Originally Posted by
RoyinNC
The reefs in Jamaica are not awesome, but can be fun for scuba and snorkeling.
Snorkeling off the beach from Riu is not great, even though the beach is spectacular. The white sandy bottom doesn't draw a lot of fish. You best choices IMO would be to choose one of these:
1) Pay to take the snorkeling trip from Riu. It cost around $20 a person when we were there, but could be a little more now. They take you out toward where Bloody Bay (where Riu is) becomes Long Bay (the longest part of the 7 Mile Beach). Just past Booby Cay, the island you can see when you look out around the point, to some reefs there. It is the same place that most snorkeling trips from other resorts go.
2) Take your mask, fins, and snorkel and walk left down the beach past Couples Negril (note that there is a nude beach at the far end of Couples Negril if that sort of thing might bother you just don't look over there) and walk until you run out of beach (In front of the Royalton construction site - recently collapsed unfortunately for some of the workers who were injured). Just off shore is a rocky wall and along that wall there are lots of fish and nice things to see.
