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25 April 2024
Cliff diving in Jamaica.

  Why would anyone want to go cliff diving? I remember seeing Elvis Presley diving off a cliff in one of his films & thinking how cool it would be to have a go.

Cliff diving.  

The reality of cliff diving was less fun than it looked in the film & I would advise everyone not to try this. I have done it, although it could have been the last thing I did.

I was on   holiday in Jamaica in 1992 & had gone to Ricks Cafe with a couple I had met at my hotel. They were a lovely couple & he was actually a goalkeeper for Plymouth Argyle. We sat having lunch & a cocktail, watching the locals diving off the cliff. We decided to jump off the cliff from the lower platform. After we did it, a few locals helped us out & gave us some good-humoured banter about going from the lower tier, telling us that the men went from the top platform.

Unable to resist the challenge, I walked to the top of the cliff, edged out to the diving platform & jumped off. As I was going down, I started twisting in the air & ended up belly-flopping into the water & knocking myself out. Luckily, my new friends dived in & pulled me out. Badly winded I was helped to climb out by the Jamaicans who all cheered, clapped me on the back, took me back to the bar & bought me a large cocktail & a beer.

Cliff Diving, been there, done it, don't advise anyone else to give it a go.