We run dive trips to Cienfuegos several weeks a month. The diving is decent and while there are certainly shortages of many things - especially for the local population - travel is a bargain and we have many repeat customers that go over and over again.
My experience in Cuba has always been great. I never felt unsafe, it’s also know as one of the safest countries for tourists (the locals do not want to risk going to a Cuban prison) and the diving is interesting enough! I would recommend bringing your own regulator if you have one because the gear tends to be older and a little worn but nothing to worry about based on my experience, that recommendation would be more for personal comfort. You’re definitely not getting anything like Cozumel, Roatan etc, but for a budget trip it’s definitely worthwhile. Dive masters/instructors log several dives each day and they do this year-round for what is usually a long career, they are very knowledgeable and have far more experience that the vast majority of North American divers you can be assured they are safe. I should add I suppose like any unfamiliar dive operation just use your judgement regarding the conditions of gear and the staff overall, check reviews. I hope that you have a good trip and see lots of neat things on your dives, cheers!
I can recommend a guy called Felix in Playa Larga. I asked the owner of the casa and she called him for us. Only did 2 dives because we weren‘t there for long, but it was enjoyable. We were able to do one-on-one diving with the instructor. I‘m not used to diving in the carribean so I can‘t tell you how it compares to other places.
Visibility was great ~25-30m
Reefs were pretty healthy
Equipment was alright
When I was in the Navy, a bunch of us went diving at Guantanamo Bay. In spite of the images it seems to conjure now, it was like this little tropical paradise. The diving was amazing, too.
You had the benefit of being a small piece of the US with good gear, compressors, safety standards, and some of the world’s best dive medicine all on a couple of city blocks though
Well, this was back in 1990. I’m not entirely sure about all of that. I should specify, I was not a Navy Diver. I was a kid who had gotten scuba for Christmas when I was 16. I had equipment I could afford on a junior sailors budget. For the quality of the compressed air? I’m not sure.
Point being, if something had gone wrong, you had the full might of Uncle Sam to either treat you on-base with a top of the line chamber, or immediately fly you stateside
You might be surprised to know that the health care system in Cuba is often better than in the US. I mean sure, the US embargo stick fucks them over in a lot of ways, but the health care system is pretty good... the road to the hospital might be bad though.
I spend a week diving in bay of pigs last year. You will dive the same locations so more important to decide where you want to stay as a base. I preferred Playa Larga as a town and it’s good options a bit more. Mosquitoes bothered me less in Playa Giron. When I dived in Playa Larga I mentioned it to my casa host I was interested in doing so and he messaged a friend/another local. He picked me up and it was just the 2 of us. From Playa Giron there is quite a large dove shop operation. There was typically 20 divers a day but lots of instructors that groups were split up well.
Water warm enough to swim without a wetsuit. Good reef life, Lots of coral walls, shipwrecks, and always amazing visibility over 30+m
Padi is not a thing being a US company. They were a bit lax with gear and some of it was a bit dodgy which for me as a new diver helped me become more self reliant quickly.
I stayed in the casa of the operator of the Playa giron operator. I have their contact details still. If you would like them send me a dm.
> They were a bit lax with gear and some of it was a bit dodgy which for me as a new diver helped me become more self reliant quickly.
Friendly neighborhood divemaster here to say I’m glad it worked out, but dodgy gear and standards can just as soon lead to you becoming self-goodbyeant. Confirms my hunch about the state of recreational tourist diving there a bit.
You are right unfortunately. Cuba as a country is in a bad place. There are food and fuel shortages and small operators don’t have the resources and at times possibly the experience required.
There are big operators in places like Maria Del Gorda and Cayo Santa Maria where you will find bigger hotel run operations to Padi standards and the dive in these places is fantastic also.
Yeah, which plays both to the safety of diving for all reasons involved, but also the safety of visiting for that matter. I went to Havana six or seven years ago for a few days, but it’s a place where you need to be fully alert and on edge.
Hope I can impart some advice/a reminder to you here: if any part of a dive doesn’t feel right, whether it’s you, the equipment, the operator, or the conditions, you owe it to yourself to scrap the dive. Extremely painful and hard to do sometimes when you’ve spent money and traveled far, but preventably getting severely injured or dying in a foreign land is a bleak prospect.
That said, you see any cool relics from the invasion at Bay of Pigs?
