Trip Report Jardines de la Reina, Cuba, January 2024
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Rick,
I'm headed to Jardines de la Reina in two weeks. I'll be shooting an Olympus E-M1 Mark III and have been debating what lens to take. I was thinking of 8mm, 12-45mm and the Panasonic 7-14mm for the crocodile trip. I was not planning on shooting any macro, but looking at your pictures I'm now questioning that decision. Is there enough opportunities for macro to necessitate taking a 30mm or 60mm lens?
I'm headed to Jardines de la Reina in two weeks. I'll be shooting an Olympus E-M1 Mark III and have been debating what lens to take. I was thinking of 8mm, 12-45mm and the Panasonic 7-14mm for the crocodile trip. I was not planning on shooting any macro, but looking at your pictures I'm now questioning that decision. Is there enough opportunities for macro to necessitate taking a 30mm or 60mm lens?
Trilobite
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It had been awhile since they saw them when I was in there in November, I wouldn't count on seeing him.
OP
js, I used the fisheye and the 12-40 about equally, and the macro, I think, twice. We had two groups and i think 11 dive days, and the other group saw the croc once; our group didn’t (but those that did got some cool shots). I think we tried in earnest twice and did a couple of drive-bys. We did see a smaller one swimming. But diving in the mangroves was fun, with a good many upside-down jellies and some juvenile fish.
The state of the corals was very disheartening. I hope you find improvement. But the experience was great; the boat and dive crews were a delight, and the boat (we were on Avalon III) was spacious and fun. I do wish we’d taken a couple of extra days in Havana. We did go to a place called “Fusterlandia,” which is wild (basically, a village coated in ceramic tile), and to Hemingway’s house, which was interesting enough.
February 2023, Garden of the Queen, water temp in the high 80's low 90s. . All of the hard coral was bleached and the numbers of fish was very low. We were there 6 months prior and everything was in pristine condition. Two trips prior and awesome diving.
All I could think to my self this past November is I wish I had seen the place prior to the 2023 bleaching, and why did i wait so long to go
It's not a place I will probably ever go to again, unless somehow things turn around for the better (in the Caribbean - not specifically Cuba). I feel like it's probably still one of the top places in the Caribbean to dive in it's current state. Dive Masters, Staff were all great, we ended up with a broke down boat at the end of the week (it was the aggressor Avalon boat) but they handled it well, they had a smaller boat there for us on Friday that we transferred to after dinner and headed back over night....it was defiantly tight compared to the normal boat but it got us back on time.
Our first visit was with a group from The Florida Aquarium and it was simply specular. There was Pillar Coral in perfect condition over 6 feet tall and tons of fish, turtles. It was so impressive that we went back the following year and it was still as good. That led to a third trip and then the last. Since we live in Florida, it was an easy trip. I'm sorry that you missed it.All I could think to my self this past November is I wish I had seen the place prior to the 2023 bleaching, and why did i wait so long to go
Dive Masters, Staff were all great, we ended up with a broke down boat at the end of the week (it was the aggressor Avalon boat) but they handled it well, they had a smaller boat there for us on Friday that we transferred to after dinner and headed back over night....it was defiantly tight compared to the normal boat but it got us back on time.
On my way back from Cuba now. There is a new crocodile hanging around the Avalon IV. We saw him almost every day. He is about 5 foot long, and will let you get close enough for pictures. I’ll post what I got in a day or two.
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