Is Jumping From The Cliffs At Rick's Cafe Safe?

If you enjoy watching The Travel Channel or Travel Shows in general you have probably heard of Rick's Cafe on the West End in Negril, Jamaica.

If you haven't heard of it do a quick google search or watch a few YouTube videos, it's worth checking out.

I recently got back from Negril. I'd been there a handful of times but had yet to visit Rick's Cafe. I had been told it was expensive and touristy which I suppose it is, and which is what had kept me from visiting on previous trips. After taking a trip there I'm glad I went.

Yeah it's touristy and yeah food and drinks are overpriced but nobody says you have to spend hours there or even go back ever again. I would say it's definitely a place to check out at least once though. It's a cool atmosphere, a beautiful place to watch a sunset, watching the cliff divers jump is entertaining and it's a blast jumping from the high platform as well.

As I was watching videos on YouTube I started reading some comments under videos and noticed that the same YouTube user was continuously posting about how dangerous, how he was injured, and directing people to his website which he lists numerous injuries other vacationers have suffered while at Rick's Cafe. I can't factually dispute that these injuries didn't happen however not one of the links on this guys site worked so that may tell you something. I also noticed through doing some searching on the Internet it appears this guy is attempting to sue Rick's Cafe though I doubt he'll have any luck. In my opinion the guy is just after a pay day.

I also happened to stumble upon a site that listed Rick's Cafe as #9 on the list of "The 10 Most Dangerous Cliff Dives On Earth." I would agree if they were talking about jumping from the trees above Rick's but it appears they are talking about the normal high platform which is only about 35'. A screenshot of the article is pictured below...

Anyhow, this got me thinking about the issue of whether jumping from the cliffs at Rick's Cafe is safe. I would say yes it's safe. Again, assuming were talking about jumping from the normal high platform and not other non-designated areas on the rocks across from the main area of Rick's Cafe.

I saw kids as young as probably 10 or 12 years old jumping. I saw girls jumping. I saw fat guys jumping and skinny guys jumping and I didn't see anyone get injured. I would say as long as one hasn't been drinking excessively and as long as someone knows they are in good health and relatively fit I don't see the jump at Rick's Cafe as being very dangerous.

I also jumped from the main platform of Rick's myself three times with no adverse affects. Unless you are a skilled diver I would recommend you jump feet first and not actually dive headfirst. I would also recommend you enter the water in the "pencil dive" form. I made the mistake of accidentally entering the water in a cannonball type form not intentionally more just reaction and it did hurt my balls since my butt is essentially what hit the water first but I was completely fine.

I was kind of surprised to find such fear mongering on the web regarding Rick's Cafe. I would say as long as someone is in good health, knows their abilities, and isn't drinking excessively I think jumping from the cliffs at Rick's Cafe is a fun and pretty safe thing to do. That's not to say an injury has never happened or will never happen but people hurt themselves walking down a sidewalk, we can't spend our lives living in a bubble.

Have you been to Rick's Cafe? Did you jump? What are your thoughts? Do you think jumping at Rick's is safe?

I had debated whether or not to link to this guys who I mentioned above as I really didn't care to give him a voice, however I'm not one for censorship so you can check out his site and see what you think for yourself. The site is Rickscafenegril.Com