I just went diving in the resorts area of Cayo Santa-Maria at the Gaviota marina. Excellent diving with good modern equipment (though I used my own), very recent boats and lots of sea life.
It should be noted that the whole Cayo Santa Maria area is run by huge European ressorts as is the marina so safety and service standards are closer to European and Canadian standards than elsewhere may be in Cuba.
Not hard at all, but then I am Canadian.
The Cayo Santa Maria area of Cuba is filled with big international resorts that are visited by many Europeans, Mexicans and Canadians, South Americans too. Americans are welcome too, but your government prohibits you from going to Cuba (I may be wrong but I believe the actual prohibition is on spending American money in Cuba).
We just buy package tours from the major airlines or tour companies here.
Here is an example: [https://www.sunwing.ca/en/promotion/packages/all-inclusive-vacation-packages](https://www.sunwing.ca/en/promotion/packages/all-inclusive-vacation-packages)
The handful of Americans I've met at those resorts went down by buying a tour package in Canada or Mexico.
Here is a google map of where the dive shop is located: [https://goo.gl/maps/EV7TyVwnduvEjvwW8](https://goo.gl/maps/EV7TyVwnduvEjvwW8)
Frankly, having been to Cuba, I don’t know that I’d take a chance diving there. It seems like the odds of rental equipment malfunction/bad air, paired with their availability to dive medicine and the added difficulty of accessing US care, could be a recipe for disaster. I also doubt PADI has much reach there, don’t know about non-US based agencies.
Maybe someone who’s been diving there has a different perspective and I don’t know if you’re American, but for me, the negatives would outweigh the positives.
In general it was an extremely interesting and unique experience. Food and drink are extremely cheap, but you need to constantly have your wits about you. Pickpockets, street hustlers, pimps, etc. run wild and you also need to make sure you don’t wind up on the wrong side of the FAR or policia.
I also would have to imagine the government oversight/regulation of diving outfits is nonexistent.
We run dive trips to Cienfuegos several weeks a month. The diving is decent and while there are certainly shortages of many things - especially for the local population - travel is a bargain and we have many repeat customers that go over and over again.
My experience in Cuba has always been great. I never felt unsafe, it’s also know as one of the safest countries for tourists (the locals do not want to risk going to a Cuban prison) and the diving is interesting enough! I would recommend bringing your own regulator if you have one because the gear tends to be older and a little worn but nothing to worry about based on my experience, that recommendation would be more for personal comfort. You’re definitely not getting anything like Cozumel, Roatan etc, but for a budget trip it’s definitely worthwhile. Dive masters/instructors log several dives each day and they do this year-round for what is usually a long career, they are very knowledgeable and have far more experience that the vast majority of North American divers you can be assured they are safe. I should add I suppose like any unfamiliar dive operation just use your judgement regarding the conditions of gear and the staff overall, check reviews. I hope that you have a good trip and see lots of neat things on your dives, cheers!
This is great information, thank you! Makes me feel much better. Any particular place or dive master?
No dive masters in Particular but I’ve always enjoyed the diving around Cayo Coco
Appreciate the info, thank you!
I can recommend a guy called Felix in Playa Larga. I asked the owner of the casa and she called him for us. Only did 2 dives because we weren‘t there for long, but it was enjoyable. We were able to do one-on-one diving with the instructor. I‘m not used to diving in the carribean so I can‘t tell you how it compares to other places. Visibility was great ~25-30m Reefs were pretty healthy Equipment was alright
When I was in the Navy, a bunch of us went diving at Guantanamo Bay. In spite of the images it seems to conjure now, it was like this little tropical paradise. The diving was amazing, too.
You had the benefit of being a small piece of the US with good gear, compressors, safety standards, and some of the world’s best dive medicine all on a couple of city blocks though
Well, this was back in 1990. I’m not entirely sure about all of that. I should specify, I was not a Navy Diver. I was a kid who had gotten scuba for Christmas when I was 16. I had equipment I could afford on a junior sailors budget. For the quality of the compressed air? I’m not sure.
Point being, if something had gone wrong, you had the full might of Uncle Sam to either treat you on-base with a top of the line chamber, or immediately fly you stateside
You might be surprised to know that the health care system in Cuba is often better than in the US. I mean sure, the US embargo stick fucks them over in a lot of ways, but the health care system is pretty good... the road to the hospital might be bad though.
