Excited to be planning for Cuba! But where????

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FishCity

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US airlines are getting ready to apply for routes and we should be able to go as tourists before too long.
We are avid snorkelers...ears are bad now so cannot dive.
Where are places to start researching for our first snorke trip? Specifically, what towns or regions should we be looking at?
Sorry to have such a basic question but Cuba is totally new to me.
Thank you!!!
 
US airlines are getting ready to apply for routes and we should be able to go as tourists before too long.
Where are you getting this information?
 
U.S.: Flights to Cuba expected to begin by fall
So with (eventually) up to 100 flights a day, I would expect normalization to continue to the point we could just go as opposed to having to go with a group program qualifying for an export license now.
So maybe 2017...even if 2018 planning is fun and worthwhile. Ihave been waiting 50 years. So this decade even seems fairly soon to me!
Thanks.
 
Thanks, hadn't seen that yet.
The law has to change or you won't be able to just "go." The next election will make this easy or impossible, is my guess.
 
Well, I guess I think the law will change. No matter who wins. So probably, unless someone thinks it will, they see no need to respond to my inquiry...well, ok. No problem.

I will research from scratch and perhaps once things are changed for tourism, I will ask for a reality check on our plans. Thanks in advance!
 
I'll be going this Fall with a group on the people-to-people plan, one of the 12 legal ways to go for a US citizen. We have no flights yet! The charters don't give out schedules more than 3 months in advance, and may even make that shorter because they see the scheduled airlines horning in on their business and aren't quite sure what to do. Meanwhile, the scheduled airlines are now in movement (your link)....I just hope it is soon enough for our trip! Thanks for the heads-up.
 
I was in Cuba last year. Cayo Coco. I stayed at an Iberostar. It was ok. Probably won't go back. Some people say Varadero is better. Beach was very, very nice. Diving was quite bland. Very little healthy reef and fewer fish. Unprotected and overfished it seemed. Glad I had my own gear too, if you know what I mean. Not into city vacations so cannot speak to Havana. Cubans are super decent people, albeit living in fear. Music is incredible. Food, well, tripadvisor will make that issue clear. Cuba needs trillions of dollars to get anywhere near international tourist destination standards, in my opinion, and the reefs may be beyond repair, but many Canadians and some Europeans go due to the affordability. I much prefer Mexico.
 
I don't know if you are going to find any great freediving areas in Cuba. There are two places people tend to go for scuba diving. There is a big resort area in Varadero, Cuba (north side). The peninsula is pretty much all resort destinations. I went there for a week vacation and spent a day diving. Nothing to write home about but inexpensive. Visiting Havana on a bus tour was more interesting.

My dive shop goes to Club Amigo Marea del Portillo in Cuba (south side) for diving all the time. From the pictures I've seen this seems like better diving than you are going to find on the north side. Have a look at AquaSub Scuba Diving Centre. There are a few videos the dive shop has posted there.
 
Jardines de la Reina.. that's if you like to dive with tens of sharks. There is only one diving operator in this area - you either do LOB or stay at their floating hotel, Tortuga.

"The company allowed to bringing of maximum 750 scuba divers and 500 fly fishermen annually. These full protection measures deliver impressive marine condition to date. Since then the fish population increased between 30 to 50 percent and the coral reefs recovered easily against the bleaching (CBS 60 Minutes, December 2011). Dr. David Guggenheim, a marine biologist, in CBS 60 minutes’ documentary stated that the coral reef in Jardines de la Reina as a “living time machine”, a healthy coral reef ecosystem in the Caribbean used to be: abundant fishes and large predators such as sharks and groupers, healthy coral reefs and sea water free from marine debris and industrial chemical."

That's partial quote as on my blog post about Jardines de la Reina. I was diving in several places as well besides of Jardines de la Reina: Maria La Gorda (did not like it) and Bay of Pigs (it's fine). Only Jardines de la Reina that I found is remarkable. The service in Tortuga was excellent too.

My experience diving in Cuba is posted here - Cuba – indahs: dive, travel & photography
 
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