DIving in Rio Bueno is most known for its big wall. The wall indeed is very impressive. There are also very cool swim throughs and fields (or colonies I guess) of elkhorn corals. It was really impressive to see so many elkhorn corals. Once these were the dominant reef forming species around the Caribbean. But due to decease, pollution, overfishing, and repeated bleaching events elkhorn coral cover declined. Some studies show that coral cover declined from more than 50% in the 1970s to less than 5 percent in the 1990s. We were diving before bad bleaching of 2023 and elkhorns looked really good back then.
We dove Rio Bueno wall with Yardi Divers on a day trip from Kingston. Diving was with the boat from the University of West Indies (UWI) marine lab in Discovery Bay. Discovery Bay along the northern shore of Jamaica – one of a string of bays between Ocho Rios and Montego Bay. It is just west of Runaway Bay where we also dove. Discovery bay has the loading facility for bauxite and usually one sees a big barge being loaded in the bay.
The name of Discovery Bay comes from a story (debated) that Christopher Columbus first landed in this bay on his exploration of Jamaica. The bay is also known as Dry Harbor or Puerto Seco. The story goes that Columbus came to this bay, but could not find fresh water hence naming it Puerto Seco (dry port). He then moved on to the next bay west and found fresh water there. He named the bay Rio Bueno (good river) and thats where we went to find the famous wall.
