Mexico and Cuba (recommendations welcome)

Hi Guys

Im off to Mexico and Cuba in December and January with my wife for our honeymoon and I am under strick instructions not to turn this into "another diving trip"

I have however been given permission to go diving for one day in each of these countries so I am doing a bit of research so I can try to manage to get the best bang for my buck.

In Mexico we will fly into Mexico city and then fly onto Cancun. In Cuba we will fly into Havana and then we are open to suggestions on where to go.

I have never been to either of these countries so I am hoping that some of the well travelled people on this forum might give a few recomendations about good places to visit.

Questions:

Mexico the one best dive site (day trip only)

Cuba the one best dive site (day trip only)

Mexico the things you have to see above the water

Cuba the things you have to see above the water

Any pricing or accomodations recommendations or pitfalls would be very welcome.

Cheers and thanks very much for any help

Steve

Well Steve i've been on the same tricky situation as you will be soon and i can only say .... May The Force be with you my son !

From Habana i think the only dive sites are around Varadadero , aprox. 1 hour driving from the city ; but the diving there is not the best .

As for a place to stay , be warned that hotels in Cuba are not cheap anymore ( since they rated their services in euros ) and they are overpriced for the quality of service that you receive . I've been many times there and know several hotels but the only one i can recommend is El Telegrafo , very well located and in good shape ( for La Habana standards ) . I was there last july and the price was 90 euros/per room/night .

Another one that really catch my eye for their location and the one i will choose if i was in honeymoon , is Hotel Santa Isabel . Altough i had not stay there , i went inside and looks really nice but is about 50% more than El Telegrafo.

La Habana is great for photography and walk around since is really safe for tourists unless you go inside some few areas .

Don't miss daiquiris at Bar Floridita and mojitos at La Bodeguita del Medio ( both are the best i ever have ) also cuban food at La Bodeguita is really good. Another good place for cuban food is restaurant Los Nardos in front of the Capitolio .

As day trips , Vinales and Trinidad are the best options from La Habana .

From Cancun , best day trip for diving is Cozumel or some cavern diving on the cenotes near Tulum area . Also the mayan ruins of Tulum and specially Coba are worth a daytrip . In Cozumel i can recommend a small dive operator that have experience with u/w photographers ( www.sunrisediverscozumel.com) . Keep in mind that Cozumel is a popular cruise ship destination and some operators use big boats with huge amount of divers.

I will prefer to stay further south from Cancun , since is really crowded ( for my taste ) . Near Tulum you can find some really nice small beach hotels

You can pm if you want more detailed info .

Good luck and have a nice time there.

Jose Alejandro

I'm not a big fan of Cancun.

Cozumel is the best dive destination in Mexico by far. It's a bit of a long day trip. You will have to get yourself to Playa Del Carmen and across on the ferry, then meet your dive op or just taxi to Caleta to meet your dive boat. Then you have to catch an op that is doing a 2-tank PM run that day.

Alternatively, you could just truck on down to PDC or Akumal and dive there which is a simple 1-1.5hr trip down the highway. This is far less desirable reef diving compared to Cozumel, but OK. It is far superior to anything in the Cancun area.

Another alternative is to dive the cenotes, which are mostly located in the general PDC area. The water is cool and clear. It's cavern diving. There are some where your wife can snorkel while you dive.

Another activity would be the whale shark tour in Isla Mujeres. This is very close to Cancun. I'm not sure how seasonal the whale sharks are. Contact Ruben Pena at seahuahuau@hotmail.com if you are interested.

A land tour I would not miss is Chichen itza for some incredible Mayan Ruins.

I've been to Cozumel well over 20 times, but not so much any more. If you need some contacts to make arrangements PM me and I'll give you several good ops you can contact about logistics. As I said, it would be the best dive option, but may not be worth it time wise.

As an American, I can't legally go to Cuba and spend money that will support Fidel Castro and his communist regime. China? No problem.

Havanna: Someone (that's not me obviously because it's illegal for me to go there ) stayed at Santa Isabel and as El Buzo says, it's a nice hotel, with that old colonial feel in decor. The "occupants" enjoyed it a lot but felt the decor while comfortable, wasn't very luxurious. Most importantly, their beds are the old metal link base ones which can squeak a bit, not very honeymoon mood inducing!

"They" also stayed at the Saratoga which is great, with modern art deco style decor and the restaurant was also nice. Restaurants were good and the roof garden pool resto had a nice view of old havanna. The view from the suite was very cool. Costs about the same as the Santa Isabel.

Havana is great fun and you better bring your dancing shoes.

Mexico City: My favorite hotel is Las Alcobas. The accommodation and spa are better than the W and 4 seasons. Just a very nice and small hotel.

If you are in Cancun in Jan, then charter a boat and head out to look for sailfish baitballs. Try your luck for a day or 2.

Also agree on Chichen.

I just wanted to say thanks very much to you guys for proving me with this very helpful information.

It looks like when we go to Cancun we will try to find a place somewhere near Puerto Moreno (edit - I mean Puerto Morelos). I like the idea of visiting the cenotes near Tulum and I have read that they also have some interesting ruins there too. Because im so tall (6 foot 5 inches) Im wondering if they will able to supply me with a suitable wetsuit or would I need to bring my own?

The sailfish baitball idea would be awesome. I would love to see that.

Its really hard for me to resist the urge to book a place for the diving opportunities but I think if we turned up to somewhere that said "diving resort" or something like that then she will probably get annoyed. I will just have to test the waters so I can try again in a few years...

In Cuba there is a resort halfway Varadero and Havana named Breezes Jibacoa (not Chameleon Jibacoa which is next door). It lacks the craziness of the former and is a lot closer for day trips to the latter. It is nestled between a low "mountain" ranch and the coast and there are only two resorts in the midst of Cuban country side. The best thing is they have good snorkeling right off the beach with a flat limestone plateau ending in a 8-10m vertical wall, as well as an area of sea grass and rocky rubble. I've probably seen about a 100 species of fish, if not more, just snorkeling there including a snake eel, purplemouth and goldspot moray and lots more.

The resort is not advertised as a dive resort, it is really a very relaxed no-kids resort with some entertainment but definitely not for the party minded, however they do have two boat dives a day the first to a set of deeper dives (90-110 foot) about 20 minutes east by boat and the second about a mile out in front of the resort to 30-50 foot. The deep dives are quite good, not quite Cozumel or Bonaire but I'd go back in a minute. The shallow ones are okay but if you are on a tight dive diet you may as well aim for the early morning dive.

The resort is advertised as the Cuban resort with the most repeat visitors and you will indeed see many of those (lots of Canadians of course). If you want an easy to reach affordable place to stay in Cuba with some luxury, lots of peace and quite, good snorkeling, and can survive on two dives per day (no night dives) then you should check them out.

Bart