Ayisha

Patty and I will have a booth again at the Toronto Outdoor Adventure Show in February. If you have some spare time please drop n to see us (Splash Dive Center Beize).
Regards
Ralph

Toronto! I was born in Hamilton! Parents took me to florida then went back. Do you dive down this way much?

Hi there, technicalbeast. Do I know you?

hi ayisha

Hi Dave,

Cuba is absolutely beautiful with incredible beaches - Playa Serenas, where we visited, is/was one of Conde Naste's top ten in the world. The people are wonderful, very happy in spite of their circumstances and very family-oriented. I was not actually certified yet when I dove in Cuba, so I just did a couple of dives to 25 feet with an instructor. The diving was pretty good, but I didn't get to do the (deep) wall dives that are supposed to be awesome at Bahia de Cochinas or anywhere else well known. Les Jardines de la Reina is supposed to be amazing and is accessed by a company called Avalon.

Many Americans visit Cuba through Canada or other countries. The Cuban customs stamps a piece of paper by request rather than your passport. The stamp is a basic geometric shaped stamp that does not even say Cuba. When we went, they were automatically stamping little pieces of paper and tucking them into the passport.

Americans are allowed to visit Cuba for humanitarian reasons or journalism. You cannot spend money there. There are Canadian travel agencies that specialize in running American group trips to Cuba where Americans go through Canada (it started in Quebec) and stay at an all-inclusive resort, thereby not needing to spend money while there. They briefly visit a Cuban hospice or do some other humanitarian work while in Cuba, fulfilling that requirement. The Americans pay the Canadian travel agency to arrange everything, thereby not paying Cubans directly. It's all legit. There used to be ads in American travel mags when these humanitarian trips first started about 7 years ago when we went.

I hope that relations will improve and you'll be able to visit this beautiful island much more easily.

Hello,

Saw that you have dived Cuba. So being an Ameerican what I am missing out on? I am hoping things will open up for us in the near future.

Dave