As soon as often known as Fidel Castro’s private playground for scuba diving and sport fishing, the Caribbean’s most untouched and carefully-guarded waters are getting a big-time rebrand.
Lauded because the Galapagos of the Caribbean for its virtually unbelievably immaculate situations, Cuba’s Jardines de la Reina continues to be pristine in a means the remainder of the Caribbean was once many many years in the past.
Years of being functionally off-limits to guests and trade alike have allowed its shark inhabitants to develop larger – and extra quite a few – than virtually wherever else.
With permits strictly proscribing entry to just some hundred thrill-seekers a yr, exploring the unique Jardines de la Reina is not with out its challenges.
Nevertheless, should you’re searching for a “close to assure” of swimming amongst swarms of sharks sans cage, everybody from informal dive fanatics to the specialists on the Skilled Affiliation of Diving Instructors (PADI) agrees that there is nowhere higher.
A Regal Exclusivity
Jardines de la Reina – or, Gardens of the Queen – was christened by Christopher Columbus when he stumbled throughout this marine paradise throughout his second voyage to the Americas in 1494. Named in honor of his patron, Queen Isabella of Spain, this stretch of ocean is properly deserving of its regal moniker.
An unimaginable array of wholesome, vibrant corals, sponges, and sea followers cling to underwater canyons, caves, pass-throughs, and plunging partitions that make for jaw-dropping surroundings. Quite a few swarms of Caribbean reef sharks and silky sharks stalk colourful tropical fish, whereas crocodiles float amongst the coastal mangroves and make thrilling appearances for divers.
It seems the key to such wholesome, vibrant coral reefs and teeming populations of sharks isn’t any actual secret in any respect. Formally designated as a protected marine park in 1996, then as a Nationwide Park in 2010, Jardines de la Reina is really untouched.
This 150-mile-long archipelago of about 230 tiny islets and cays has not a single everlasting resident; one base provides entry to the islands and surrounding waters on a strictly-permitted foundation. Only one dive firm, Avalon, is allowed to escort divers, providing a guided expertise to the highlights of the archipelago on one in every of their six liveaboard ships.
Regardless that it is solely not too long ago accessible, skilled divers rank Jardines de la Reina within the prime 15 locations to go for shark encounters within the Caribbean islands.
“Most of the divers within the Jardines de la Reina are attracted by the almost assured shark sightings.”
Pristine Cuban seashores and unimaginable natural world, each above and beneath the waves, make Jardines de la Reina an much more unforgettable vacation spot. Crocodiles discover and even enterprise towards swimmers alongside shorelines populated by wealthy mangrove forests, making for a very breathtaking expertise.
In case you’re an adrenaline junkie, swimming amongst crocodiles is not prone to be an expertise you knew you wanted till you heard it was doable in these ultra-clear waters.
Diving Match for a Queen (Or a Commandant)
You will not discover the identical built-up dive group or facilities at Jardines de la Reina that you’d on the Caribbean’s different world-class dive websites. A part of what makes this space so unspoiled additionally makes it tougher to get pleasure from except your final title is Castro.
The decades-long U.S. embargo of Cuba signifies that PADI, a U.S. firm, cannot supply services, instructors, or programs in Cuba, however should you’re trying to be taught extra about diving whereas in Cuba, you do have some simple choices.
PADI provides would-be divers a singular PADI Scuba Diving eLearning Course, step one towards all scuba diving certifications the corporate provides. Whether or not you wish to research up out of your sofa or on the street, it makes getting dive prepared simpler than ever; the course is even giftable.
In case you’re desperate to earn your diving chops at first-rate dive websites in Cuba or wherever else, this can be a nice technique to begin the certification course of with out having to get wherever close to a pool. From there, you may end up your certification course of at any of the 6,600 PADI Dive Facilities and Resorts in 186 nations around the globe.
Now or By no means?
However can Individuals even journey to Cuba to expertise this distinctive spot? Sure, truly – and it is a lot simpler than you may count on. Former President Obama’s 2014 detente with Cuba loosened journey restrictions on U.S. residents and made it simpler than it had been in many years for American vacationers to go to Cuba.
Tweaks and adjustments throughout subsequent administrations, whereas fodder for giant information, did little to change essentially the most important adjustments to Cuban journey coverage. For many vacationers, it is merely as simple as reserving a ticket and jetting off to what as soon as appeared like an off-limits island.
Now that the Biden administration resumed direct flights from america to cities past Havana, together with the island’s close by jap capital of Santiago de Cuba, accessing the distant Jardines de la Reina is simpler than ever. You may simply want a bit luck to be among the many few hundred permitted divers a yr to get pleasure from among the finest diving within the Caribbean.
This text was produced by House to Havana and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.
Carley Rojas Avila is an avid traveler, author, and creator behind House to Havana. Having traveled to 25 nations and spent years residing overseas, she shares vacation spot guides, journey ideas, and hacks to assist vacationers and digital nomads really feel at residence when touring off the crushed path, whether or not their travels take them to Havana or past.
