not staying in the resort) but usually charge a day pass fee to a resort. With diving not being cheap in the Caribbean to start with, this makes it very expensive. We dive with an independent dive shop One Love Scuba. They have a very good boat and a great crew. It is the best independent diveshop (not inside of an all inclusive hotel) on the island that we found.
Beyond the beach, there is cliff side with a few resorts and restaurants. Rick’s cafe is famous for cliff jumping. At sunset there are a few catamarans doing sunset cruise. Or one can go on a more authentic looking vessel – like the one below. Definitely much going for Negril – great vibe, perfect Caribbean beach, phenomenal sunset views, and diving.