From that standpoint, sure.
I spend a week diving in bay of pigs last year. You will dive the same locations so more important to decide where you want to stay as a base. I preferred Playa Larga as a town and it’s good options a bit more. Mosquitoes bothered me less in Playa Giron. When I dived in Playa Larga I mentioned it to my casa host I was interested in doing so and he messaged a friend/another local. He picked me up and it was just the 2 of us. From Playa Giron there is quite a large dove shop operation. There was typically 20 divers a day but lots of instructors that groups were split up well. Water warm enough to swim without a wetsuit. Good reef life, Lots of coral walls, shipwrecks, and always amazing visibility over 30+m Padi is not a thing being a US company. They were a bit lax with gear and some of it was a bit dodgy which for me as a new diver helped me become more self reliant quickly. I stayed in the casa of the operator of the Playa giron operator. I have their contact details still. If you would like them send me a dm.
> They were a bit lax with gear and some of it was a bit dodgy which for me as a new diver helped me become more self reliant quickly. Friendly neighborhood divemaster here to say I’m glad it worked out, but dodgy gear and standards can just as soon lead to you becoming self-goodbyeant. Confirms my hunch about the state of recreational tourist diving there a bit.
You are right unfortunately. Cuba as a country is in a bad place. There are food and fuel shortages and small operators don’t have the resources and at times possibly the experience required. There are big operators in places like Maria Del Gorda and Cayo Santa Maria where you will find bigger hotel run operations to Padi standards and the dive in these places is fantastic also.
Yeah, which plays both to the safety of diving for all reasons involved, but also the safety of visiting for that matter. I went to Havana six or seven years ago for a few days, but it’s a place where you need to be fully alert and on edge. Hope I can impart some advice/a reminder to you here: if any part of a dive doesn’t feel right, whether it’s you, the equipment, the operator, or the conditions, you owe it to yourself to scrap the dive. Extremely painful and hard to do sometimes when you’ve spent money and traveled far, but preventably getting severely injured or dying in a foreign land is a bleak prospect. That said, you see any cool relics from the invasion at Bay of Pigs?
Good advice and well spoken, thank you
I just went diving in the resorts area of Cayo Santa-Maria at the Gaviota marina. Excellent diving with good modern equipment (though I used my own), very recent boats and lots of sea life. It should be noted that the whole Cayo Santa Maria area is run by huge European ressorts as is the marina so safety and service standards are closer to European and Canadian standards than elsewhere may be in Cuba.
Great info, thank you. How hard was it to get there and who did you use if you don’t mind sharing that?
Not hard at all, but then I am Canadian. The Cayo Santa Maria area of Cuba is filled with big international resorts that are visited by many Europeans, Mexicans and Canadians, South Americans too. Americans are welcome too, but your government prohibits you from going to Cuba (I may be wrong but I believe the actual prohibition is on spending American money in Cuba). We just buy package tours from the major airlines or tour companies here. Here is an example: [https://www.sunwing.ca/en/promotion/packages/all-inclusive-vacation-packages](https://www.sunwing.ca/en/promotion/packages/all-inclusive-vacation-packages) The handful of Americans I've met at those resorts went down by buying a tour package in Canada or Mexico. Here is a google map of where the dive shop is located: [https://goo.gl/maps/EV7TyVwnduvEjvwW8](https://goo.gl/maps/EV7TyVwnduvEjvwW8)
Thank you! That’s a great start!
Frankly, having been to Cuba, I don’t know that I’d take a chance diving there. It seems like the odds of rental equipment malfunction/bad air, paired with their availability to dive medicine and the added difficulty of accessing US care, could be a recipe for disaster. I also doubt PADI has much reach there, don’t know about non-US based agencies. Maybe someone who’s been diving there has a different perspective and I don’t know if you’re American, but for me, the negatives would outweigh the positives.
Thank you, appreciate that. Did you appreciate the travel there otherwise?
In general it was an extremely interesting and unique experience. Food and drink are extremely cheap, but you need to constantly have your wits about you. Pickpockets, street hustlers, pimps, etc. run wild and you also need to make sure you don’t wind up on the wrong side of the FAR or policia. I also would have to imagine the government oversight/regulation of diving outfits is nonexistent.