PADI in Cuba

[syntaxerrorsix]

I wasn't being philosophical.

Communism is bad and kills people. I avoid it. I recommend others do the same to the best of their abilities by not supporting its production or influence.

If you are attempting to justify a country's government by its export and GDP I sincerely suggest you try another tact unless you are willing to deny all such atrocities that country has committed and the products that you have denied yourself.


If you are trying to make me look like a hypocrite in the same sentence I will be willing to compare "dive logs" in regards to what I've done to prevent the spread of Communism compared to yours. We should probably compare those notes offline.

 

[Madacub]

Syntaxerrorsix, all I was trying to do was get you to think a little about what you wrote. I suggest a little more thought along the lines I indicated would be useful. If you disagree, no hard feelings.

For the record, and FWIW, I am not trying to justify Cuba's government nor am I trying to halt the spread of communism.

Thanks.

 

[syntaxerrorsix]

Syntaxerrorsix, all I was trying to do was get you to think a little about what you wrote. I suggest a little more thought along the lines I indicated would be useful. If you disagree, no hard feelings.

For the record, and FWIW, I am not trying to justify Cuba's government nor am I trying to halt the spread of communism.

Thanks.

It would be in everyone's best interest if you did try whenever possible.

Have a good night

 

[Yobubba]

December 17th 2014
WASHINGTON — The United States will restore full diplomatic relations with Cuba and open an embassy in Havana for the first time in more than a half-century after the release of an American contractor held in prison for five years, President Obama announced Today.
​I would expect to hear something on this from PADI very soon.

 

[descent]

To answer a ten-year-old question from earlier in this thread -- yes, there is a CMAS affiliated instruction agency in Cuba called CMAS-FCAS.

I remember when Internet service in Cuba was similar to the NSF link to South Pole Station, but it seems to have improved quite a bit since then.

Still, the FCAS "site" is a Facebook page: Federación Cubana de Actividades Subacuáticas.

They had a Spanish language Wikipedia article ([-]Federación Cubana de Actividades Subacuáticas[/-]), but it was deleted -- "Esta página ha sido borrada. ... 03:01 23 jul 2011" -- literally, 'this page has been erased'.

Buried in a version of the deletion notes is a single reference to an FCAS instructor in Havana, Débora Andollo.

edit: She is the current president of FCAS. Her professional bio is here. Some of her nicknames: "The Mermaid of the Caribbean" and "Neptune's Girlfriend". She is a multi-award winning international athlete in several aquatic fields, has free dived to 110m, and has been declared a "Glory of Cuban Sport" in recognition of many achievements.

HTH.

 

[Mustard Dave]

Tourism booming in Cuba??? What planet are you from? It exists, but I don't think booming would be the right way to describe it.

Well...you could be surprise. Cuba seems to be one of the favorite winter holiday destinations for Canadians and last time I was there, there seems to be quite a bit of Europeans too. So if your disagreement with the word booming is based on the fact that there are very few Americans going there and fewer more who admit doing so, then I will agree with you...[/QUOTE]

Correct. I haven't been myself but I know plenty who have. If you go into a travel agent's here, there will be no shortage of brochures. As mentioned previously, I understand there are a lot of all inclusive resorts.

My club went a couple of years before I started diving. Most seem to have enjoyed it, but it sounds like it has its foibles. One bloke had an OOG incident shortly after descending. On the surface, they found out a bit of rust from inside the tank had jammed in the valve when he went inverted; none who went seemed impressed by the kit on offer, but fortunately most took their own. Apparently the boats were a bit hit and miss, as they didn't have radios and GPS, and fuel was rationed to stop boats being used to escape.

 

[ScubaSteve1962]

I would love to go before the invasion of vacation/cruise ship divers get there and damage all the reefs!

 

[darushin]

December 17th 2014
WASHINGTON — The United States will restore full diplomatic relations with Cuba and open an embassy in Havana for the first time in more than a half-century after the release of an American contractor held in prison for five years, President Obama announced Today.
​I would expect to hear something on this from PADI very soon.

This does nothing for the embargo. The embargo will have to be repealed by congress and right now this is the only thing that both sides of the isle agree on not doing by a large majority (2/3 +). There is even specualtion that congress may defund all goverment activities related to the embassy given that they believe the have a veto proof majority.

Daru