Cuba - the Pearl of the Caribbean

Cuba

THE PEARL OF THE CARIBBEAN

travels

Text and photos MICHAL ČERNY

The whole world is changing very fast, but there are places that are changing even faster, and one of them is Cuba. For example, Thailand, Bali or Mexico will be about the same in the next five years as they are today, but Cuba will be completely different.

Cuba begins to open up to the world, especially America. In March 2016, the US president of that time Barack Obama visited Havana. 88 years have passed since the cooling of relations between these countries. Already in April of the same year, the first regular shipping line was launched, and at the end of August, regular flights between Florida and Santa Clara were resumed. So if you want to experience at least a little bit of the unique atmosphere of the island of freedom, this is the best time to come here.

GEOGRAPHY

Cuba is the largest island in the Greater Antilles. At first glance, it may not seem like a large island, but from west to east it measures almost 1,200 km, that's like the distance from Prague to Kiev, at its widest points the island is 190 km. In addition to the main island, Cuba has nearly 4,000 smaller islands.

The official language is Spanish, but in tourist resorts you can usually speak English without any major problems. There are two currencies in Cuba – the Cuban Peso (CUP), which is mainly used by residents to pay, and the Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC) that tourists pay. Those residents who go to the CUC, i.e. tourists, have very good local conditions, while the others are still partially dependent on the rationing system still functioning here.

HAVANA

Going to Cuba, Havana should definitely not be missed, especially Old Havana has its own special charm. There are many bars and pubs in the narrow streets with live music and especially in the evening people are practically dancing in the streets. It is best to sit in one of them, order a glass of good Cuban rum, smoke a Cuban cigar and fully enjoy the atmosphere of this city. And since we are in these bars, it is definitely worth a visit to the Floridita Bar, where they serve the excellent daiquiri, and where Hemingway used to be, today you will find his bronze statue here. The unique atmosphere of Havana is also created by classic American cars, you can still find many of them here, most of them function as taxis for tourists and you can easily rent such a car for the whole day or just for a ride around the main attractions of Havana.

QUEEN'S GARDENS

By far the best place for diving in Cuba is the Jardines de la Reina archipelago, which consists of over 400 coral islands and is located in the Caribbean Sea south of the main island. The archipelago was named by Christopher Columbus in honour of Queen Isabel of Castile, and in the translation the name means Queen's Gardens. The archipelago has been declared a national park, and diving and fishing have their own strict rules. Fishing is allowed here only with the use of the sport system of catching, biting and releasing. The Cuban government only issues around 1,000 permits a year to visit the park, most of which are bought by fishermen, so divers only reach this beautiful place in an amount of around 400 times a year. According to the indications, however, it can be assumed that this number will increase significantly in the coming years.

Diving and fishing are done here in the form of a weekly safari, with boats departing from the small port of Jucaro. The safari boat is then moored among the mangrove forests and individual dives take place from smaller boats. There is also snorkelling gear on these boats and the staff is always taking care of changing the cylinders, making the diving very comfortable. The dives always take place three times a day and there is really a lot to look at.

The main attraction for diving here are sharks, they can be found during practically every dive, and thanks to a bait you can get close to them. The most popular species is the perez shark, i.e. the Caribbean reef shark, on each dive we saw from 10 to 20 of them, the largest of which was up to three meters long. This species of shark lives mainly at the bottom at a depth of about twenty meters, where it usually waits at the place where the bait is placed, after feeding it emerges with the divers to the surface and waits for getting something else. Another popular species of shark is the silky shark, which moves in open water on the surface and grows up to three and a half meters, thanks to a bait you can approach these beauties up to several meters. If you are lucky, you will also see a reef shark, lemon shark, and even a whale shark.

The lionfish is also a bit related to sharks, as you probably know, this is a non-native species in the Caribbean that has no natural enemy here, and therefore it breeds here and causes considerable damage to native species of fish. That is why, local divers usually dive with a small harpoon and if they come across a lionfish they shoot it mercilessly and after that some sharks appear. All you have to do is wave over your head a blade on which the lionfish is stabbed, and in a moment a shark will come and pull it out of the harpoon and "go mad".

Sharks are the main reason for diving in the Jardines de la Reina and there are not many other animals here. There are several species of groupers, including the largest giant grouper, which grows up to three meters long and weighs 300 kilograms. Another majestic and large fish to be found here is the Atlantic tarpon, usually a little larger than a meter, but their silver bodies reflect flash light very strongly, so taking pictures of them is not easy. The American stingrays can also be found among large fish, which bury themselves on the sandy bottom. And of course, you will also find shoals of smaller fish here, we can mention, for example, rattlesnakes, snappers, rays, jack mackerel, stargazer fish.

Among other animals, you can find the largest sea slug, protected by a queen conch. If you are lucky, you may have a very unusual experience between dives – snorkelling with a crocodile, specifically an American crocodile. If the crocodile is smaller than a human, there is nothing to be afraid of and you can easily go into the water, but if it is larger, it can attack you.

We were lucky to meet an individual which was less than 1.5 meters long, one of the crew members tied a piece of chicken thigh to the rope so that the crocodile would have more motivation to stay with our boat and we could have this unique experience. I must admit that I was a little sweating during this snorkelling, sometimes only a few dozen centimetres separated us from the pointed teeth of this crocodile, what is more, the view of this animal is completely different compared to the view of a shark.

SANTA LUCIA

Another place where we dived in Cuba was the Santa Lucia resort in the north of Cuba, i.e. in the Atlantic. We chose this place for two reasons, on the one hand interesting shipwrecks, and on the other hand, there is a chance to meet bull shark. When we started our first dive on a smaller artificially sunken wreck, we still looked for where the sharks were, but these are not Jardines de la Reina, there is simply no guarantee of meeting sharks, the sea is generally poorer to live in, but there is also a lot to see. Bull sharks dive to a special place where local divers invite them and feed them directly from the hand, but the chance of sharks appearing is 40 %. Unfortunately we were unlucky, the sharks just did not make it that day. But we were rewarded by meeting a little hornbill, which we discovered at a shallow depth just before the end of the dive

BAY OF PIGS

Another interesting place for diving is the Bay of Pigs in the southwest of the island; The bay is mainly known for the landings of Cuban counter-revolutionaries (supported by the US), whose attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro failed. In the town of Playa Girón you can also visit the Museum of Invasion – and in it, among others, you can see the Czech weapons used in defence of the revolution.

You can, of course, dive in several places in the sea, but we chose the second option, diving in caves – here called casimbas – where fresh and salt water mix. The first few meters is freshwater, then there is a zone with brackish water (a place where fresh and salt water mix) and salt water. In one dive, you may encounter fish that you have seen before in the sea, and at the same time you may encounter freshwater animals such as freshwater prawns. The caves also have a nice dripstone decoration. Of course, an experienced local divemaster will accompany you on all dives and take you to a cave dozens of meters from the entrance lake, but never so far that daylight or sunrise is not seen. During the socialist era, several Czech divers took part in the discovery and exploration of these caves. Today you can dive here, for example, in the Casimba Ilona cave.

You can also see a large crab migration on the road that runs along the bay. Crabs cross the road as they come out of the bush to lay their eggs in the sea. Fortunately, traffic is not heavy yet, but thousands of crabs do not reach their destination every day. Drivers do not care too much about them and even though the crabs tighten their shells when they meet a car, they have no chance. If you are interested in Cuba and diving and are considering going there, do not hesitate too long to taste the true taste of Cuba.