The number of Cubans Divemasters and Tour guides that you have to hire to stay in compliance with US and Cuban regulations is kind of staggering.
Ok, maybe that's why. I wonder how much they're paying them though.
When we first went to Cuba 14 years ago, our (Cuban) resort manager told us that he made $20 US per month and the other resort workers made $16 US per month.
Fast forward to 2015 - our (Cuban) dive group leader told us he makes 16 CUC ($16 US) per month. Our travel agency tour guide told us he makes 12 CUC per month, while people in non-tourism fields make about 10 CUC per month.
The Cubans rely heavily on tips.
Of course, they get a small amount of food per day, a small amount of milk only for children, medicine, lodging, education, etc. Apparently it is not enough food or milk each day, and they are often hungry. They can buy clothes and other things at the ration stores with their cuban pesos (as opposed to the convertible pesos tourists use). Unfortunately, there is a lot of prostitution by women and men to make ends meet, charging about 5 to 10 CUC to tourists, and there are unfortunately quite a lot of HIV infections on the island. The black market now appears way bigger to me than it used to be for cigars and alcohol, and even drugs have started to infiltrate the black market.
Ocean Doctor uses Avalon, which I went with last month. I also found out that while the Italian company Avalon pays heftily for the services of the Cuban dive/liveaboard crew, that money is kept by the Cuban government - and the Cuban crew still only gets their 16 CUC or less per month. Including the weeks Ocean Doctor is there and has paid their hefty fees to the Cuban government.
So I wonder if the Cubans will be paid fairly in these new systems or still paid by the Cuban government their meager wages?
---------- Post added October 31st, 2015 at 03:47 PM ----------
I would be surprised if such trips through Canadian travel agencies 14 year ago, even for humanitarian efforts, complied with the requirements for Americans to do it legally. From what I understand, those trips were always considered gray area under US law, and some US travel companies that tried to do the same thing found themselves being investigated. The "People to People" provisions that allow Americans to visit have only been in place since something like 2011. Before that, it was virtually impossible for an American to legally visit Cuba unless you had family there, were a journalist, or (well, Wookie says there are 12 categories, and he's obviously researched this pretty thoroughly). Since 2011, the People to People provision has made trips like Ocean Doctor's possible.
When I went in January 2002, there were full page ads in American owned magazines promoting the new trips for Americans to Cuba through a company in Quebec, and they apparently received their permit to take the supervised groups of Americans. They were apparently pretty successful and other travel agencies followed suit. I was there the week they transported the first prisoners to Guantanamo Bay and Americans had recently started the supervised visits through Canada.