Barbados is the eastern most island in the Caribbean. One can say it is an Atlantic island rather than a Caribbean one. It is surrounded by Atlantic ocean. Geologically it is not on a Caribbean plate but a result of sediment accumulation from subduction of the South American plate under the Caribbean plate. The island is very flat compared to most other Caribbean islands and is composed of coral, 90 meters thick.
Barbados aerial view
Coral reefs encircle most of Barbados. We did a few dives around the island and the video has the highlights. Reef definitely had more life than Jamaica. And as we were there at the time of severe coral bleaching across the Caribbean, reefs in Barbados seemed to have fared better with cooler water from Atlantic helping.
We dove with Barbados Blue Water Sports dive shop located next to Hilton hotel. They run a very efficient operation, gear and boat was great. It was also nice to dive with quite a few locals/regulars and not just tourists.
Exploring the island
We stayed in Bridgetown which has many hotels and excellent restaurants. We hired a car. Car rental brought the car to the hotel, very convenient. After diving in the morning, we headed across the island to Bathsheba to have a look at the (slightly) steeper, windward and rougher eastern side of the island. There are spectacular views of the coast line and cool rock formations. There are a couple of nice restaurants where one can enjoy a meal and fantastic views.
Next day we started by heading to Welchman Hall Gully. It has a nice walk through the gully with cool geological formations and jungle forest. We did not see any monkeys but were told they were there earlier on the day. A nice relaxing walk and opportunity to experience what Barbados nature was like before construction took over the island.
Welchman Hall Gully, Barbados
Our next stop was St.Nicholas Abbey. After some meandering following google map sending us to roads that were not exactly passable, we found our way with some spectacular views along the way.
Crossing the island, view east, Barbadosview of the east coast and souvenir shops, Barbados
St.Nicholas great house built in 1658 and its distillery offer tours with rum tasting. It is a good way to learn more of Barbados history. The site is beautiful with a carefully restored great house.
St. Nicholas Abby great house, Barbados
We then headed further north to Animal Flower Cave. There is a restaurant right on the cliff edge with incredible views. One can get a better sense of Barbados geology looking at that top bit of 90 meters of old coral forming the island.
Cliffs around Animal Flower Cave, Barbados
Near to the cave site is the North Point with an old lighthouse and more impressive views of the coast line.
North Point light house, Barbados
Barbados is a beautiful little island. Not only does it have excellent beaches and warm sea, it has really vibrant restaurant scene, a lot of history restored and well presented, natural sites that are easy to visit and some very reasonable diving. Barbados is also a very good connecting point for visiting other Eastern Caribbean countries with direct flights to St.Lucia, Grenada, St.Kitts and Nevis, and other islands.
Ocho Rios in the north of Jamaica is one of the main tourist areas on the island. DIving is pretty good with a nice Katherine wreck that was sunk on purpose for helping to create a reef for divers, and very impressive reef formations. Video has the highlights.
We dove it in May of 2023 and then in May of 2024. Major bleaching took place all around the Caribbean starting in August 2023. And then in winter of 2024 major storms hit the area. We could clearly see the impact of all of these events. The wreck was pushed around, some of the structures damaged and many sponges and other growth broke off. On the bright side, it was good to see that some of the coral recovered by May, though many did not make it.
Katherine wreck in May 2023, Ocho Rios, JamaicaKatherine wreck in May 2024, Ocho Rios, Jamaica
Logistics
Ocho Rios can be reached in a little more than an hour from Kingston on the toll road. There are many large and small resorts along the coast around the town of Ocho Rios. It does not have a long beach like Negril and you cannot really move easily from one place to the next unless you are driving along the main road.
We dove with Garfield. It is a small basic dive shop in Ocho Rios marina. A couple of big all inclusive resorts in the area also have dive shops. One can also stay in Ocho Rios and explore some of the other dive areas in Oracabessa and Runaway Bay.
Kingston is the capital of Jamaica, has a population of about one million leaving around the bay area, and a busy port. Yet there is pretty good diving right in Kingston with the view of the downtown (almost). We dove with Yardie divers – the only operator in Kingston. They organize dives on Sundays depending on weather conditions. There are a few wrecks in the bay. This is also the only place where we saw nurse sharks on multiple occasions.
