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Dive Review of Avalon II in
Cuba/Cuba . Gardens of the Queen

 
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Avalon II: "Great diving- Like going back in time!", Oct, 2018,

by David C Kinney, VA, US (Reviewer Reviewer 6 reports with 4 Helpful votes). Report 10592 has 1 Helpful vote.

No photos available at this time

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Accommodations 4 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 5 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments First trip to Cuba- diving on the Avalon II to Gardens of the Queen.
Nice boat, great crew- Rooms and diving would be cramped if there were 20 passengers onboard- we had 10 with a crew of 9 !!
October 2018, water temp was 82-84, great weather, no currents.
4 dives per day or 3 plus nite dive (twice during the week), divemaster led dives due to Park regulations. Lots of sharks- Caribbean Reef Sharks and Silky Sharks on many dives. The divemaster (Tony) and I saw a Great Hammerhead as well!!
The barrel sponges and large corals and sponges were the best I have ever seen in Caribbean! What was really amazing was the lack of Lionfish on all the dives. Sometimes we would be looking for Lionfish and during a 60 minute dive would only see 1 or 2 . This is great!
We also dove with the resident Saltwater Crocodile- this was a first for me and I really enjoyed it!
The service and food onboard was some of the best in over 50 liveaboards that I have been on over 30+ years of diving.
After the trip was over we did a 6 hour bus ride to Havana where we toured the city for 3 days.
All in all, this was one of the best trips I have been on for many years- I will plan on a return trip soon.

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience Over 1000 dives
Where else diving Caribbean, Costa Rica, Soccoro, Indonesia, Bahamas, Red Sea, Thailand, Galapagos, Cayman, Belize, Cozumel, Roatan
Where the Sharks are!
Closest Airport SNU Getting There MIA/SNU . Easy

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, dry Seas calm, no currents
Water Temp 82-84°F / 28-29°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 50-100 Ft/ 15-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Divemaster led dives- not too strict
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks Lots Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles 1 or 2 Whales None
Corals 5 stars Tropical Fish 3 stars
Small Critters 3 stars Large Fish N/A
Large Pelagics 4 stars

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subject Matter 3 stars Boat Facilities 2 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 2 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments Limited deck space for cameras- if there was a full boat with big housed cameras, it would have been difficult. I would suggest the boat upgrades the camera setups significantly! More tables, more charging stations, better rinse tanks.
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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