Must do dives in Cuba

[drew52]

So we're planning a trip to Cuba, only 5 days or so with time for 1 two tank dive.

If you could only do 1 dive in Cuba where would it be? Also which dive company would you recommend?

Thanks,

Andrew

 

[torontoscubagirl]

I would love to know the same thing! Apparently somewhere on the south coast is where the diving is best - Cousteau did some show there. Am still searching the internet to figure out where.
Heard Cienfuegos is pretty good. I went to Cayo Guillermo and that was nice - but someplace in the South is supposed to be the best.

 

[shark_tamer]

If you could only do 1 dive in Cuba where would it be? Also which dive company would you recommend?

Apparently somewhere on the south coast is where the diving is best

Cayo Largo​

It's a small island south of Cuba, next to the Isle of Youth. The only problem, this island is only accessible by plane .... 24 hour no dive period !!!!

And there is only one dive center ( the island is so small !! ) Cayo Largo Dive Center

 

[rossandmaureen]

We were in Cuba a couple of years ago and stayed in Cayo Coco (Atlantic side). The diving in the area was good but we were limited by fairly poor weather which even kept us off the water for about eight days and, on the days that were not closed by the Harbourmaster, kept us on the near shore reefs. As a result one of the divemasters took us by car to the Caribbean side where we did an outstanding shore dive just outside of a town called Trinidad. Trinidad is in the style of old Colonial Havana with the old cars and buildings and is worth seeing in and of itself. There are all-inclusives nearby and they would have on-site dive centers. On a future trip I would stay on this side or on the earlier mentioned Cayo Largo.

 

[soggydog]

I recall 2 notable dives of the south coast of Cuba. The most famous would be the Colon wreck, which is a couple hours east of Santiago (the road it in very poor shape due to hurricane damage). This is a shore dive, with the wreck being about 100 yards off the coast. It's a very rocky entry, sometimes with big surf.
The wreck sits in about 90 feet of water (iirc). I don't recall the history of the ship, but you can look it up on the web. There are dive centers at Marea De Portillo and Brisas Sierra Mar. It's hit and miss when and if they do this dive and there is always a cab fare involved. I think the cost was about $90 CUC a few years back.

The better dive (IMHO) is "The Ferry", which is east of Santiago De Cuba. It's an old car ferry (approximately 100 feet long), which lies upside down in 125ft of water, right on the edge of the wall (drops to 5000 meters)
The great thing about this dive is that the middle deck of the ferry is wide open making it easy and safe to penetrate. When you emerge on the south side of the ferry, there is a very narrow ledge (about 2 feet) and then the drop off.
It's really quite a spectacular dive.

There is also good diving to be had along the north coast. If you're in the area of Santa Lucia, there are many good reefs and also a shark dive. Shark Friends dive center is located amongst the many resorts in the area.