I went to Cuba for a couple of weeks last November. If you ever get the chance to go there, jump on it. It’s a wonderful country, filled with wonderful people and includes incredible diving. It’s a difficult place for Americans to get to, but it’s worth the paperwork.
The first week, we spent touring Cuba. We landed in Santa Clara and went to our Hostel (think in terms of a bed-n-breakfast). The place was run by a charming couple and had two bedrooms upstairs and one down. Both bedrooms that we rented were designed for two or more people per room. The room I shared, had one queen and a double bunk. The room my other two buddies had, had two queen size beds. We were located about 12 blocks from the center of downtown and walking around, after dark, was not an issue. We felt perfectly safe that entire time we were there.
Each day, we had a tour guide and a government driver to take us around in a government minibus. Went to a couple of museums for important people in the revolution, went to a couple of (past) slave sugar cane plantations, went to a couple of battle sites, and went to a couple waterfalls and swimming holes. Lots of walking. Typically, across uneven ground. Excellent tour guide. Retired English instructor for the college. When we went out for dinner, we ate at the finest restaurants, drank the finest drinks, typical bill for our meals was around $5-$10 American. Side note: US dollars are illegal in Cuba and there are NO CREDIT CARDS. You need to arrive with all of and cash you’re going to spend. The local merchants still take USD, but they have to give the money to a “Runner” to take to America and have them exchanged for Euros and then brought back and converted to Cuban Pasos. A better solution is to do the conversion to Euros before you leave the US. You’re money ahead and they’re money ahead and everybody is happier.
The really big thing we learned was the lack of “stuff” in Cuba. The trade embargo with the US has made getting anything in Cuba a problem. Food, medicine, and fuel are noticeably absent and transportation in Cuba includes walking, bicycles, horses, horse drawn carts, tractor drawn carts, oxen, etc. Noticeably absent are government run grocery stores and government run pharmacies. Groceries are purchased on the black market and medicine is brought back from American, by “runners.” Heaven forbid that you might need to have medicine right away. They have a wonderful water filtration system connected to a large freshwater lake, sadly the pipes that deliver the water are so old and in such poor shape that the water is not drinkable. There’s a serious brown tint to the water and as a result, it’s only bottled water or beer to drink.
Rum is a big seller and the sugar for the rum is grown on the island. Sadly, the sugar concentrate is shipped overseas to be turned into rum, so none of the “Cuban Rum” is actually made in Cuba. Personal cars are scarce, unless you work for the government and are rich. 1953 to 1959 “classic” cars abound because newer cars don’t (much) exist in Cuba. Most of the cars have been converted to 8-12 passenger taxis and look really cool on the outside but are anything but original under the hood.
After a wonderful week of touring the Cuban mainland, we went to the harbor in Jucaro and got on the Avalon IV (Jardines Avalon 4 Cuban Diving Centers Avalon), a 180-foot Mother Ship, for a three-hour trip to the center of the Jardines de la Reina (Gardens of the Queen). The Garden is a mangrove reef about 100 miles long. There is NO shore diving, due in part to the saltwater crocodiles that live in the mangroves. We anchored the Mother Ship in the Mangroves and then used Tenders to get to the dive site. The Tender we had was a 48-foot twin engine with about a 15-foot beam. We had 14 people on it and never felt crowded. A typical dive involved getting on the tender after a wonderful breakfast buffet and going along the reef for about a half hour (give or take a half hour) and then anchoring to a reef ball. All tanks were Al80’s with yoke valves, filled with Nitrox 32, for all dives, whether you paid for it or not. I had requested a 100 cuft tank. What I got was an AL90 that was 90 by virtue of over pressure rated to 3300 psi. The ship never pressured more than 3000 psi. The result was that there was no real difference between an AL80 and what they were calling an AL100.
We’d typically dive to the base of the coral reef, sand bottom, at about 60-70 feet for 25 minutes, then transition for the top of the reef and return to the anchor line, spending the final 25 minutes of the dive at about 20-30 feet. Typical dive time was 60 minutes. Lots of big fish and an occasional minor wreck. Our typical swimming companions included a half dozen 6 to 8 foot reef sharks and one or more, 4 to 5 foot Goliath Groupers. Neither of these animals had any respect for “Personal Space.” The sharks would cruise within 3 feet and the Groupers would come up behind you and lay their heads on your shoulder. Lobsters, moray eels, tarpons and other large animals were in abundance.
Typical day: breakfast, two dives, lunch, nap, two more dives, chill time/shower, dinner, cocktails. All dress is casual/relaxed. Sea state was typically flat and there was no current. Shoes are not required or encouraged. Air temp and water temp was 85 degrees … in November.
You must be logged in to post a comment.