Dive Review of International Diving Centre/Playa Blanca in
Cuba/Cayo Largo

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International Diving Centre/Playa Blanca, Oct, 2012, by chris Aston, ON, CA ( 1 report). Report 6742.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity	N/A
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Cayo Largo is an island off the south central coast of Cuba. It is strictly a vacation spot. No fishing village, no colonial architecture, no bars or restaurants like you find in Mexico. The only Cubans there are people who work in the 4 resorts which are all run by the Cuban government. The one dive shop on the island was started by an Italian company, Avalon, but like most foreign run enterprises in Cuba it was a 10 year partnership with the Cuban government which is now run solely by Cubans. Cayo Largo is popular mainly with Canadians and some Europeans who come for a week or 2 of cheap fun in the sun. The diving was fairly good but not worth going out of your way for. Compared to Coz, Roatan and Grand Cayman it was a bit of a disappointment. No problems just not very exciting. They make a big deal out of the fact that there is no commercial fishing permitted but there still aren't that many fish. Except for lionfish. One of the DMs spent the whole of each dive spearing lionfish and would come back with 12-15 from each dive. By comparison I went to Grand Cayman about 2 months later and in a week I saw 3 lionfish. The dive shop is well run, the divemaster/instructors are as good as any I've met in the caribbean. The rental equipment was fine and the boats, 2 of them, were good enough. The dive sites are around 30 minutes away from the marina. All of our dives were 2 tank dives with surface intervals in shallow water but no return to the marina so people could snorkel while waiting for the second dive. On one of these intervals we saw a school of Tarpon. We did one night dive and it was okay but nothing like the one I did in Coz a year earlier. Some of the people I was diving with made a video of our dives with GoPro cameras. The link is [vimeo.com link] The other divers were a diverse group of Canadians, Russians, Brazilians, Germans, Italians and even 2 Americans who had gotten permission from their government to come to Cuba The cost of diving was a bit more than I've paid in Roatan and a bit less than Grand Cayman but was a fun interesting experience all the same.
Websites	International Diving Centre
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Roatan, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Playa Del Carmen, Tobermory
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, dry	Seas	choppy, no currents
Water Temp	80-82°F / 27-28°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	60-80 Ft/ 18-24 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	[Unspecified]
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics	N/A
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter	N/A	Boat Facilities	N/A
Overall rating for UWP's	N/A	Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	[None]

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Dive Review of International Diving Centre/Playa Blanca in Cuba/Cayo Largo

International Diving Centre/Playa Blanca, Oct, 2012,

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):

Dive Review of International Diving Centre/Playa Blanca in
Cuba/Cayo Largo