Cuba

5-00

Trip Report

 

After flying through the night (to Chicago, then Toronto, then Havana) we arrived at the luxurious, state-of-the-art, Havana International Airport. (Actually, I'm being totally facetious.) Cubana airlines wasn't too bad, except when they pulled the plug on the movie halfway through . Sure, we WERE landing, but don't you think they could have timed it better? Or chosen a shorter movie?

We met up with the rest of the divers at the airport (names are being witheld to protect the innocent from unfair persecution by the treasury department). We came from Seattle (Fred and me), Colorado, Hawaii, and California. Though I won't mention their names, they were a super fun group and I highly recommend diving with ANY of them again. Once we collected our luggage we were escorted to our luxurious, Humphrey-Bogart-era plane, which was to fly us to the smaller island from which we'd board the boat. It didn't look like much (I was being facetious again when I said luxurious!) but I figured if it had been flying for 50+ years already it must be airworthy. Right? We picked and chose the seats that weren't broken and settled in for our hour-and-a-half flight.

Once on the boat, we had to be cleared by Cuban government officials. For some reason, they spent HOURS on the boat. Maybe they wanted to see us running around in bikinis or something. Or maybe it was just more pleasant than sitting back at the office. I'll admit the boat was nice: outdoor bar, hot tub, comfy galley and roomy sundeck. The staterooms were small, but that's usually the case. Finally, we were cleared to go. Officials denied our request to stroll around the village that night (there was some kind of carnival going on, but we couldn't go anywhere on shore without permission) so we sailed from the dock at around 10 p.m.

The diving was very good for Caribbean diving. The reefs had very little damage, and we saw a variety of sealife and invertebrates. The really small things were particularly interesting (see photos), as were the schooling snappers (tens, maybe hundreds of thousands streaming around the dive sites in preparation for spawning). The thousands of little jellyfish were less so. We found out later in the week that their larvae caused an annoying, itchy rash Ð which we ALL ended up with on our necks and faces.

The week of diving went by all too fast. We had arranged for three more days in Havana after the diving portion of the trip, and we spent an enjoyable day and a half strolling the markets and visiting the museums and public squares. Then we ran out of places to go. The beaches, while nice, were just more of the same thing we'd seen all week long. Most of Havana was somewhat depressing: creaking, dirty, derelict-looking buildings draped with laundry lines; austere, cold-looking government buildings and a public demonstration area that looked for all the world like a parking lot; a botanical garden that was long on heat-resistant trees and short on any real beauty. The people were friendly, and the kids seemed happy, but a sense of imprisonment was always around. None of these people could have left this island nation Ð even if they'd had enough money to purchase a flight. The newspapers were government-sponsored and severely censored, and the local television broadcast only images of Castro or programs hand-picked by him to "enlighten" the citizens. I felt lucky to live in the US. We might not be able to always agree on politics, but at least we have a choice, and can discuss alternatives to the status-quo.

While I'm not sorry we went, I wouldn't recommend the trip. We were hassled by customs and the treasury department when we returned, and the diving wasn't spectacular by any means. The beaches weren't any better than those in Jamaica or Cayman, and the local prices were outrageous (and the service terrible!) I've posted some of our photos on this site. See links below.

Diving Ð small critters | Diving Ð bigger critters

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