2000 Chapbook

While American citizens can visit Cuba, passport warnings advise that it's "not recommended," and American companies cannot legally do business with Cuba because of a U.S. trade embargo. Most trips, therefore, are booked through Canadian or Mexican tour operators. Street signs in Cancun and Playa del Carmen offer four-day trips to Cuba for as little as $300 U.S.... Dive operations are generally well-run, causing resorts on Cayman and Cozumel to shake in their fins at the thought of Cuba opening up to the U.S. dive market....

For a full review of the following Cuban destination, see:

Isla de Juventud - Cuba, Undercurrent- January 1999

Maria LaGorda, July 1998, Prudy & Bob Bowers (rbowers@msn.com), West Linn, OR. Vis: 80-110 ft. Water: 87-89 degrees. Dr. took blood pressure before each dive. Good: Pristine diving conditions. Many tropical fish were "curious/friendly" and approachable. Many big groupers. Healthy coral and sponges. Cuban people friendly. Excellent snorkeling offshore for juveniles. Lovely beaches and setting. Excellent value. Very hot and humid. Biting bugs (no see-ums). Poor food. Not many fresh vegetables, fruit; not much fish served. Easy, inexpensive diving and access to Habana from Cancun Mexico. Excellent service in planning and paying ahead of time with Dive Mex (Carolina) in Cancun (on Internet). Helpful to speak Spanish in Cuba. Plaza Hotel or Ambos Mundos excellent in La Habana. Spent 11 days in Cuba. Could have liked more than the 3 days in La Habana. City tour excellent. (e-mail: marialagorda@writeme.com; website www.freeyellow.com/members7/marialagorda/index.html)

Maria La Gorda, September 1999, Carlos, Santa Monica, CA. Vis: 100+. Water: 79 degrees. Maria La Gorda is on the southern shore of the western most point of Cuba, close to Cancun, Mexico, in the province of Pinar del Rio known for growing the best tobacco in the world. Dive sites are 170 miles from Havana in an area rarely visited by tourists. Last 70 miles of road past the city of Pinar wind through uninhabited wilderness. Trip planned by Cubatravel (WWW.CLJBATRAVEL.COM.MX/SCUBA) Scuba specialist at Cubatravel (scubaacubatravel.com.m ) planned trip from CA to Havana after sightseeing in the capital city; arranged for a rental car, provided an excellent map and precise directions to Maria La Gorda. We picked up locals hitchhiking and got a good first hand experience of the people living in the interior. Normally divers travel from Havana by vans or rental cars. Single large hotel. Air-conditioned rooms, with TV and mini-bar. Restaurant specializes in fresh fish. Villa Maria La Gorda is on a white sandy uncrowded beach that drivers cross to reach the dive boats at the jetty. Visibility averaged 80ft. Forty dive sites. Maria's Hall, a cave nearly 60 feet deep. Black Coral Valley with a huge 100 yard coral reef. Diving usually two boat dives/day before returning for lunch. Dive center is well equipped with its own Bauer compressor, 60 tanks, and a full range of equipment. Two boats: one carries 5 divers, the other up to 15. All boats equipped with a medical kit, oxygen and radio. Medical doctor on board who takes your blood pressure before your first dive and monitors it every day thereafter. Popular sites: Paraiso Perdido. Depth range: 60-100 ft Diver level: Intermediate. Coral and fish delightful. Huge lettuce, plate and flower corals, abundant sea fans, whips and rods surrounded by large purple baskets and yellow tubular sponges common. Density of sponges and fans increases as you move closer to the wall, which begins at 30 meters; great deal of marine life. Many interesting holes and crevices offering shelter to fish and invertebrates. Ascend to shallower regions through sandy channels. Schools of blue chromis and angelfish, groupers, snappers and surgeons. Ancla del Pirata: depth: 50 ft Ideal for novices. Thirty minutes from the dive center. Name translates as "pirate's anchor" Two ton, eighteen century anchor rests against coral promontories and is covered with crustaceans and corals. Sponges and gorgonians are common; snappers, wrasse, jacks, angel and squirrel fish. El Salon de Maria Depth: 65 ft Diver level: Intermediate. El Salon, or "the hall" is a cave characterized by sponges and coral formations. 10 minutes by boat. Enter from any of three entrances and be amazed by its bright purple, pink, blue and green decoration. Large number of tropicals. El Almirante. Depth range: 90+ft. Diver level: intermediate. At 90ft you reach the wall covered with huge sponges and gorgonians. Tarpon, angel fish, grunts and grouper. At 100ft black coral. Beautiful bright blue backdrop, sometimes whale sharks. Travel arrangements from the US were made by Cubatravel (e-mail: scuba(@cubatravel.com.mx; www.cubatravel.com.mx/scub; US. Voice Mail: 310 842 4148; Mexico's office tel. 011 526 686 5298.)

