Diving in Cuba?

[living4experiences]

Has anyone been to Cuba to dive? I'm looking at doing a live-aboard next spring. Is Cuba American friendly? Any tips or recommendations for a female solo Traveler would be helpful. I am well-travelled, but have not been to a communist country.

Here's what I know so far. US dollars are not accepted. You cannot take Cuban money out of the country. You have to exchange for Cuban currency in the country. Travel outside of Havana is unsafe. There is no cell phone service.

And the most important question: Is the diving as great as I'm reading about? The travel challenges getting there need to have a grand payoff for me.

Thanks in advance for any tips

 

[TMHeimer]

When we were there in 2003 (not a diver yet), I heard they had dive trips from Havana to Cienfuegos on the South (Caribbean) shore. But that's a long time ago.
You can Google Americans to Cuba (or words like that) and the ways it can be done legally (educational trips that really are dive vacations, etc.).
I can tell you not to bring in anything "suspicious" for Cuban Customs to gawk at. Back then, no "electronics". I was held up a while at Customs for having an old coil burner that was worth maybe 50 cents (was for boiling shells I would find). Then there were the 2 idiots in the same room with me-- one who had a complete satelite TV outfit, the other a stack of dirty mags that the guards really enjoyed. Don't know either of their fates.

 

[ontdiver]

Cuba is very much American friendly. While the country is generally safe, you should practice situational awareness as you would any other country; avoiding unnecessary displays of wealth and the like. You might want to check out trip advisor and some official sites like the US State Department, Canadian and British for travel advice. Depending on your service provider, you should have no trouble with cell phone coverage.

With respect to diving, it kind of depends on what you have experienced to date. There has been quite a bit of coral bleaching in certain areas, but others remain in good shape.

Lastly, you might want to shift your follow up questions/research to a Caribbean thread....

 

[tursiops]

Has anyone been to Cuba to dive? I'm looking at doing a live-aboard next spring. Is Cuba American friendly? Any tips or recommendations for a female solo Traveler would be helpful. I am well-travelled, but have not been to a communist country.

Here's what I know so far. US dollars are not accepted. You cannot take Cuban money out of the country. You have to exchange for Cuban currency in the country. Travel outside of Havana is unsafe. There is no cell phone service.

And the most important question: Is the diving as great as I'm reading about? The travel challenges getting there need to have a grand payoff for me.

Thanks in advance for any tips

You might want to look at https://www.scubaboard.com/community/threads/diving-holidays-in-cuba-the-ultimate-guide.534357.
As an American, you've got a lot of rules to follow to get there and get back and not get in trouble with US authorities....it is a really interesting trip but not so good that it is worth huge fine or any jail time!
You are not advised to go there alone.....not only are you going to run afoul of the regulations, but you are also probably not that safe. See the State Dept info: Cuba International Travel Information.

The diving is about as good as it gets in the Caribbean, if you are doing the liveaboard in the Jardines.
See also the reports in Undercurrent.

 

[RogueClimber]

We were in Cuba just as Obama began to open access (and before Trump shut it back down)

Didn't dive but had a fantastic time. Havana was 100% safe (as safe as any town I have ever visited). We stayed a half hour east of Havana in a small little area. Amazing!

Locals assumed we were Canadian, but upon discovering we were American they burst into smiles and wanted to sit down and talk with us. (I do speak Spanish which helped)

Tales of the "Special Period" were simply heartbreaking. If you can get to Cuba and not get into legal trouble you should go!

 

[SaltwaterNomad]

In 2016 my wife and I backpacked around Cuba a bit and did do a little diving. We dove the Bay of Pigs area out of Matanzas I think. The people could not of been more friendly and the diving was great. Traveling there was extremely safe, we were told to leave our backpacks on the ground when shore diving and when we asked if they would be safe they thought it was a crazy question. I wouldn't leave anything of value but we had no problems. Depending on where you are getting money can be a hassle. There is a local currancy and a tourist currency so do as much research as you can on that. I don't know how much things have changed since 2016 but the only issues we ever had during our trip was getting money, so again do research. In some out of way towns banks are very unpredictable, we had to wait three days one time for a bank to open just to get money to pay for our room. Locals were scared to death to take U.S. dollars so it wasn't an option. Overall it was a great trip with awesome people and great food. Have fun.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Here's a discussion from a few years ago, but I realize things change there frequently, not to mention the covid situation.

Jardines Aggressor - Cuba Liveaboard

 

[Ayisha]

I've found that Jardines de la Reina had the best diving in Cuba by far from the areas I've been diving in Cuba: Varadero, Marea del Portillo, Bay of Pigs, and of course Jardines.

Check out the Greater Antilles subsection of this forum for more threads on Cuba.

