Alex Lamas, Agent 00178
“Often in the shadows there were unexplained, heavy movements and swirls in the water and the sudden glare of large eyes at once extinguished. Then Bond would whirl round, thumbing up the safety-catch on his harpoon gun, and stare back into the darkness.” – Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming, Chapter 19 Valley of Shadows
Fleming’s second James Bond novel gives a very vivid and thrilling description of what lies beneath the waters of Jamaica.
Almost every day Fleming would start with a snorkel around the shores and lagoons surrounding GoldenEye, his Jamaican estate, where he would spend winters writing his latest Bond book. Just in front of his villa, the sea held vast gardens of coral which would be home to a myriad of fish, crabs, lobsters, etc.
I’ve had the extreme privilege to stay at GoldenEye twice and I can say without a doubt it is the best resort I have ever been to. Now owned and operated by Chris Blackwell, who knew Fleming in his youth and was a crew member on the film Dr. No, GoldenEye is a collection of villas and beach bungalows that offer so many amenities that you almost never have to leave to have the vacation of a lifetime.
My “Happy Place” in this world is Snorkeler’s Cove located among the bungalows of GoldenEye. It’s a small lagoon hosting a huge variety of fish for such a small area. Like Fleming, I would spend the morning and the late afternoon snorkelling and searching for new fish to see and I was never disappointed. The varieties and the colors were staggering! Just beyond Snorkeler’s Cove lay the coral gardens. These are part of a coral restoration project spearheaded by the GoldenEye Foundation, created by Chris Blackwell and currently run by Travis Graham. Just snorkelling from the surface you can see massive collections of brain coral, elkhorn coral and staghorn coral which are just some of the 60 species that can be found around Jamaica. Amongst the coral were some of the most beautiful and colorful fish I had ever seen.
Like having your own giant fish tank, the coral gardens were a treasure-trove of tropical marine life. As I swam across the surface, I would look down in the valleys of the coral canyons and see all the varieties of fish like butterfly fish, blue striped Grunts, Bonitos, mangrove snappers, octopuses, conch, spiny urchins as well as tropical lobsters and the occasional barracuda. The colors were amazing! The coral gardens seemed endless. I looked up from the surface and found myself a little too far from Snorkeler’s Cove for comfort but I was able to slowly swim back. I did not want to miss anything either coming or going. Slowly I could see the coral and rocks get more shallow and found myself back in the cozy cove, but the abundance of marine life did not diminish. There were still many wonderful sights left to see.
On my second trip to GoldenEye, I was a part of David Zaritsky’s “Operation GoldenEye”, celebrating the 70th year of Casino Royale. Even though I was now a fully certified scuba diver and able to dive into the coral canyons and experience them from below, I still snorkeled the Cove and the coral gardens two to three times daily. The snorkelling at GoldenEye was that good!
You don’t need to be a certified scuba diver to enjoy the wonders of the deep. Snorkelling is a wonderful way to see all the underwater wildlife up close and at a safe distance. Because you’re always close to the surface, anyone can have an amazing underwater adventure. You don’t even have to be a good swimmer. Snorkelling with a life vest is the best way to relax and get the most time in the water, without exhausting yourself and putting yourself in any danger. It’s a fun, safe way to enjoy the water and there are places all over the world that offer amazing snorkelling experiences. Before I took up scuba diving, I snorkeled my entire life in places like Greece, Spain, Mexico, Costa Rica, St Martins and the Bahamas, just to name a few. It has been one of my passions and inspired me to take it to the next level, scuba diving! You can read about this in my earlier 007GB article here. And to see this adventure on video, watch “What FLEMING Saw: Snorkeling at GoldenEye” on my YouTube channel, Always Say YES to Adventure!
Editor’s note: For those who care about such things, the name of Fleming’s house is traditionally written as Goldeneye, whereas the resort itself now spell it GoldenEye, using the same intercap styling as the 1995 film title. We have gone with the latter styling.
Snorkelling is spelled with two Ls in British English and even though we have many international members, this is the website of the British James Bond Club so… 😉
Last modified: 13 January 2026
