Cruising in Cuba

PascalG

PascalG

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ok... let me start with a "warning"... :-)

this thread is not about politics or the embargo... we all know the rules regarding traveling to Cuba and the conditions over there, so let's not discuss that. Every thread about Cruising in Cuba usually degenerates into a political mud fight, let's stick to the topic... I'm starting this thread here in SFBC since it's the closest forum to Cuba and as moderator i can try to keep the thread stays on topic. Anyone who wants to discusss the politics and embargo can do so in NBR, not here... Political posts/statements will be deleted from this thread.

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I'm interested in information and feedback about cruising in Cuba... Hopefully things will change in the future and it will become possible to cruise Cuban waters which seems to be among the best in the world, from what I've seen from various blogs or pictures on Google Earth.

The north coast has a number of deep protected bays and beaches behind the reef although it's pretty exposed to the dominant winds (easterly trades and northern winds in winter)

The south coast, from the west side (Maria la Gorda, thru the Isle of youth and Cayo Largo) appears to have some of the best beaches and cruising grounds in the entire Caribbean.

Further west, although further away, the Queens Gardens area and the south coast looks almost as nice.

I've been to many of the islands in the CAribbean but these cruising grounds seems to be a notch above the rest. The bahamas are nice obviously although they dont' have mountains and lack the old world touch cuba seems to have (old colonial buildings for isntance)

all this starts just 100 miles from the florida keys which dont' even seem to compare... How many natural beaches to you have in the Keys !

comments, feedback experience ? again no politics !!!
 
Pascal, a Cuban work colleague of mine who told me he grew up combing the north coast has shown me photos and it does look awesome for cruising. I'll have to ask him what the waters are like.
 
Pascal, One of the reasons why we bought a boat like our YF is because someday in the future when things stabilize in Cuba, Yaisy and I feel we have the perfect boat to explore Cuba. Infact, we plan on circumnavigating the whole island. Cuba has many bays and cays that have hardly been explored. I fly over Cuba all of the time. The views that I see from the air are just breath taking. espcially the south of Cuba. One word of warning, from the air I can tell that there are very few if not hardly any civilization on most of the southern coast. Except for the main cities like Havana, most of the coasts are very ruel. I guess thats the beauty of it all but you must be prepaired and be compleatly self sufficent. Of course as the years pass and Cuba enters in economic prosperety, you can bet big bucks on the fact that all of the virgin coastlines will give way to concrete high rises. God willing you and I both will get to see for better or for worse the changes as they happen. just like those folks that saw a sleepy town Called Miami turn into a mega metropolis.

here is a link that has a great photo gallery and some info on cruising cuba. I have the feeling that this site is probably government sponsered or at the very least pro cuba gov. but I cannot deny the good info on this site. you decide.

cut and paste some pics:
http://www.cubacruising.net/
 
thks mario... i've visited that site already, some intersting info.

so far the best info i've found has been on Google earth/panoramio where there are 100s of pictures, user contributed, showing the coast, bays, etc...

interestingly, there are a couple of charter bases on the south coast, I guess european outfits.
 
A buddy of mine who is in Law enforcement is part of his depts anti-terrorist unit. Here in South Florida they have been working closesly with the feds. Their recent attention has been Cuba. He tells me that Cuba will be the next hot spot for cruisers. Apparently some of our foreign developers have already started with possible resort sites, marinas etc. The area for fishing has been untapped. Time depends on Castro and his health. Pics I have seen are beautiful and I hope that when the wife and I take off for our journey in 3 yrs I hope Cuba will be on our list
 
I expect cruising in Cuba will be similar in many ways to cruising Puerto Rico/Culebra/Vieques and the Virgin Islands. I like the Bahamas and I liked FL when I was there, but still IMO it just didn't compare to the beaches of the Virgin Islands or Culebra. I guess it's the nice protected coves and the dense canopies of palm trees and golden yellow sand that really do it for me...

Oh well, someday I'll probably retire down in PR and hopefully will be cruising the caribbean...

Mario (sorry for the hijack Pascal)- are you selling that 34' Hatt?
 
I have friends who go to cuba, at least they claim they do, via mexico etc.. Is it possible to boat to cuba or will the cuban authorities not be happy about that? I was always under the impression the problem was somewhat single sided ? Not being political just curious.
 
You may find this article from Cruising World of interest. It seems there are quite a number of USA boats going to Cuba each year and there are also a lot from other countries. The article is over 10 years old but most of it is still valid.

http://old.cruisingworld.com/timcuba2.htm
 
well, this article is probably accurate on the cuban side of the story... yes, they do welcome cruisers regardless of where they come from and even make sure US passports are not stamped... although their bureacracy, restrictions about where you can and cna't go and requirement to check in at every port appear to make it a pita...

the big development since this article was written is that the embargo is enforced on the US side and going thru the security zone with your boat is illegal and ca reusult in severe consequences.
 
Check with "the Other Gary" up in Toronto. He is a Canuck in waterfront development and has been to Cuba.

Lots of Canuckers sail there for super cheap moorage during the winter. The Hemmingway Marina is .50 a foot a night. Google them, and ask questions on sailnet. Lots of great posts there, and you can ask people who have been boating in Cuba.

If you get "journalist" or "charity" permission papers from the state department, I believe it is okay to travel to Cuba.

Have to get the papers unless you are Canadian or travel illegally from Canadian/non us cities. Some U.S. boats go to Cuba for sailing/fishing events, many have done this for years. Ask through sailnet how they do that--might be by agreeing not to spend any money in Cuba.
 
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