Swim Jamaica

Going to the sea on Sunday mornings is as Jamaican as patties and reggae music. People from all walks of life make their way to the local beach to take advantage of the natural beauty and healing power of the Caribbean sea.

Unfortunately, 75% of Jamaicans can't swim. That's right. On an ISLAND where nobody lives more than 22 miles from the sea, 3 out of 4 people cannot help themselves in the water. As you can imagine, drowning tragedies are not uncommon.

Swim Jamaica - the official learn to swim program of the Swimming Association of Jamaica - was established to tackle this exact problem. With toddler, youth and adult programs, Swim Jamaica aims to "get Jamaica swimming."

We established a Swim Jamaica franchise here in Oracabessa in early 2008 with initial funding from our good friends at the American Friends of Jamaica. After training instructors we began with our first group of 25 swimmers in July 08. Since then we've had over 100 children enter the program.

The program has been a huge success and we hope to do more. If you'd like to help by sponsoring children, helping to train instructors or buying equipment, click the donation link on the right!