The rest of the world, other than the United States, is having quite a good time diving in Cuba.
We (middle-aged self and wife and 13 year old daughter) just spent two weeks in Cuba, one of them mainly diving and the other driving wherever we felt like going and eating and staying wherever we wanted to--the options are plentiful--through the eastern half of Cuba.
We dove about a dozen times, as deep as 45 metres, off Veradero, Playa Giron and Isla de la Juventud. Diving at the first was pretty good while the latter two were superb, offering virgin coral and rich marine life, which included an almost too friendly 7 foot Morray eel (off V, where tourists had been feeding it), a six metre whale shark, turtles, live, active conches, huge lobsters and rays and a tremendous variety of reef fish.
The dive boats were quite seviceable, though the Isla's 42 foot twin inboard Volvo motors could get a bit smokey. The rental BC's and regs seemed to be of good quality (we brough our own), though fins and suits in odd sizes (like the size 13's I was loaned, free of charge, after losing a fin strap) could be a challenge. Dive masters were excellent: great divers and expert guides, careful about safety and --like any Cuban living there today--very cheerful and resourceful about solving problems.
The Colony hotel, on Isla, was much better than we'd been led to expect. It now features a whole double row of brand new bungalows that are very clean and comfortable --up to and including remote-controlled, electronically programmable air conditioning. The food, too, may have improved: it was certainly always plentiful and made with good ingredients. Daughter Ariel, was ecstatic about the huge quantities of fresh fruit and pure fruit juices. The quality of the preparation and spicing of the fish and meat dishes only occasionally rose much above "okay" level, however.
All in all, a superb diving experience in a somewhat challenging environment that we canadians will continue to enjoy!