PegNDerek's Snorkeling
Where intelligent life returns to the Sea
Shaw Park Resort
Beach Break, Ocho Rios, Jamaica
Ship: Norwegian Dawn (NCL)
Sailing Date: December 22nd, 2005
Date of Snorkel: December 25th, 2005
Equipment Availability: There is no snorkeling equipment at all available for rental at this site—you must take your own.
Water Access: Difficult—Ropes for on and off of a Canoe fitted with an engine. (As you will see, we got lucky—READ ON!)
Ahhh—Christmas Day in Jamaica and what to do…what to do! <VBG> As per usual, there was no snorkeling option for shore excursions out of Ocho Rios, so instead of joining Peg’s Aunt for a land trip to see Noel Coward’s house (which she thoroughly enjoyed), or yet another hike around Dunn River Falls, we selected the Shaw Park Resort Hotel Beach Break. We figured that at the very worst, we could snorkel off the beach and simply see what there was to see.
The Shaw Park Hotel is one of the oldest in Ocho Rios, now re-built after a fire, and quite clean and substantial from all appearances. The staff was exceptionally friendly and willing to help with just about any arrangements that one might want to make for beach time enjoyment—massage, hair braiding, shopping for local souvenirs, etc… The beach front is expansive and clean, with plenty of chez-lounge chairs and umbrellas, but once we put a toe in the water, we discovered that it was freezing! There is a small inlet on this beach where run-off from the mountains enters the ocean, and mountain spring and melt-water is very chilly. We donned our wet suits (jealously observed by our fellow passengers) and started to head out to a rocky area some 200 yards off shore. At this point, we were approached by a local man named Gregory, who was clearly NOT part of the hotel/resort staff. He told us not to bother with snorkeling here (“no good snorkeling off this beach here, mon!”), but that he could arrange for some friends of his to take us to a good site in a boat for a price. We negotiated with him (our snorkeling wallet having only $40 in it, which we showed him), and settled on the price and length of the trip. At this point we had to decide what to do—was this just a rip off? Were they going to abandon us out there? Were we about to be kidnapped—and on Christmas Day, no less? It took awhile, but we finally decided to give it a go.
Gregory’s “friends”—who can only be described as local Rastafarian ruffians who would easily qualify for the Washington Redskins’ front four—appeared with their “boat” (essentially a dug out canoe with an engine on the back) about 10 minutes later. Peg was very nervous about how she was going to get in and out of such a vessel, but one of the men in the boat just grinned and showed her a rope—a single rope, mind you—not a rope ladder! Off we went. The site is about 1 mile off the Shaw Park Beach (a 10 minute boat ride) to the East of the hotel and about 400 yards off shore. The water our there was comfortably warm (we would not have needed our wet suits, but had them on anyway), and the area was incredible for snorkeling. There was a reef about 10 to 20 feet deep with lots of fish and a shipwreck to boot! This was our first opportunity to try out our new underwater digital cameras, and we had a blast! We swam for about 45 minutes and got some terrific shots. Then it was time to get back in the boat. NOT! No matter how hard we kicked (with fins on) and they pulled on the rope tied around each of us separately, there was just no way we were going to get back into that boat! Fortunately, a dive boat from another resort hotel had recently arrived on site and was anchored about 50 yards away. We swam over to it, and they kindly allowed us to use their ladder to get onto the back of their boat, from which we could easily step into the canoe. The folks on the dive boat were just learning how to do scuba, and were very tickled at the opportunity to rescue two snorkelers!
We paid the boat men (Gregory had disappeared by this point) and they smiled and shook hands—we wish we had had more money to tip them! The staff from the Shaw Park Hotel asked us how much we paid and we were happy to find that we had not been ripped off—the hotel charges $45 for an hour’s snorkeling trip out to the same site, but they were not running it on Christmas Day. The staff took pity on our total lack of cash and gave us free cranberry juice and a bottle of local “fire-water” rum that we have kept as a souvenir of a remarkable snorkeling trip! Our fellow passengers were just happy to see us return alive and unharmed! We filled out an excursion comment form on the ship and strongly recommended that they find a way to turn this into a proper snorkeling trip for all—it was a terrific site!
Snorkeling Grade: A- (Experience Grade A+)
