Advice on Cuba Trip

[Fishbait99]

My wife and I are looking into booking a vacation for between March 13-20. We're considering Cuba, since we've never been there and are looking for something new. We are both divers, although she's not quite the enthusiast (my word...hers is 'fanatic') that I am, and a big part of our vacations is the diving.

My question for anyone who has been to Cuba is...in what area should we be looking to stay for the best diving? Veradero? Guardalavaca? Cayo Largo? Honestly, we have no idea, so we'd like to hear any first hand experiences people have had. Also, once we get there, can anyone recommend a dive operator? We're not looking to do the extreme diving thing...my interest is in photographing the marine life. I'd love the chance to get pictures of stingrays, morays, sharks, baracuda, etc. (I have photos of all of them, but not from Cuba!)

I realize we are leaving our booking late, but we've booked trips well in advance before, only to discover that we could have saved well over $1000 had we waited...so this year, we waited.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Phaethon]

There is a recent thread on Cuba HERE.

In addition I just came across an article in this month's DIVE magazine which I will try and summarize tonight and post there.

Cheers,

K.

 

[Phaethon]

Here are the hightlights from the February edition of Dive magazine, "Real Guide... Cuba" pp:87-93:

When to Go
Diving condition fairly constant throughout the year.
Air Temp: 28-32 Celcius
Wtr Temp: 25-29 Celcius
Best Vis: End Dec.- May
Divingnot recommendd in October (Hurricanes)
Aug. Sept. and November most likely to encounter whale sharks

Marine Life
Big Stuff: Nurse, carrib. reef, black tip, silky and, if lucky whale sharks.
Trltes rays and swordfish.
Little Stuff: Tarpon, bonefish, snapper, jewfish, squirrel fish, soldierfish, tuna, tangs, grunts.

Equipment
Suit: 3mm or 5mm shortie adequate for most divers.
Computer: One reader reported a lack of dive guages on the operators he used, so bring your own and/or computer.

Tour Operators
All UK except Scuba en Cuba: www.scuba-en-cuba.com

Top Dives
Pipin, Jardines de la Reina
Reef, large swim through at 40m Expect to see large (metre ong) jewfish, tarpon, yellowtail snapper and horse-eye jacks. Silky sharks often seen, especually is chummed.
Acuario, Cayo Largo
Must for fish lovers, also eels and var. crustacea. Snapper, jacks and grouper.
Cabeza de Coral Negro, Jardines de la Reina
Huge mounds of reef and sand, black coral. Abundance of Carrib. reef sharks. Large hawksbill turtle often seen.

Most of the readers comments were positive, especially about the diving, but there was somewhining about hotels and food.

My (non-diving) experiences:
The most striking negative about Cuba, particulary the cities, is the air pollution. The ancient petrol and diesel vehicles spew fumes out and the air has a permanent taste of hydrocarbons. Above Havana's harbour channel hangs a smoke trial leading back to a refinery burn stack and the waters of the channel itself are black with oil which washes up on the channel's portion of the famed Malecon. The smell here becomes nauseating quite quickly and, although some people fish off the Malecon, swimming is out. I'd be a little woried about entering the sea within several km of Havana. The sea looked much more inviting on the south (Caribbean) coast, although any built-up area (Trinidad town, Santiago, Guantanamo, and even tiny Baracoa) has the same air pollution problems as Havana.
The food tends to be basic even in top hotels, by European and US standards, lots of fruit and rice and stewed meats. and the rooms and facilties show the effects of the 'Special Period' deprivation that commenced when Soviet support dried up. Judging by the numbers of abandoned vessels visible from shore, opportunities for wreck diving should be excellent.