How Underwater Travels US$85 All-Electric Submarine is Jamaica's First in untapped Ocho Rios Tourism Market

“You get to go down and see the World War II shipwreck, look at the bottom of a 100-foot cliff, see the aquatic life and the wonderful things that you're not used to seeing”

Managing Director of the Jamaica Submarine Company, Douglas Oxborrow, speaking about his Submarine to the Jamaica Observer

How much would you pay to ride in a Submarine? Well, the price right now is set at US$129 (JA$14,448) for international guests and US$85 (JA$9520) for Jamaicans, minus GCT according to the JSC (Jamaica Submarine Company).

The Submarine leaves Pier One at 11:00 am and 1:30 pm everyday except Wednesday, most likely reserved for maintenance on the Submarine. There are multi-lingual Tour guides who speak English, French, Dutch, Spanish and Italian.

Good to know that up until now, the only submarines I’ve known are either the ones I’ve seen in movies like Das Boot (1981) or The Hunt for Red October (1990) or the ones that the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) from the USA claims that we Jamaican have using to smuggle drugs into Florida as stated “Drug Smuggling By Submarines Increasing - US”, published Thursday September 13, 2012, The Jamaica Gleaner.

Introducing Jamaica’s first 40”, 24 seater battery powered Submarine recently acquired by the JSC (Jamaica Submarine Company) for US$4.2 million (JA$475 million) as stated in the article “New Submarine company invests US$4 million in tourist attraction in Ocho Rios”, published Sunday, August 24, 2014 BY KARENA BENNETT Business Reporter, The Jamaica Observer.

Managing Director of the JSC (Jamaica Submarine Company), Douglas Oxborrow, is the fellow responsible for upgrading our island status to that of a real military super power, as we finally have a Submarine. The Submarine is docked at the Ocho Rios Cruise Ship terminal, not too far from Dunn River Falls, which I visited on Saturday August 23^rd 2014 with my parents and relatives.

Submarine specs – Jamaica’s First All-Electric Submarine that’s got room for 24

Its 40”, 24 seater battery powered Submarine is designed so as to avoid damaging the delicate Coral Reef Ecosystem, which must be protected to prevent Beach Erosion as explained in my blog article entitled “How Parrotfish and Sea Urchins ban saves Coral Reef, Beaches and US$3 billion Jamaican Tourism”.

Initially I thought it was most likely a Submarine that looks something like this, only bigger to carry 24 persons!

It’s also remote controlled, which implies it may have a human Pilot but remotely monitored from above, possibly via a Communications Tether that carries Video, Audio and Telemetry Data back and from the Submarine. It must also be very cramped, as 40” means there’s little more than 2” allocated for your personal space!

Most interestingly, it can stay submerged for up to 100" (30.48m) for more than three (3) days! This is the main reason why this article has caught my attention, as those are some very good batteries. The fact that its battery powered means that this vehicle may be, technically speaking, not only the first Submarine but also the first All-Electric Vehicle in Jamaica! Also it might look a lot more like this.

I hope it’s got food for three days, as if this contraption runs out of battery power underwater during the hour long excursion, it’ll be a lot harder to find service stations to get a quick recharge.

I suspect range anxiety issues, similar to what’s holding back All-Electric Vehicle Sales based on stats from Vehicle sales analyst InsideEVS as explained in my blog article entitled “InsideEVS stats says All-Electric Vehicles Growing Strong - 500,000 by 2020 is a potential Robotic Self-Driving Army”, have reduced the range  to just a mile away in Sans Souci.

Submarine and Tourism – Underwater Travels is an untapped segment of Tourism Market

Apparently Jamaica was chosen to do a Submarine company because everything else was taken in this Tourism Mecca, to quote Managing Director of the JSC Douglas Oxborrow: “The country pretty much netted everything that was on our list, the tourist patterns are good even in what they call the off seasons here”. Also Jamaica is apparently poised for growth given Jamaica's performance as a tourist destination:

1.      1.07 million tourists in the First Half of 2014

2.      740,000 from January to June 2014

These figures represent a 1.4% increase over the First Half of 2013 for tourist arrivals and 7.7% increase over the January to June 2013, a sign of stead growth that attracted JSC to come to Jamaica, as noted by Managing Director of the JSC Douglas Oxborrow: “If this one is successful, you will be seeing a lot more coming out in the future”.

So how will a Ride on the JSC Submarine work?

The Submarine leaves Pier One at 11:00 am and 1:30 pm every day except Wednesday, most likely reserved for maintenance on the Submarine. First you have to ride via Ferry up Ocho Rios Bay to the Ocho Rios Cruise Ship Terminal where the Ship that acts as the diving platform is located. This ship, most likely a very large yatch, has a section in the middle that’s open to the Water so that the Submarine can dock.

Then the journey begins as described in the words of Managing Director of the JSC Douglas Oxborrow, quote: “The ferry vessel leaves Ocho Rios and drops you off at this huge ship located over the dive site. You board the ship and the Submarine comes up in the middle of the ship, people get on the Submarine and it disappears in the waters”.

Then the Submarine dives and travels to the dive site a mile away in Sans Souci. The excursion lasts about an hour, which in my book is pretty reasonable for US$85 (JA$9520), especially given the fact that if this thing break down, we all can survive stuck underwater for up to three days. According to Managing Director of the JSC Douglas Oxborrow, the family will love this next to Dunn's River Falls, quote: “It's good for the environment and it's very quiet. It's also a great adventure for the entire family”.

So the next time you're in Ocho Rios, make sure to take a spin over to the Ocho Rios Cruise Ship Terminal and ask about taking a ride in JSC (Jamaica Submarine Company) 40”, 24 seater battery powered Submarine, Jamaica’s first submarine!