Cuba - Lonely Planet [57]
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Cuba’s greatest outdoor adventurer was undoubtedly Antonio Núñez Jiménez (1923–98), whose investigations into Cuban geology, geography and anthropology have become standard texts on the island and beyond.
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It’s possible to hire reasonable outdoor gear in Cuba for most of the activities you will do (cycling excepted). But, if you do bring your own supplies, any gear you can donate at the end of your trip to individuals you meet along the way (headlamps, snorkel masks, fins etc) will be greatly appreciated.
Cubamar Viajes (www.cubamarviajes.cu) organizes numerous outdoor adventure trips, tours and courses throughout Cuba and can often tailor things around individual needs and requirements, as long as you arrange this in advance. It handles everything from caving to cycling and can get you well off the beaten path. Government agency Ecotur ( 7-204-5188) is another good resource.
DIVING
If Cuba has a Blue Riband activity, it is scuba diving. Even Fidel in his younger days liked to don a wetsuit and escape beneath the iridescent waters of the Atlantic or Caribbean (his favorite dive site was – apparently – the rarely visited Jardines de la Reina; see boxed text,). Indeed, so famous was the Cuban leader’s diving addiction that the CIA allegedly once sponsored an assassination plot that involved inserting an explosive device inside a conch and placing it on the seabed.
Excellent dive sites are so numerous in Cuba that you could quite easily plan a whole trip around this one activity alone. Competing for top honors are Punta Francés on the Isla de la Juventud (see boxed text,) and María la Gorda in the far west of Pinar del Río province, both renowned for their calm seas, excellent water clarity (the Isla holds an annual underwater-photography competition) and profusion of all kinds of sea life. Not surprisingly, both areas, though relatively isolated, have excellent international dive centers with recompression chambers and in-house instruction available. Of equitable quality but much harder to reach is the Jardines de la Reina, south of Ciego de Ávila province, where strict environmental protection and limited access has kept the seabed in an almost pristine state. Visiting here will cost more in terms of money and effort; see boxed text.
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RESPONSIBLE DIVING
Please consider the following tips when diving and help preserve the ecology and beauty of the reefs:
Never use anchors on the reef, and take care not to ground boats on coral.
Avoid touching or standing on living marine organisms or dragging equipment across the reef. Polyps can be damaged by even the gentlest contact. If you must hold on to the reef, only touch exposed rock or dead coral.
Be conscious of your fins. Even without contact, the surge from fin strokes near the reef can damage delicate organisms. Take care not to kick up clouds of sand, which can smother organisms.
Practice and maintain proper buoyancy control. Major damage can be done by divers descending too fast and colliding with the reef.
Take great care in underwater caves. Spend as little time within them as possible as your air bubbles may be caught within the roof and thereby leave organisms high and dry. Take turns to inspect the interior of a small cave.
Resist the temptation to collect or buy corals or shells or to loot marine archaeological sites (mainly shipwrecks).
Ensure that you take home all your rubbish and any litter you may find as well. Plastics in particular are a serious threat to marine life.
Do not feed fish.
Minimize your disturbance of marine animals. Never ride on the backs of turtles.
Safety Guidelines for Diving
Before embarking on a scuba-diving, skin-diving or snorkeling trip,