alijtaylor
Contributor
Our diving destination was Los Jardines de la Reina (LJdR) the Gardens of the Queen. They are an archipelago of tiny uninhabited islands off the south cost of Cuba, which were originally named by Christopher Columbus. I was there in January - trips are generally booked Saturday to Friday and all transport can be arranged by the operators from Havana.
Eight years ago two Italians set up a combined diving and sports fishing operation in LJdR. Establishing it involved having the larger part of the area declared a marine reserve. It is perhaps not surprising that the floating hotel at which the operation is based is known as La Tortuga, the Turtle, as a testament to the tortuous process. The Turtle offered seven comfortable cabins, all with ensuite facilities and apart from the diving the food was definitely a highlight. Lobster every day and lots of snapper, shrimp and citrus fruit. You could pay for and dive 2 or three times a day, the sites were between 15 and 45 minutes away on a smaller dive boat. There is also the option of being on a liveaboard.
The reef is in excellent condition and there are supposed to be more species of fish there than anywhere else in Cuba, but for divers the main attraction is the big stuff, silky sharks, Caribbean reef sharks, in some seasons whale sharks, occasional hammerheads, goliath grouper, barracuda, cubera snapper, tarpon, sting rays, eagle rays and turtles.
A typical dive was the one at El Farralon. Because the sharks are fed at some sites they congregate around the dive boat and it is not uncommon to drop into the water and descend through 10 to 20 sharks in 5 to 8 metres of water. With good visibility and sunlight it made for excellent photo opportunities. Water was consistently 26 celcius and visibility 20m+ on all but one dive.
At El Farralon we descended to about 20m through a group of silky sharks. They are narrow bodied and lithe, between 1.5m and 2.5m long and move sinuously in the water. While the sharks stayed with the boat we explored coral formations with deep channels including a 30m channel you could swim through at 26m. Goliath grouper followed us the whole dive and schooling yellow tailed snapper accompanied our return to the dive boat.
We did our safety stop below the boat entranced by the lazily circling silky sharks which came as close as 2m. After all the divers were out of the water they were rewarded with a scatter of sardines, which brought them to the surface.
Five Sea was a shallower dive where the Caribbean reef sharks were the main attraction. These sharks are bigger and less inclined to come into very shallow water. After a briefing that warned us not to carry anything white and to keep our hands close to our bodies (i.e. try not to look like a little fish) we descended to about 18m above a sandy bottom. One dive master then tossed a handful of sardines onto the sand.
In a flash a broad body had changed direction and the sardines had gone, it took longer for the sand to settle. Sometimes more than one shark chased the same food and sometimes the 9 10 sharks took turns. Like most of the divers I had ambivalent feelings about feeding the sharks. It theory it is better not to as it disturbs the natural balance and changes their behaviour. On the other hand, without it we would not have seen the numbers we did nor as close. And in fact without it a place like LJdR, which has funded the marine reserve, might never have been economic.
At Five Sea, after the shark show we explored the remains of a small American boat and saw sting-rays, loads of reef fish and a wide variety of corals illuminated by strong sunlight. It was not whale shark season when I was there but with that exception our group saw all the species that had been advertised. Not all the dives featured sharks, barracuda, grouper, rays, tarpon and on occasions the coral and reef fish were the main action.
The hotel staff and dive guides were all English speaking and the operation had a friendly but professional feel. As indicated by the fact that the dive guides were only getting formal Rescue and Dive Master qualifications the week I was there, there has been less emphasis on certification levels than you would find in many places. Perhaps because the dives were being observed for certification purposes, the diving was relatively conservative. The party on the last night was not. The rum was both very good and free.
Website for the operation is www.avalons.net If you make the effort to go check out the pink flamingo that live near Cayo Coco all I had time to see was a pink smudge on the horizon but it would have been a wonderful additional excursion. And Havana really rocks.
Eight years ago two Italians set up a combined diving and sports fishing operation in LJdR. Establishing it involved having the larger part of the area declared a marine reserve. It is perhaps not surprising that the floating hotel at which the operation is based is known as La Tortuga, the Turtle, as a testament to the tortuous process. The Turtle offered seven comfortable cabins, all with ensuite facilities and apart from the diving the food was definitely a highlight. Lobster every day and lots of snapper, shrimp and citrus fruit. You could pay for and dive 2 or three times a day, the sites were between 15 and 45 minutes away on a smaller dive boat. There is also the option of being on a liveaboard.
The reef is in excellent condition and there are supposed to be more species of fish there than anywhere else in Cuba, but for divers the main attraction is the big stuff, silky sharks, Caribbean reef sharks, in some seasons whale sharks, occasional hammerheads, goliath grouper, barracuda, cubera snapper, tarpon, sting rays, eagle rays and turtles.
A typical dive was the one at El Farralon. Because the sharks are fed at some sites they congregate around the dive boat and it is not uncommon to drop into the water and descend through 10 to 20 sharks in 5 to 8 metres of water. With good visibility and sunlight it made for excellent photo opportunities. Water was consistently 26 celcius and visibility 20m+ on all but one dive.
At El Farralon we descended to about 20m through a group of silky sharks. They are narrow bodied and lithe, between 1.5m and 2.5m long and move sinuously in the water. While the sharks stayed with the boat we explored coral formations with deep channels including a 30m channel you could swim through at 26m. Goliath grouper followed us the whole dive and schooling yellow tailed snapper accompanied our return to the dive boat.
We did our safety stop below the boat entranced by the lazily circling silky sharks which came as close as 2m. After all the divers were out of the water they were rewarded with a scatter of sardines, which brought them to the surface.
Five Sea was a shallower dive where the Caribbean reef sharks were the main attraction. These sharks are bigger and less inclined to come into very shallow water. After a briefing that warned us not to carry anything white and to keep our hands close to our bodies (i.e. try not to look like a little fish) we descended to about 18m above a sandy bottom. One dive master then tossed a handful of sardines onto the sand.
In a flash a broad body had changed direction and the sardines had gone, it took longer for the sand to settle. Sometimes more than one shark chased the same food and sometimes the 9 10 sharks took turns. Like most of the divers I had ambivalent feelings about feeding the sharks. It theory it is better not to as it disturbs the natural balance and changes their behaviour. On the other hand, without it we would not have seen the numbers we did nor as close. And in fact without it a place like LJdR, which has funded the marine reserve, might never have been economic.
At Five Sea, after the shark show we explored the remains of a small American boat and saw sting-rays, loads of reef fish and a wide variety of corals illuminated by strong sunlight. It was not whale shark season when I was there but with that exception our group saw all the species that had been advertised. Not all the dives featured sharks, barracuda, grouper, rays, tarpon and on occasions the coral and reef fish were the main action.
The hotel staff and dive guides were all English speaking and the operation had a friendly but professional feel. As indicated by the fact that the dive guides were only getting formal Rescue and Dive Master qualifications the week I was there, there has been less emphasis on certification levels than you would find in many places. Perhaps because the dives were being observed for certification purposes, the diving was relatively conservative. The party on the last night was not. The rum was both very good and free.
Website for the operation is www.avalons.net If you make the effort to go check out the pink flamingo that live near Cayo Coco all I had time to see was a pink smudge on the horizon but it would have been a wonderful additional excursion. And Havana really rocks.
May I ask some questions to you? 