It looks like I may not have written a review of my LDS Marea del Portillo trip in 2017, but the diving was fairly average or maybe just slightly better than the average Caribbean. It was nestled between the historic Sierra Maestra mountains and the sea, so the views and sunsets/sunrises were beautiful, but the resort was just a 3 star. Normally we only stay at a 4* or 5* resort in Latin America, which is like a US/Canadian 3 - 3 1/2*, but that's where the LDS stays. Everyone loved their cappuccino in the morning. The food, like in typical Cuban hotels, was so-so. They have a hard time getting spices, etc. due to the embargo. We went to 2 paladars, (home restaurants), Ferlin and Dany's, which cost about 3$ CDN per meal. With alcohol, about $10 or $12 CDN for 2 people, even with seafood, and the food was excellent. Wherever you go, you should visit some paladars. We went to a restaurant and the street party in Pilon, and we were apparently the main attraction to a few of the men, who just stared at us. I was glad that our hubbies and group were there, but they didn't approach us or anything. We had a great time in Marea, met new friends, and had some decent dives.

Below is my detailed review of my Jardines/Bay of Pigs/Havana trip in 2015.
Jardines de la Reina, Cuba Trip Report - September 2015

 

[Ayisha]

Has anyone been to Cuba to dive? I'm looking at doing a live-aboard next spring. Is Cuba American friendly? Any tips or recommendations for a female solo Traveler would be helpful. I am well-travelled, but have not been to a communist country.

Here's what I know so far. US dollars are not accepted. You cannot take Cuban money out of the country. You have to exchange for Cuban currency in the country. Travel outside of Havana is unsafe. There is no cell phone service.

And the most important question: Is the diving as great as I'm reading about? The travel challenges getting there need to have a grand payoff for me.

Thanks in advance for any tips

I've found Cuba very safe, but I would of course use the same precautions I would at home, especially as a female traveler.

Cuba is American friendly. The embargo is only from the US side. They've been having quite a few American visitors in the last 15 years (many via Canada).

The last that I went to Cuba in 2017 and prior in 2015, you could use either Canadian money or CUC's (convertible pesos). I never converted from my Canadian money and also got change in Canadian money. US money could be exchanged at banks or hotels with a 25% changing fee.

Beware of black market currency exchanges or all kinds of black market selling/buying. There is a big difference in haves and have nots now. The rations are barely enough to feed a family, and unfortunately there is a lot of prostitution, as well as some begging, especially in Havana. The women may come up to you and ask for money for milk for their baby, etc. Times have really changed.

It seems that the CUC is being phased out now and prices appear to be in US dollars, according to the Cuban Ministry of Tourism FB posts. If you follow the comments, you will see the discussion about US currency:

Ministry of Tourism of Cuba

"LATEST NEWS!!!!! For everyone planning to travel to Cuba, to visit their families, stay at a casa particular or to visit friends or just returning to Cuba, air-only is accepted to all airports except Cayo Coco, Havana and Trinidad (airports momentarily with restrictions due to Covid19 outbreaks in the province) (two luggages with 32kg each is accepted, but check with your airline for their own luggage regulations sometime fees are applied) Casas particulares will be following strict sanitized protocols , not all hotels will be open it depends on high demand and flight operations from tour operators. Excursions will be available following covid19 protocols no tourist zones will be applied with the exception of Cayo Coco. Transportation is normalized between provinces with the exception of Havana, Sancti Spiritus (Trinidad), Ciego de Avila (Cayo Coco)). Everyone will be covid19 PCR tested, you can check in and check out at the hotels with your phone , credit cards and debit cards from Canadian banks will be accepted most all prices will be in USD. WIFI will be wayyyy better, you can stay with your loved ones that live in Cuba at hotels in Cuba with the exception of Havana, Sancti Spiritus (Trinidad) Ciego de Avila (Cayo Coco) You can now travel to Cuba to visit your love ones, please be safe and respect protocols and social distancing CUBA IS WAITING FOR YOU!!!!!"

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

We went last year. Everyone should go to see the potential of the country as well as the conditions the people live under. The diving around Havana And Veradera was mediocre, although the Russian patrol boat out of Veradera was pretty cool...just a little deep on a partially filled al80.

We took Canadian money, although I think I bought cigars with dollars with no problems. The history is amazing, the architecture as well. The old American cars held together with shear genius engineering and fabrication, diesel engines from Russian, Korean, of Chinese trucks, different transmissions, and lots of thinking outside the mechanical box was worth the trip for me. I'd say half the people hated Americans, the other half either had internet or a connection to the outside world and loved Americans. Some still believe the government agenda, the others know better.

We had no problems getting back into the US. I never felt unsafe. There were times that we were treated rudely, but nothing you could do about it so just chalk it up to...that sucks... and move on.

I believe that the liveaboards do Gardens of the Queen, which is supposedly world class diving and one of Castros favorite activities. It's on my bucket list but there was no way to get there when we were there.

This may help. CUBA-TRIP REPORT- Havana and Veradero August/September 2019

The best food was the Cuban coffee with cream, sugar, and Havana Club 7 year rum.

Safe travels Amigo.