• Pinar del Rio City
• Vinales

• Havana City
• Playa del Este

• Matanzas City
• Varadero
• Cardenas

• Santa Clara

• Cienfuegos City

• Sancti Spiritus
• Trinidad

• Ciego de Avila City
• Jardines del Rey

• Camaguey City

• Bayamo

• Santiago de Cuba City

• Guantanamo City
• Baracoa

• Holguin City

• Nueva Gerona
• Cayo Largo

• Cuban Education
• Cuban Cuisine
• Balseros
• Elian Gonzales

• Buena Vista Social Club
• Polo Montanes
• Compay Segundo

• General Info
• OFAC
• Embassies
• Internet access
• Crime
• Sex
• What to Bring
• Water Sports

• Before Columbus
• Hatuey
• Ernest Hemingway
• Jose Marti
• Ernesto "Che"Guevara
• Camilo Cienfuegos
• Fidel Castro Ruz
• Antonio Maceo
• Fulgencio Batista
• Gerardo Machado
• Carlos M Cespedes
• Spanish-American War
• Cuban Revolution
• Cuban Missile Crisis
• Cuban-American Exiles
• The Bay of Pigs
• Cuban Anthem

Search...

During recent years, Cuba has given a great boost to the developement of water sports. This is based on a long tradition of contact with the sea.

Regattas and international motorboat and sports fishing tournaments are held in Cuban waters. The Ernest Hemingway Marlin-Fishing Tournament is one of these, held in the Gulf Stream-the writer's "great blue river"- which touches the western part of Cuba's northern coast. The fishing is particularly good at the edge of the insular shelf, near the coast and in the channels between the cayos.

Marinas and water sports bases throughout the archipelago offer excursions in yachts and catamarans (on some of these excursions, you live on board), fishing and other boats, moorings, anchorages communications, commissary service, repairs, mantenance, fuel, electricity, drinking water and other provisions. They also have immigration and Customs offices, accommodations and (in many cases) recreational options.

Cuba is at the crossroads of the main navigation routes in the hemisphere (the Yucatan Channel, Straits of Florida, Old Bahama Channel and Windward Passage). Cruise ships plying the Caribbean put in at the ports of Havana, Santiago de Cuba and Cienfuegos and tie up at Trinidad and just off Frances (Frenchman's) Point, on the Isle of Youth.

Cuba is a crocodile-shaped country of many beaches, a hospitable land endowed with enchanted coves and surrounded by thousands of square miles of tropical seas.

Wether lying in the sand of a solitary virgin cayo; scuba diving among colorful formations; sailing through sea scenes of almost magical beauty; or exploring thick mangrove wetlands, lush vegetation and beautiful coastal areas, you will find a world of pleasure and adventure in which the purity of the pristine and the modern comforts of villas, hotels, marinas and scuba-diving centers are combined harmoniously.

In 1985, the Frensh oceanologist Jacques Yves Cousteau's crew was very impressed by Cuba's seabed- most of all, by their exploration of the Cristobal Colon, a Spanish ship which was sunk during the naval battle that was fought just off Santiago de Cuba in 1898. According to the divers, who have worked all over the world, few other places are as well preserved or have such a wealth of marine life. His collegues waxed so enthousiastic that Cousteau, then 75, decided to put on an aqualung and see for himself. He wasn't disappointed

Nor are thousands of tourists who makes dives here every year, some of them as beginners making their maiden dives in Cuban waters, accompanied by experienced divers whose expertise is attested to by the World Underwater Federation (CMAS), the American-Canadian Underwater Certificattion (ACUC) for scuba diving classes and other prestigious international schools.

Cuba has 36 scuba-diving centers, which are related to over 500 carefully selected sites in lush underwater seascapes. The show begins just a few feet from the coast, and it keeps expanding as you go out, climaxing in a slope or sharp drop. This peaceful, silent world-whose water is so clear that you can see for 65 to 130 feet (20 to 40 meters) around youteems with fish of many colors, shapes and sizes, whose world consist of forest of coral, sponges, gorgonians and algae.

Scientific studies estimate that there are over 500 species of fish; 200 different kinds of sponges (cup, tube and branch), gorgonians, algue and common Sea Fans (Gorgonia spp.) in Cuban waters.

Coral reefs extend along practically the entire edge of the broad insular shelf (for around 1984 miles, or 3200 km). More than half of these reefs are seperated from the main island by large areas of shallow water and groups of cayos.

Caves, profusely decorated vertical walls, tunnels, cliffs and channels offer endless options for scuba diving both during the day and at night ... Experiences go from simple observation to swimming near large fish in complete safety.

Moreover, history has added an extra fillip. There are over a thousand sunken ships in Cuba's waters: pirate ships and also galleons filled with treasure which was being taken from the New World to the Old and fell victim to pirates or storms.

Coming to Cuba gives you the opportunity to discover scuba diving and to have lots of fun in the sun.

All kinds of scuba diving courses are offered in Cuba-from beginners, or resort, once to more advanced, specialized courses which award internationally recognized certificates-all with the guidance of expert instructors backed up by the national medical service, with hyper chambers that are strategically placed so they can provide rapid care for any divers who may need it.

• Scuba-Diving Courses

Whale Shark
Marinas Puertosol
Hotel Rancho Luna, carretera de Rancho Luna, km. 16
Cienfuegos