The boat departs from Port Royal. Port Royal was a major port and the center of all the pirate activity in the Caribbean back in the 17th century. It was known as “the wickedest city on earth”, though one can never be sure how one would measure such a thing. But definitely its was a major pirate port with drinking, gambling and brothels. But then a major earthquake in 1692 destroyed it. The earthquake and tidal wav. and literally took under water 60 percent of the city, and presumably all the ships and treasure. It is not allowed to dive around old Port Royal (special permit for archeological and research purposes is required). There might still be some treasure hidden there, though it was looted heavily ever since it went under water more than 300 years ago.
Yardie divers boat getting ready to go, Kingston Jamaica
Few people choose to stay in Kingston if they are in Jamaica on a holiday. But if you are in Kingston – jumping in for a dive is definitely a good option. One can also dive many locations as a day trip from Kingston. Port Antonio, Oracabessa, Ocho Rios, Runaway Bay, Rio Bueno, all are doable on a day trip.
Runaway bay is a small town on the bay of the same name on the northern shore of Jamaica between Montego Bay and Ocho Rios. There is a reef all along the northern shore of Jamaica and sections around Runaway bay have a very impressive canyon, nice scattered reefs and a couple of wrecks. Video has highlights from the dives we had.
We read about strong currents (reportedly one of the reasons the bay is called a Runaway Bay). But on our dives we did not encounter currents, though to be fair dive shops avoid diving in currents. The canyon is really impressive. As in other places in Jamaica, we did not see much fish. Reef is algae dominated looking like a weedy jungle with huge sponges. In early 2024 it was slowly recovering from the bleaching in 2023, similar conditions to what we saw in Negril.
Section of a reef in Runaway Bay, Jamaica
There are a couple of very basic dive shops in the area, outside of the all inclusive resorts. One is in the FDR resort and another one is next to Sharlkies restaurant. Both are basic operations. They have dive gear for rent and basic boats set up for diving. For places to stay, there are quite a few resorts along the shore, mostly all inclusive. Runaway bay diving is also doable as a day trip from Kingston.
Dive boat at the dive shop at FDR resort, Runaway Bay Jamaica
Oracabessa is a small town on the northern coast of Jamaica, about 20km east of Ocho Rios. This is where Ian Fleming spent his winters and wrote James Bond books. His house still exists, now part of the Golden Eye resort. There is a small marine sanctuary and a very basic diving operation. One can dive right in front of Ian Fleming’s old house. He reportedly snorkeled in the morning to catch a lobster for lunch before getting on with his writing. Reefs come right to the shore and have phenomenal swim throughs. Here is a brief video.
As elsewhere in the Caribbean, the reef is degraded and fish life is limited. But one can imagine what a spectacular site these reefs were back in the day. In 2023 reef experienced severe bleaching all around Jamaica and we have written more about this in Negril write up. It was heartbreaking to see staghorn coral nursery with little pieces of corals all pure white unlikely to make it.
Bleached corals in a coral nursery, Oracabessa, Jamaica
Logistics
The diving is from the marine sanctuary little office located at James Bond beach. This James bond beach is not to be confused with the one featured in Dr.No famous scene when Honey Ryder comes from the sea. That beach, called Laughing Waters, is not too far away but seems to be on a private property and not obvious how to visit.
Boat waiting fro divers at James Bond beach in Oracabessa, JamaicaJames Bond beach, Oracabessa, Jamaica
The beach is not very well developed for visiting. There is a building that used to be a restaurant or a bar also hosting events but it did not seem to be operational. The gate is locked and only because we had a dive arranged were we allowed in.
Entrance gate to James Bond beach and marine sanctuary office, Oracabessa, Jamaica
The road is a narrow gravel track off the main road. First time we were following the directions to James Bond beach down this road we were certain we were in the wrong place. But no, this was it.
Road to James Bond beach, Oracabessa, Jamaica
The area all around is mostly resorts, including luxurious and pricey Golden Eye. There is also a growing number of condos/units being built in this very pretty bay. One can stay in one of the resorts in Oracabessa, or in Ocho Rios to dive in the area. It is also possible to dive it on a day trip from Kingston.
Port Antonio in the north-eastern parish of Portland in Jamaica has a very beautiful coast line with pretty bays and coves. Many exotic beach movie scenes were shot here over the years. There is a coral reef stretching along the coast and a marine sanctuary to protect it. Coral formations are impressive and fish life shows more hope than in other dive spots around the island. Some highlights from diving around Port Antonio in Jamaica are in the video.
Juvenile drum fish, Port Antonio, Jamaica
Reef
The reef around Port Antonio has many impressive formations. There is coral restoration work in the area. We saw some elk horn corals. These beautiful corals used to be the dominant species around the coast but have practically disappeared in the past 30 years.
