Diving in Cuba

[theduckguru]

Know a couple of US divers that went to Cuba via Canada in the 90s. They experianced no problems and had a good vacation, but both say they would not do it again because of countries sharing passenger manifests post 911.

I flew a GA aircraft over Cuba this summer at 10,000 ft enroute to Cayman Brac. Saw some nice resorts, but nothing that would interest me in landing.

 

[yakpack]

I am Canadian, have been diving in Cuba since 2003. I have been on the wreck Cristobal Colon numerous times, it's an easy shore dive but you have to hit it at noon before it is in the shade of the mountains on the shore. You can book a trip there either through the dive shop at the hotel Sierra Maestra in Santiago or the shop in the hotel in Pilon, Marea Portillo. You have to make sure the day of the dive that the water is calmer, it's a tough dive if you have waves. I got out five times my first trip there before I was finally "out". If you are going for a week though, this dive is really the only dive worth going on at either hotel, the reefs around the two hotels are pretty fished out. If I had to choose, I'd go to Santiago since you can at least go into the city and there is one other wall not too shabby and I read that they are opening up some other sites in the Santiago bay where the sister ships to the Colon were sunk. The Colon itself is a very pretty dive, one of my favourites, on a sunny day it is quite pretty and not a hard dive for anyone. Getting out is the hard part, it's a steep beach if there are waves.

Jim

 

[yakpack]

Oh yes, the American problem. It is not illegal for Americans to travel to Cuba. I took my American son in law there. It is illegal for Americans to "spend money in Cuba". I paid for an all inclusive trip to Cuba for him and my daughter as a gift, he flew through Canada, we did have a little interview there since we are both police officers in our home countries and they wanted to make sure we weren't spies, and then no problems. The issue came up in our workplaces because my daughter is a bit of a witch and tattled on both of us thinking we had broken the law but I pulled out the American case law on the issue and proved that we had broken no Canadian, American or Cuban law.

Aside from that, every time I am in Cuba I meet Americans who have travelled there through Jamaica, Mexico, Canada, Bahamas, Caymans, whatever, even one who lives there six months a year. Cuba welcomes American travellers and will not stamp your passport unless you ask. I have read that about 100,000 Americans go to Cuba annually and spend money there. I haven't read about more than a handful of prosecutions and from what I understand, Obama ceased funding the prosecutions office that would handle those complaints....so technically, while it may be illegal for an American to travel to Cuba and spend money, I don't know that there is any process under which they are prosecuted anymore. I seem to recall some griping from the anti-Castro crowd that Obama had just opened the door for Americans to flaunt the law.

 

[yakpack]

Now it's my turn. I am planning a week in Trinidad, Cuba, diving at La Boca with members of my Canadian and Cuban families. The Cubans can't get on a boat to go diving - that's Cuban law. Therefore, we are looking for good shore diving and I read a report that the shore diving off Playa La Boca in Trinidad is good. Anyone done it?

 

[lee3645]

Sorry did not mean to post here

 

[Scuba One]

Before Bush, when rules were more relaxed, there was a Canadian company offering trips to Americans to go to Cuba for scuba trips. When these divers entered Cuba, even when you requested they not stamp your passport, they still did but with a small stamp with no cournty noted on the stamp. I am sure anyone familiar with imigration would have known where the stamp came from.

Their theory was you prepaid the trip to the Canadians so you were not doing business with Cuba, which I don't think would ever stand up in any court.

The trip included a couple days in Havana for sight seeing and then flight to the Isle of Pines in a canvas bi-plane. The resort on the island was set up for divers with good equipment , boats, and roads. Castro was a big scuba diver in his day so they did a good job in setting this place up. The resort stayed full of mostly non-american divers.

Since that time, I have not heard from this company but rumors were once Bush came in they cracked down on these types of trips and the company closed down.

 

[CanadianTravelAgent]

I've been diving in Cuba a couple of times and would not recommend it as a diving destination. There are so many places that are better. I've been out of Santiago de Cuba and from the Superclub in Jibacoa. We actually did have a really neat shore night dive out of Jibacoa (hundreds of shrimp). But, the problems we had with boat dives overshadowed it. We used to joke that Castro didn't allow the dive shops to keep their boats too well maintained or allow them too much gas all at once in case they made a break for it! On all of our trips to Cuba involving boats, there was always some problem! Maybe just bad luck for us.
We also tried to go diving out of Cayo Largo. Made arrangements with the shop, they were supposed to pick us up at the resort - but didn't - 2 days in a row.
Cuba is great for a cheap all inclusive with great beaches. And, maybe for newer divers it would be more interesting.
Just my 2 cents worth...CTA

 

[yakpack]

Yes, that company did shut down, they left an American dive club stranded in Isla, there was an investigation, I remember talking about it with a couple of divers on that trip, I can't remember how the story ended, but their ploy didn't work, I don't know if they got fined or not but I recall they did have to pay for the trip twice after arriving at the resort that hadn't been paid. I think I posted earlier about an retired American I met who spends six months a year there, I met another one with a Cuban wife that can't be bothered with the paperwork and just flies through Mexico.

Before Bush, when rules were more relaxed, there was a Canadian company offering trips to Americans to go to Cuba for scuba trips. When these divers entered Cuba, even when you requested they not stamp your passport, they still did but with a small stamp with no cournty noted on the stamp. I am sure anyone familiar with imigration would have known where the stamp came from.

Their theory was you prepaid the trip to the Canadians so you were not doing business with Cuba, which I don't think would ever stand up in any court.

The trip included a couple days in Havana for sight seeing and then flight to the Isle of Pines in a canvas bi-plane. The resort on the island was set up for divers with good equipment , boats, and roads. Castro was a big scuba diver in his day so they did a good job in setting this place up. The resort stayed full of mostly non-american divers.

Since that time, I have not heard from this company but rumors were once Bush came in they cracked down on these types of trips and the company closed down.

 

[rodamyot]

I've been diving in Cuba a couple of times and would not recommend it as a diving destination. There are so many places that are better. I've been out of Santiago de Cuba and from the Superclub in Jibacoa. We actually did have a really neat shore night dive out of Jibacoa (hundreds of shrimp). But, the problems we had with boat dives overshadowed it. We used to joke that Castro didn't allow the dive shops to keep their boats too well maintained or allow them too much gas all at once in case they made a break for it! On all of our trips to Cuba involving boats, there was always some problem! Maybe just bad luck for us.
We also tried to go diving out of Cayo Largo. Made arrangements with the shop, they were supposed to pick us up at the resort - but didn't - 2 days in a row.
Cuba is great for a cheap all inclusive with great beaches. And, maybe for newer divers it would be more interesting.
Just my 2 cents worth...CTA

Well I gest you where not lucky because it's my second time at Jibacoa and everything was just fine. Sure the boat is a little crowded but still gets us to the dive location with no problem. I also did Cayo Largo but only 2 dive because there was a diving club that had book the all week so we did only 2 dive because of cancelation. It was my first time in south after my certification and the divemaster was very kind, the equipment was clean and new. I have friends that been diving in Cuba for many years and never regrets there trip.

 

[d4jaj1]

I'm thinking about diving out of Trinidad or Ciénaga de Zapata National Park (The Bay of Pigs) during Thanksgiving. Has anyone had any experience with either?

As for the Americans in Cuba thing, a) Cubans don't stamp your passport b) it is only illegal to spend money (not go) unless you meet certain. I wrote an article about it to help clear up some of the misinformation regarding the issue.

Getting To/From Cuba for the Average American