print dive site review | contribute site info / photo
Scuba Diving in Cuba, Caribbean
Reader Reviews:
Dive Site: Playa Ancon
Location: Near Trinidad, Sancti Spiritus, Cuba
Description: Fabulous coral garden
Depth: 32 metres max (105 feet)
Visibility: 10 metres (30 feet)
Rating: ****
A little background - Cuba is a law unto itself in diving, along with everything else.
(1) Safety checks, the buddy system, and ecological concerns are anathemas.
(2) Equipment provided is usually well worn.
(3) Prices are fixed nationally - US$29 per dive I think.
(4) Every dive was only two tourists plus a guide, perhaps as it was off-season (July 2004). As staff are paid only the national wage of US$10 per month, it would be churlish not to tip, especially as every guide knew dive sites really well and were very friendly.
(5) Dive boats on the Cuban southern coast are of decent size and build, the distance being too great for easy escape to Florida. Not so on the northern side, especially near Havana.
(6) Dive boats do not carry drinking water or dive-plans.
(7) There are no PADI training courses, PADI being American.
Playa Ancon has excellent finger and fan corals, starting at 11m and heavily encrusted rocks throughout the dive. Due to overfishing, there is little marine fauna, nothing over 4" (10cm). There are two broken wrecks at 12m and 32m, from the 1898 Spanish-American War.
Nicholas Wood, BSAC Sports Diver
Note: the two broken wrecks in Trinidad date from 1895 and 1986. I sank them personally! I am a diving instructor with more than 12,000 dives in my log book. I worked at Trinidad diving centre for 16 years.
Miguel Boloņa
Dived here in November 2006. Buddy system etc very lax but experienced divers buddied up themselves. The guides were excellent and knew the sites extremely well and despite their taste in music on the boats were good fun. Hire kit is in fairly good nick and the two boats used (a monohull and a cat) were well equipped. Dive groups of up to 8 plus a guide, but as a lot of the dives are well within the capability of basic skills divers not a real problem. A couple of good cave/swim through sites and excellent coral make this a pretty and relaxing dive spot. Recommend for any one looking for relaxation.
Steve Plested
I was a diving instructor in trinidad for 11 years (9000hrs). There isn't any wreck from the war, the two wrecks as Miguel Bolonna explained, one from 1995 (12m) and the second one in 1996 (32m). Only one record of a missing Spanish galleon on the mid 1800's, but it's never been found. The drop off is too close to shore, especially in the La Boca river.
Jorge
Do you have any comments on this dive site?
print dive site review | contribute site info / photo | top 
Do you run a dive operation in this area?
Click here to find out more about being listed on this
page in dive site directory.
|
