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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Plenty to do in Portland on the top side and there is some really nice diving.