Diving Cayo Largo

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MUFC

Registered
Messages
50
Reaction score
5
Location
Reading England
# of dives
50 - 99
For those who follow Football (soccer :14:)

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS, CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE!!!

Anyway..

Is there only one dive operator on Cayo Largo?

Also I received an email from the island stating diving takes all day (Unlike Cozumel when I was back on the beach by 12pm) the reason for this my Girlfriend who is possibly sorting out her PADI before we go understandably doesnt want to spend either all day on a boat or if she doesnt take to diving wait on the beach on her own while I pitch up at about 5ish.

"Who`s that man from Argentina
Whos that man we all adore
He plays with Rooney
Plays with Wes
Hes the superstar Tevez
And forever at United he will score"
 
In Cayo largo there are 3 dives per day. With 3 boats. 8h00am 11h00am & 14h00pm. So you get back to shore after every dive. Except when you take a special full day trip. The divemasters are great guys, and the diving is great & relax. I've been there 4 times already. I prefer Cayo Largo than Cozumel. Nothing to do on the island, but miles of sandy beaches to relax with NO crowds.
 
splatman, when was the most recent time you went? Just curious, since I kept hearing conflicting things when we were looking at Cayo Largo. When I contacted WowCuba just in July they replied with this

"We can offer Cayo Largo. There is a new dive operation in Cayo Largo this year. Villa Marinera has been taken over by an Italian nautical specialist and they are turning the small hotel into a diver's resort, with full-day dive excursions departing right from the dock at the hotel. The Villa Marinera hotel renovations are expected to be complete by November. "
 
My wife & I have been going there roughly twice a year. And yes, Avalon has taken over the villa marinara and part of the dive center. We are also waiting for further information for our november trip. The guys at the dive center have been telling me that the dive prices bought there directly will be very expensive. Wow cuba seems to be giving better pricing when bought in advance. I don't think that we will be staying at the villas this year. Villa 101 had a full kitchen that has been taken out completly.
I will send you the new info as soon as cuba gives them to me.
 
One precision: if you want to dive only the first (theoretically at 08:30) you have to wait on boat till the end of the second (approx. 13:30), and if you want to do only the second, you have to board at 08:30.
The ship does not go back at the end of the first buat at the end of the second.
 
I have been in Cayo Largo in 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993 -those were the golden days of Cayo Largo-, 1995 (from that year the international airport of Cayo Largo was open, and so, where there was no noise at all, now you can hear jets -fortunately not frequent- at any hour, AND the diving club began to be directed by not cubans), and in december 2008.
From 1995, as you can imagine, the Cay has changed, though it is not crowded. Some cyclons have damaged the beach in front of hotels, and in some of them there is not beach at all or only a small beach on low tide: you have to go by taxi, van or a small road train to Playa Paradiso or Playa Sirena beaches. It takes from 15 to 30 minutes to go.
Besides that the prices and style of diving club changed to worse.
The price of diving is a nonsense: 45 CUC (more than 50 USD paying by credit card, or 55 USD if you use banknotes) every single dive, plus 10 CUC if you rent the equipment and no price reduction per packages. That means that a 2 tanks dive costs more than 100 USD (120 USD with equipment rental: they even charge 10 USD twice). Of course it is impossible to use Nitrox.
Prices are very different of those you can find at Havana or Varadero: 40 CUC one single dive WITH all the equipment included, 60 CUC for a 2 tank dive and 160 CUC for a 6 dives package.
In my opinion you can find much more interesting places to dive in Cuba and less expensive.
Now the Cay is ONLY a place for beach, beer and siesta.
It is a pity.
 

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