My sister and I stayed at Firefly Resort last week. On Firefly's reviews on TA, there was mention of Dr. Bill's tours so I kept an eye out for him. We met him on the beach the very first day, and he seemed trustworthy and friendly. We booked a trip to Rick's Cafe for later in the week (yes Rick's is a tourist trap but it's iconic, and I wanted my sister, who was visiting Negril for the first time, to experience it).
The day came for our trip, and Jimmylee, not Dr. Bill, was our boat captain. We pushed off from the beach and then a rastafarian young man named Buddy began yelling from the beach (in their patois dialect), and Jimmylee turned back and picked up Buddy. I still didnt really think much about it. The guys took us out to the bat cave and then dropped us off at Ricks. They were careful to make sure we safely stepped off the boat and on to the platform. They told us to wave them in when we were ready to return to the beach.
Upon returning, Jimmylee said loudly, "be sure to tip your boys"! What?? Buddy did NOTHING other than riding along on the boat. Dr. Bill was standing on the beach with another couple waiting to board, there were people all around watching us, and somehow I just agreed to tip BOTH of them. I was planning for ONE person to take us out on the boat and tipping ONE person afterwards - but I got scammed. I am as mad at myself for falling for it, as I am mad at Dr. Bill and Jimmylee. Clearly, Dr. Bill just trolls the beach looking for customers, and his "boys" do the work. And of course after this all happened, then Dr. Bill was nowhere to be found the rest of the week for me to tell him exactly how mad this experience made me.
I love Jamaica and especially Negril, but every time I think I've "conquered" the scammers and hustlers on the beach, something else "gets" me on my next visit.
My advice is ask how many staff are joining, and why do they need that number of staff. If the answer isnt reasonable, then insist on fewer staff or find another business. For two adults, who werent snorkeling or anything especially adventurous, there was NO reason to have two staffers.