Elk horn coral, Port Antonio, Jamaica
Like other parts of Jamaican reef, bleaching in 2023 affected corals badly. By march 2024 some species recovered quite well, but others did not do too well like these blade fire corals in pictures below.
Blade fire corals in 2023 before bleaching, Port Antonio, JamaicaDamaged reef with remnants of blade fire coral in early 2024, Port Antonio, Jamaica
We dove in Port Antonio with Lady G’Diver from the jetty in Turtle harbor. It’s a small and well-run operation. The boat takes maximum of 6 divers which allows one to enjoy diving in small groups. One can stay on the coast or it also works as a day trip from Kingston for 2 dives.
Turtle harbor jetty and Lady G’Diver dive boat, Port Antonio, Jamaica
Logistics and top side
Port Antonio town, the capital or Portland parish, is a regular scruffy small Jamaican town. It was a major port for banana export back in the day and the birthplace of tourism as empty returning banana boats brought tourists from US to Jamaica. Most hotels and holiday rentals now are spread along the coast east of Port Antonio town around pretty little bays and coves. Drive from Kingston to Port Antonio is about 2 hours on a winding road through the mountains and via Annotto Bay. The route is about an hour longer by the toll road and via Ocho Rios. The road around Eastern coast of Jamaica is still a work in progress. It is passable but takes longer as of the time of writing in 2024.
Downtown Port Antonio, Jamaica
From a base in a resort or rental in Port Antonio one can explore many picturesque beaches and coves and pretty Reach waterfalls. From Port Antonio going east along the coast, there is the Blue Lagoon with recently updated facilities, Frenchman Cove with refreshingly cold fresh water stream coming in, San San beach, Winnifred beach, Boston beach, Long bay beach – all of them allow public access. The coast is where many scenes from Bond film No Time to Die were filmed – including that perfect beach bungalow at the start where Bond has retired to. The house was built just for the filming and then disassembled. One can see the bay from the boat while doing a surface interval. This specific beach is a private property though and one can’t get onto it from land side.
Long Bay beach, Portland, Jamaica
Further along the coast past the Long Bay there is a turnoff to a paved but winding narrow road to Reach falls. There is a parking lot and a short walk away are very beautiful waterfalls.
Reach falls, Portland, Jamaica
Plenty to do in Portland on the top side and there is some really nice diving.
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.
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.
Bleached coral reef November 2023, Negril Jamaica
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.
Corals in November 2023 – bleached on the left and less affected on the right, Negril, Jamaica
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.
Storm damage to reef in March 2024, Negril, Jamaica
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.
Damaged corals March 2024, Negril, Jamaica
Even flounder pretends to be a white bleached coral on a reef rather than normal blending in color.
Flounder turning white to look like a bleached coral, Negril, Jamaica
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.
Negril 7 mile beach, Negril, Jamaica
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.
Rick’s Cafe, Negril, Jamaica
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.
We did a 7 day liveaboard around Glover Atoll with a few dives around Turneffe in October of 2023. Here is a video from 26 dives on that trip
Our trip was on Aggressor III. Departing from Belize City we did 4 days at Glover Atoll primarily south east side, and then headed over to Turneffe for a day and a half of diving there. Aggressor as usual was a great diving boat, wonderful crew, great food, 4 dives a day plus night dive, and they let you have long dives.
We saw some cool rare fishes
Whitespotted toadfish, endemic to Belize, Turneffe AtollBatfish, Glover Atoll, belize
We dove in two cenotes and explored several Mayan ruins around Tulum in Mexico, after doing some diving in Cozumel in August 2023.
Cenotes are sinkholes resulting from the collapse of the limestone bedrock. It is estimated that there are 10,000 cenotes around Yucatan peninsula. Some forming vast underground systems – a big draw for cave divers. We dove El Pit and Dos Ojos cenotes. Both are considered caverns – meaning one can always (or most of the time) see ambient light from outside. Here is a short video.
Here is what entrance into El Pit looks like. We were extremely lucky as we were the first to arrive to the site and were the first ones to go down. The surreal beauty of the undisturbed hydrogen sulfide layer in the crystal clear water with shimmering rays of light coming in made it an incredible dive.
Cenote El Pit entrance, Tulum, Mexico
Dos Ojos is a part of a cave system, and has two routes. We went for the Barbie line. Diving here is along the line, and while we could see a little bit of light coming from outside, most of the route is through the overhead environment but there are no narrow passages – it is rather spacious.
