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.
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.