Isle of Youth

Colony Hotel, Summer 1998, Vernon Jackson. Starting in Toronto and continuing in Cuba, all flights were 1-3 hrs. late, except the flight back to Toronto. Air Cubana is a Third World airline. Many seat backs did not work, announcements were in Spanish only, and in-flight meals were sparse. From Havana to the Isle of Youth we 8 Americans flew on an Antonoy biplane with a huge radial engine. All luggage went inside the passenger compartment, in the open overhead, stacked against the emergency exit, and complete with an armed guard. Colony Hotel; large room to myself with a 60-watt bulb. In the shower it was hot water only. Everything worked well even the outside light that hung by 2 wires. The room was made up every day. A fresh towel was placed on the bed. I left a large tip for the housekeeper plus all the extras that I brought such as medical supplies. Before my departure, I visited my County Health Clinic for 2 inoculations recommended in DAN's International World Health Guide. I obtained travel health insurance from TravMed (1-800/732-5309) for coverage outside the USA. For 10 days, the cost was $35. Diving is close to what you see in the Keys or western Bahamas, monochromatic brown. Fish life the same except I saw a Shortnose Batfish on the wreck of the freighter Jibacoa.Our boat was adequate and dedicated to Scubacan divers. The second day the engine went KA-PLOOEY. The next boat was the same size and layout and sold bottled water and beer. I brought my spare air and tried to explain how it was to be filled. Our languages didn't match so I got a 3000 psi fill into an 1800 psi tank. What a thrill waiting for the explosion. Received briefings at each site along with the site name. Our divemaster, Marteen, spoke some English and we had a diver who spoke Spanish. (Marteen took us on a Deco Chamber dive). We did follow the leader on a casual basis, Our guide, Aguar showed us photo opportunities we would have missed. 45-60 minutes later he got us back to the anchor where we could stay as long we wanted. On 2 days we had a buffet lunch; food was plentiful and good. One day we stopped by a fishing boat where Augar procured a lobster that he made into lobster salad. Best dive which I rated TEN +++, was at Blue Caves. At 40' you dive into a 4' wide crack in the seafloor to a room at 100'. Exit thru the face of the wall at 140'. Water was unbelievably blue. At each site we were the only dive boat. The Cubans at the hotel and on the boat were warm, friendly and helpful. Language was a problem, but they tried hard to resolve problems with a smile . . . I also used Scubacan to dive the U-176 off the Havana coast. Dealing with them was far from easy. They told me arrangements were made to dive the U-Boat that no one knew about when I reached Havana. (e-mail: colonyhotel@writeme.com; website: www.freeyellow.com/members7/colonyhotel/index.html)

Isle of Youth, July 1998, Prudy and Bob Bowers (RBOWERS@MSN.COM), West Linn, OR. Vis: 70-100 ft. Water: 87-89 degrees. Friendly fish abundant. Lots to see. Huge schools of Tarpon on Chimney. Excellent vis. Large schools of fish and octopus, groupers, deep drop-offs and chasms and chimneys. Large healthy hard corals. Wonderful country. People friendly! Outstanding cultural experience. Bad: 1 hour boat ride to sites. No shore diving.

Hotel Colony, February 1999, Frank & Georgia F., Kansas City, MO. Booked through Scubacan in Toronto. Flew from Toronto to Havana. Scubacan unorganized, difficult to contact and unresponsive to requests. Two weeks before our departure they moved the trip back a week. The change cost me $400 as we had already booked flights. No reimbursement despite assurances they would take care of additional expense. Received our paperwork one day before departure to Toronto. Airfare is cheap and prices are low once you get there. Scubacan trips are higher priced but they have a dedicated boat and divemaster (Martin, who has a lot of stories to tell about Castro and Cousteau), tour guides in Havana and on the island, and some extras at the Hotel Colony. Cabana rooms at the Hotel Colony were the best; private lobster dinner one night with free drinks and local musicians. Hotel clean, rundown, half full. Food plentiful, edible, little variety (though, you're eating far better than 99% of the Cuban people). Lunches are at an open air restaurant on a pier near the sites. Lunch good but shortages if you were one of the last to eat. Met at Havana airport by our guide. Customs friendly and pleasant, even at midnight. No stamps on passports. Hotel Tropicana, a nice facility but poorly located as far as access to the main part of Havana. Early morning flight for Isla Juventud on a Russian AN 24; carry what you can to avoid overweight charges and damage. Arrival at Colony Hotel at 0830, on the dive boat by 0930. Five divers from the States were on a boat with room for 12 to 14. 1 hour trip from marina to sites. Two other usually full boats went out each day with a few Canadians but mostly Europeans. First two dives shallow checkout dives, no exceptions. Two new divers joined us the second day so we did two more shallow dive sites. Lunches within 5 minutes of sites. Juvenile whale shark (15') seen by divers; Cueva Azul, a crevice/cavern type dive entered from the top to come out on the wall at 120', descend along wall to 150' to enter a vertically slanting shaft that ascends through a school of tarpon at 80'. Abundant lobsters. No sites over-dived, all had mooring buoys. 50 to 100' viz., water calm on lee, only 1 rough trip out. Largest dive group was 7, always 2 divemasters in the water; follow them or do your own thing on most dives. Tour the island and see the old prison and other sites. Final day and night in Havana not enough time to see the points of interest skip the Copacabana and hit some smaller clubs. Cuban people friendly, we were frequently approached by people wanting to practice English or to tell us about relatives in the states. The embargo has deprived these people of basics of living, especially medicine and food, but they persevere. An important note - any medicine (current or expired, prescription or over the counter) and medical supplies are desperately needed and are greatly appreciated by the clinic and hospital personnel.. PS: We read your report on Cuba a couple of weeks before we left and found it very helpful.

Colony Village, May 1999, Peter Vankampen, Elkhorn, WI. Vis: 60-120 ft. Water 78-82 degrees. Great people. Lots of bites on skin not covered by wet suit, took a week to heal, very irritating. Much like Bonaire or Cayman that I dove in the 70's very basic, no frill, lots of fish. Used Scubacan.

Colony Hotel, July 1999, George M. Fern, Menlo Park, CA. Vis: 30-80 ft, Water: 86-88 degrees. Restrictions: Stay with guide. Poor air connections meant 8 days away for 4 days diving. Divemasters not well trained, no exchange of signals, little checking of air supply dives to 140'. Poor for photography, Guide went and never looked back. Slow boat, 1.5 hours each way to dives. Twice had to wait 15 minutes on surface for pick up after drift dive - nobody looking on boat. Crew wanted to please but didn't know how. Weights available but few belts. Most (European) divers just put weights in pockets with BC.