There are 23 laboratories in the Department; eleven are used for undergraduate teaching while 12 are used for research.

The Department of Life Sciences maintains a marine laboratory at Port Royal near the entrance to Kingston Harbour, 18 miles from the University. The Port Royal Marine Laboratory has facilities which include research rooms, a wet laboratory, an aqua-culture facility with indoor and outdoor sea water tanks with constant aeration, and an alga culture room. In addition, there is general equipment for marine research. The laboratory owns four boats, including a rigid hull inflatable boat that is used for SCUBA. The Laboratory is responsible for supplying specimens or contact hours for 40% of all courses taught in the department.

Research facilities are also available on the north coast of the island at the Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory. Its fleet of boats, recompression chamber, dive facilities and accommodation make it an important resource. This is operated as a central facility by the Centre for Marine Sciences.