Cenote Dos Ojos entrance, Tulum, Mexico
We really liked our introduction to cenotes and definitely can see why so many cave divers flock to this part of Mexico. We dove with Flying Fish dive operator in Tulum. They are very professional, gear is in excellent condition, and they were really helpful in deciding where to go as we were new to cenotes and had some concerns about “not seeing the light”. Had excellent experience.
Exploring Mayan ruins from Tulum as a base
There are many Mayan ruins around Yucatan peninsula. We have explored four of them using Tulum town as our base
The nearest one is in Tulum itself. Mayan city of Tulum is located on the cliffs along the coast. It was a major trading center, built and occupied between 13th and 15th century and abandoned in 16th century, later than many other Mayan centers. It is a beautiful site and unique in being right on the coast unlike other sites hidden in the jungle.
Tulum Mayan ruins and sea, Tulum, Mexico
Tulum can get very busy with tourists even in low season. It is very popular with both cruise ship travelers and those staying along the Riviera Maya coast. The site is an open space, not shaded by jungle, and definitely a hat and sunscreen are essential.
Tulum ruins, Mexico
We took a day to explore further Mayan sites of Chichen Itza and Ek Balam with a stop in Vallabolid for lunch.
We had hired a car for our stay in Tulum and explored all the sites on our own. Chichen Itza was one of the largest Mayan cities in its day. It gets very busy with tourists with bus loads of cruise and coast visitors arriving to the site in mid morning. We tried to get ahead of the crowds (even in low season). Chichen Itza is about 2 hour drive from Tulum on a vary good road via the city of Vallabolid. Confusingly, but helpfully, Chichen Itza is in a different time zone from that of Tulum, an hour behind. So one has an extra hour to get to Chichen Itza early.
Chichen Itza ruins, Mexico
Chichen Itza was occupied between 7th and 13th centuries, and served as a major regional center at its peak. At its height, Chichen Itza population is estimated at over 50,000 people. There are huge temples and public spaces, a gigantic ball court, procession ways, and just stunning examples of Mayan architecture.
Chichen Itza ruins and traders, Mexico
Having visited the site about twenty years before, the change was striking. Tourism is important for local economy. There are big areas with vendors selling every kind of Mayan souvenir one could imagine within the territory of the archeological site – though to be fair the stalls are in a distance from ruins themselves. One cannot climb any ruins anymore – and for a very good reason given the crowds. Despite the crowds, it is still an incredible site and definitely a must on Mayan history circuit.
Chichen Itza ruins entrance gate, Mexico
We were quite successful in beating the crowds in Chichen Itza and were departing as more and more buses with tourists were arriving. We headed to Vallabolid. A small city by Mexican standards, it has a historical city center with a nice square, cathedral, and pretty renovated historical buildings. We had a lunch in one of the restaurants on the square taking in the atmosphere.
Vallabolid main square, Mexico
Our plan then was to visit cenote Zaci in the town of Vallabolid and reportedly a good place to swim and cool down, which we felt we really needed after walking around in humid heat of Chichen Itza. We drove up to the cenote Zaci which had good facilities, well set up for visitors. But then solid rain started coming in so we decided that we should go to another Mayan site we saw on the map called Ek Balam and hopefully escape the rain by going there.
Ek Balam ruins, Mexico
It was the best decision ever to go to Ek Balam. Ek Balam is about half an hour drive north of Vallabolid on a good road. We had the site almost to ourselves with only a couple of other visitors. Ek Balam was a significant center, capital of its region and at its peak had a population of 12-18 thousands. It has defensive walls, impressive gate, a ball court and multiple temples and public structures. There is a huge 30m tall and 127m long acropolis and one is still allowed to climb it. The view from the top is absolutely breathtaking with jungle shrouding ruins of Ek Balam.
Ek Balam view from acropolis, Ek Balam, Mexico
One of the more remarkable discoveries in Ek Balam was the tomb of the ruler Ukit Kan L’t Tok‘ located on the acropolis. For centuries the entrance was covered by a stone wall and as a result was not discovered, preserving the carvings and contents of the tomb. Archeological excavation in Ek Balam started in the late 1980s and the site was open to visitors in 1997. It is truly incredible to imagine all the secrets jungle in this region holds, and all the history yet to be discovered.
Ek Balam tomb on acropolis, Ek Balam, Mexico
On our last day in Tulum we decided to explore another Mayan site – Muyil and lagoons next to it. When we visited in August 2023, Muyil was quiet and did not have many tourists. There are signs that the site is expecting to increase the number of visitors as now it is no longer possible to climb any of the structures. Muyil was a significant trade port in its day connecting the coast to Coba and other major cities inland. Only a few structures have been excavated and the work is continuing to uncover more. In the mean time with few visitors and buildings still covered by jungles it has a sense of mystery about it.
