Cuba Diving

[DavidC]

Just got back from a week at Varadero in Cuba did alot of diving. Conditions were excellent, spent my time with the Barracuda Dive club. They were an great bunch and most of them spoke good english. They have a decompression chamber with medical staff onsite at their club for emergencies .

There is only a single shore dive in Varadero, which is called Playa Coral, an excellent starter dive not deeper then 12meters. tons of coral, fish, lobsters even the odd Barracuda. The other dives are boat dives including a few wrecks, the sunken patrol boat was particularly good. Most of the boat dives involve an hour trip (both ways)

If the weather is crappy on the north side of Cuba, they will bus the divers down to the Bay of Pigs at the Zapata Penisula. There they bring you on a very interesting shore dive. On the carribean side you will see some different sea life, but the most interesting part of this location is not 100m out from shore, they have a wall dive. Practically straight down 500m. Your dive experience will be the determining factor on how deep they will let you descend. usually 25m the maximum for openwater divers. The amount of life poking about on the wall was astounding, from coral, eels, fish to the odd shark. I have to admit, never seeing anything like it before, it was oddly creepy floating there staring down into a dark blue nothingness,

The other item they like to show off there is a sunken fishing trawler just before the dropoff, there were spiny lobsters tucked in all over the place.

None of the dives were colder then 24­ °C

Here is a slide show of a few shots i took with one of those disposable underwater cameras. Click on the picture to launch the show.




Some Cuba advice for travellers...

1) dont buy cigars off people in the streets, 99% of the time they are fake, if they happen to be real, then they are stolen, and you dont want to get involved in that. The fakes are either made of factory floor sweepings or cigars that failed quality control, either or, they are old, and unsmokeable, the fake ones they actually try to roll usually have banana leaf mixed in.

2) Be prepared for the food, even if you stay at a 4 star resort, food is pretty bland, it's not bad, just bland. a Jar of peanut butter, bottle of syrup, some granola bars and your own black pepper (or ground chilies) will go along way to improving your mood. Couple plus' though, I have never had bread that good, it was great, also their icecream is top notch. Breakfast is pretty traditional, good eggs, bacon, french toast etc.(thats where you want your own syrup, they try to make a substitute out of brown surgar, nasty stuff) Lunch was very mediocre everywhere, supper was pretty standard fare. Oh when diving aside from locals trying to sell you smokes every time you surface for a new tank, you will get people trying to sell you a 'Langosta' lunch (lobster). thats a bad idea, they are usually working for an illegal Paladare, (private resturaunt) you wont get in trouble if you are caught per say, but you will spend the next 6 hours in the police station trying to give a statement to some cuban cop that doesnt speak english.

3) Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, is on fucking time, EVER. I thought Cayman or Jamaica was bad for that. (my aunt in Cayman called it Island Life) but damn Cuba was the worst, be prepared for shop keepers, service workers, tour reps, whatever, to wander off whenever they please for indeterminate periods of time. It's just the lifestyle there, dont let it bother you and don't get hot under the collar over it.

4) The Money, ok this was my one very sore point the whole time i was down there. The Cubans have what I like to call a type of imaginary money, called the Convertable Peso(CUC), only tourists are supposed to use it. This cash is not used anywhere but in Cuba, and you would be hard pressed to find a bank to recognize it. The problem with these pesos is because its not a world market dollar, they set whatever value they want for it. Their standard rate is whatever the USdollar is plus 11 cents. (dont bring USdollars to cuba btw, they will charge you an extra 10% to convert it) Anyways, a travel tip i found out on the way home, if you have enough notice, see the currency exchange place downtown, apparantly they can order in CUC and you get a much better rate for it then getting it at banks in Cuba.

5) Cuba is pretty safe, to be honest I didnt feel worried wandering around at dark. (unlike a couple of other places I have been to.) Violent crime is almost non-existant, especially in Varadero you are in more danger of getting hammered out of your gourd on all the free booze and tripping over your own drunk ass on the way to the toliet then getting roughed up by a local. But only take what money you need when you go out and wear shorts/pants with velcro, buttoned pockets. Keep your luggage locked in your room when not there and keep your documents and excess cash in the safe. Petty theft does abound and unattended towels, sandals and such on the beach will be gone before you blink. A bit of common sense and a few preventative measures goes a long way.

6) Tipping, everyone wants a peso, for everything. get used to it, at the very least make sure your tip your maid well off the hop (with small ones each day) and a small gift of chocolates or perfume works wonders too, she will rabidly guard your room for you. Trust me, this paid off.

You will have a great time as long as you remember TIC, this is cuba. They live, work and play alot differently then we do, a little spanish can go along way. If you want to see some real Cuban culture, you may have to remove your All inclusive bracelet and step out into the city, it is worth it to check a few things out besides the pre fabricated tourist experience.

[TGT]

Very nice write up,some good adviceand some good photos.Also liked your cool affect with the photo discription.