| Description |
Discovery bay opens northward into the Caribbean Sea on the north coast of Jamaica. It is nearly circular, 1.6 km across at its widest point, with a mouth about 1.3 km wide. Mostly vegetated, rocky limestone coastline, spotted by beautiful white sand beaches surrounds the bay which is separated from the sea by a reef crest, some of which is above sea level. Total coastline within the bay is approximately 5.4 km. A 12-m deep by 120-m wide ship channel was blasted through the reef crest in 1964. Perimeter of the bay is characterized by shallows made up of coral rubble, isolated coral heads, patch reefs, mixed sandy bottom and sea grass beds (Ref. 35141). |