Shore Dives in Varadero, Cuba

[frizzle06]

Hey my girlfriend and I recently got our open water certification in preparation of going to cuba for christmas. Just wondering if anyone could help us find some good shore dives in Varadero, Cuba. Also we will be there from Dec 19 - 26...would a 7mm wetsuit be too much, too little, or just enough (we are canadian divers and use 7mm in 56 F waters). Thanks for any info anyone can give us!

 

[nipi]

7 mm will be too much. I have done a shore dive there from a beach called Coral Beach I think. Contact Barracuda Dive Centre who took us - I doubt whether they would let you go alone.

 

[Torontonian]

7mm will be too much. 3mm would be fine.

Did you already book a resort? If not, Beaches and Sandals include diving. You could get 2 dives a day, if the timing works out right.

Note Veradero does not have very good diving. It has good beaches. You can walk a long way out, and still have heads above water. It was great for my wife, who is a non-swimmer, and is afraid of water.

If you didn't book with Beaches or Sandals, many resorts will include one dive trip. After that, it depends on if they have packages you can buy.


Baracuda Dive center is one that's near the beginning of the Veradero "strip". When we were at the Beaches resort a few years ago, there were some bad weather and prevented us from diving for a few days. The Beaches resort send me to this dive shop one day. We took a bus trip to go south. We did some very good shore dives at the Bay of Pigs. The wall there had good colorful reefs. In Veradero, expect to do some boat dives. Will see some fish and some sea fans, not a lot more. But since this will be one of your first dives, it'll still be good that you'll be in warm water and see a lot more than possible around Ottawa.

 

[frizzle06]

Hey guys thanks alot...i will check out that dive resort while im there. Our family is talking about booking a private charter so they can go snorkling, so hopefully we will be able to suit up and dive below them depending on depth and challenges...

Just curious, how much does the baraduda dive center charge for taking my girlfriend and i out to familiarize us with the diving type and show us around a bit?

 

[Torontonian]

Many AI resorts in Cuba don't have their own dive shop. They have arrangements with a nearby dive shop to come and pick up people, by van, or by boat, to go diving. When you get down there, find out what are the nearby dive shops, and make arrangements directly with them. If you're willing to pay, they can make the arrangements -- with your family/friends snorkeling and you diving.

The Beaches resort where we stayed, the diving is included. But the dive shop did not belong to Beaches resort. They were on some type of contact arrangement. There were also guests from other resort/hotels that came to dive.

For the Barracuda dive center, I didn't pay. The dive shop located at Beaches resort gave me a voucher to take to them. But I did see on the wall that they charge $45 for diving. I believe that was for 2-tank diving. That would've been if you went boat diving with them while in Veradero. That time, there were about 30 of us that went on a big bus, for 2.5 hr ride to the southside of Cuba, doing shore dives at the Bay of Pigs. I don't know if the charges are different for that trip.

That was 5 years ago. Since then, price would have changed, but Cuba at that time was cheaper than other places, and it should still be cheaper (than say Cayman, Jamaica, St. Lucia, etc.)

 

[frizzle06]

wow, thanks for the huge amount of info u have shared torontonian. This is one of the things i love the most about diving, i have yet to meet a diver that is not friendly. This is the best past time ever!!!

I wish we were staying at a resort where diving was included, but my girlfriend's step mom booked the hotel, and diving for everyone else isnt a priority. So we will have to pay someone to take us, but thats ok, we've saved up in preparation for that. Just curious, did u buy any chance notice the rental prices while u were there?

Also, i was contemplating bringing my own bc, but i am affraid to check it with my luggage, due to lost luggage, and air pressure, but i am unsure how to fit it into a carry on with my reg set and mask...any suggestions?\

Thanks for the help!

PS my girlfriend and i are from toronto as well we are just in ottawa for skool right now! GO LEAFS!!! take care!

 

[Torontonian]

Haha, a die hard Leafs fan. You're in enemy territory though, Sens fans don't like Leafs too much.

I didn't pay attention to the gear rental price, because my voucher included rental. It's not a lot though.

I had checked my diving gear on several trips now, and had no problem. I always ask them to put fragile on the bag. Maybe that helped.

Oh, one more thing. In Cuba, they use meters and celcius, like the rest of the civilized world. That's something different than U.S.

 

[frizzle06]

lol, ya i take a beating up here being a leafs fan...but hey they're just jealous cuz they cant and wont ever beat us in any play off game!!!

Thats a good idea about the fragile sticker, i think that might be my saving grace, but either way i suppose, my bc is still under warranty, so it isn't the worst thing in the world...

Ya i dunno wuts wrong with america, but they like to be difficult...im still tryin to get use to the metric system for diving, cuz whenever i would swim i was told how deep a pool was by feet, and the temperature in celcius, so im still making that adjustment.

 

[Species_snob]

We were in Cuba in April and a 3mm was good enough. We didn't dive off Varadero but dove in Maria La Gorda na Bay of Pigs on the Caribbean side. I did snorkle off Varadero and this is what I saw other than sand:

. We dove in the Bay of Pigs on a day trip from Varadero, so it's doable and the coral was healthy but there weren't as many fish as in Maria La Gorda.

Here are some shots:

 

[Gambitt]

Frizzle! Welcome back!

Seeing as you just got back from Varadero, You can help me out, with a "dive report". I've been to Holguin 6 times, but never to the North End. We leave one month from Today!

So how was it? And what tips can you give?