Dive Review of Avalon/Tortuga in
Cuba/Jardines de la Reina

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Avalon/Tortuga: "They grow the sharks bigger here!", Apr, 2016, by Eric Eckes, CA, US ( Contributor 18 reports with 11 Helpful votes). Report 9405.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude	N/A	Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	We traveled to Havana under the People-to-People Educational Exchange program between the U.S. and Cuba. At the time of our travel there were no regularly scheduled commercial flights to Havana aside from charters via Miami. As the charters were notoriously unreliable, we flew commercially through Mexico City from LAX to reach Havana. Our destination was Jardines de la Reina or "Gardens of the Queen". Based on positive reviews from prior Undercurrent readers, we booked the Tortuga houseboat located in the mangroves of Jardines de la Reina. Reaching the Tortuga involved a six hour bus ride from Havana to the port city of Jucaro. From there we boarded a boat for a three hour cruise to the Tortuga. The Tortuga was originally used to house oil workers and has since been renovated. The rooms weren't fancy but were nice sized with ensuite bathrooms. One end of the Tortuga houses an outdoor living area and the other end houses an outdoor dining table and bar. Although the Tortuga houses up to 16 divers, our trip involved 6 divers and 7 fly fisherman (catch and release fishing is allowed). The six divers were assigned to a dive guide who also had a degree in marine biology. Each day he would discuss the biodiversity of the area. We learned that Castro had designated Jardines de la Reina as a marine sanctuary over 20 years ago and it showed in the quality of the reefs and the size of the sharks. During our six nights on the Tortuga we encountered some of the largest reef, nurse and silky sharks we had ever seen. If seeing lots of sharks wasn't enough, we had the opportunity to snorkel on more than one occasion with saltwater crocodiles. In fact, the Tortuga had its own pet crocodile named Tito who was happy to have us join him in the water. The reefs were pristine and we timed our visit perfectly to see the barrel sponges spawning. Night dives were generally not encouraged although we were able to log one of our eighteen dives at night. Four of the six divers were photographers. Unfortunately the Tortuga does not have a camera room and all camera work was done on the Tortuga's outdoor patio. After the last dive of each dive day we were greeted with refreshing mojitos and snacks such as pizza bites. We were fed three meals per day and there was no lack of food. The food was tasty although a bit repetitive which may be a reflection of food availability due to the U.S. embargo. The week went by very fast and it was time to make the journey back to Havana. I enjoyed our time onboard the Tortuga and would go back in a heart beat. Prior to heading to Cuba I had heard that MasterCard was accepted in Cuba. That turned out to be false. Bring lots of cash!
Websites	Avalon
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Indonesia, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Malaysia, Philippines, Truk Lagoon, Palau, Yap, Mexico, Galapagos, Cayman Islands, Bahamas, Red Sea, Cocos Island, Cuba, So Cal Local
Closest Airport	Havana	Getting There	LAX to Mexico City to Havana
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny	Seas	calm, no currents
Water Temp	82-83°F / 28-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	80-100 Ft/ 24-30 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	no
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities
UW Photo Comments	The Tortuga did not have any camera facilities. All camera work was done on the outdoor living area at the back of the Tortuga.

Subscriber's Comments

By Michael Bennett in CA, US at Jan 06, 2017 20:35 EST

Would like to see some photos taken by author while enroute to the harbor, the port town and the ride to the Tortuga.

By Michael Bennett in CA, US at Jan 06, 2017 20:36 EST

Also like to see a detail breakdown of the costs.

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Dive Review of Avalon/Tortuga in Cuba/Jardines de la Reina

Avalon/Tortuga: "They grow the sharks bigger here!", Apr, 2016,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Subscriber's Comments

Dive Review of Avalon/Tortuga in
Cuba/Jardines de la Reina