Muyil ruins, Mexico
After visiting the site one can continue into the jungle and through a nice elevated walkway through a mangrove forest to Muyil lagoon. At Muyil lagoon there are private boat operators who take you on a tour on the lagoon, then through the canal connecting Muyil lagoon to a much larger Chunyaxché lagoon. And from there, one gets off the boat and floats on a canal through the mangroves, using life jacket as a flotation device. The lagoons are perfect turquoise blue. And the canals, are the same canals that Mayan people have used centuries before to transport goods from the coast inland to the port of Muyil. It was a really fascinating experience.
Muyil lagoon, MexicoChannel from Muyil lagoon to Chunyaxché lagoon, Mexico Chunyaxché lagoon, MexicoChannel in Chunyaxché lagoon, Mexico
We visited four Mayan ruins – two busy with tourists and two almost to ourselves, and explored the channels that Maya built through mangroves between lagoons. We felt we did pretty well on our Mayan emersion in Yukatan and resolved to visit more Mayan sites in Belize and Guatemala to learn more about this incredible civilization.
We stayed in town of Tulum itself as most of our activities were all around the peninsula. On the last day we finally made it to the beach where big resorts and beach bars are. At the time there was quite a bit of sargassum which has been arriving in larger quantities lately all over the Caribbean. But in Tulum, even if there is sargassum at sea, there are lagoons and cenotes to swim in and many land based adventures. Not to mention great food, huge range of accommodation options and very friendly people. We had amazing time.
We did two days of diving in Cozumel in August of 2023, after our diving trip to Malpelo in Colombia and before heading to Tulum. Cozumel is famous for strong currents and drift dives. But with all the warm water and El Nino, or for whatever reason, the currents were very weak when we were there. Diving was very nice with good visibility, warm water, incredible huge coral formations and quite a lot of fish. Cozumel Marine park was established in 1996 and conservation efforts have been successful in restoring fish populations. Here is a short vide with highlights from the dives.
We dove with Tres Pelicanos dive center. They were excellent and well organized. There are many dive shops in Cozumel. We would see half a dozen dive boats around each dive site – quite a shock after Malpelo. This was a low season and we were told that during the high season there would be at least double or triple the number of divers that we saw in August.
splendid toadfish with a shrimp, Cozumel, Mexico
Logistics
We flew to Cancun and took a ferry over to Cozumel. There is an international airport in Cozumel, but it has fewer flights. The connection from the airport, by bus to the ferry in Playa de Carmen works very well. There are two ferry companies and there is a ferry going to Cozumel every our.
Cozumel harbor and ferry terminal, Mexico
In Cancun one can stay in the main town or in one of the resorts along the shore. We stayed in town in one of the many small hotels – ours had 4 units in it. Since we were only there for a couple of days, we did not hire a car. We walked around the main town and its shops and restaurants. And one afternoon hired a motorbike to explore the island.
Even during the low season in August there were two or three cruise ships in Cozumel every day.
Cruise ships, Cozumel, Mexico
On one of the days, after finishing diving we hired a motorbike and went around the island. There is a road that makes a loop around the southern part of the island. I tis a very good paved road with not many vehicles on it once you get out of the town itself.
Sargassum on the east shore of Cozumel, Mexico
Along the eastern shore there are several beaches. It was quite windy and the water was pretty rough when we were there. There was also fair bit of sargassum washed up on the shores. The beaches are sites for turtles laying eggs. There is a large turtle conservation program on Cozumel and sites were all marked. There are also special tours where one can help conservation program.
East side beaches and turtle nesting sites, Cozumel, Mexico
We drove through the Punta Sur eco beach park. The road inside of the park is not paved but it is a good compacted road and two wheel drive or motorbike works fine.
lighthouse in Punta Sur eco beach park, Cozumel, Mexico
On the main road, next to the entrance to the Punta Sur eco beach park, there is a Bob Marley Bar – also known as Rasta Bar and Reggae beach bar. Having lived in Ethiopia and Jamaica we were very determined to make it there for a drink. Unfortunately, we did not read the sign and did not realize it closed at 5pm. By the time were done with Eco beach park and ready for a sundowner, it was closed. Maybe for the next time then.
Bob Marley beach bar, Cozumel, Mexico
The next day we headed to Tulum to try diving in cenotes and explore Maya ruins.
