Jardines De La Reina

Have recently spent a week on a liveaboard to Jardines De La Reina Cuba. Had a fantastic time diving with the sharks and thought I'd share some images.

Shots taken with Nikon D90 and 60mm + tokina 10-17.

Hope you like them.

DSC_0363 by spencerjb22, on Flickr

Framing The Shark by spencerjb22, on Flickr

DSC_0304-2 by spencerjb22, on Flickr

Shark Portrait - 4/52 by spencerjb22, on Flickr

DSC_0029-2 by spencerjb22, on Flickr

DSC_0441 by spencerjb22, on Flickr

DSC_0233-2 by spencerjb22, on Flickr

DSC_0436 by spencerjb22, on Flickr

Goliath Grouper by spencerjb22, on Flickr

DSC_0367 by spencerjb22, on Flickr

DSC_0096 by spencerjb22, on Flickr

DSC_0178 by spencerjb22, on Flickr

DSC_0105 by spencerjb22, on Flickr

DSC_0154 by spencerjb22, on Flickr

DSC_0132 copy by spencerjb22, on Flickr

Nice. I had no idea Cuba had such nice reefs.

Looks like you had a great trip. Thanks for sharing. I really like the macro shots.

Happy diving - Pam

Great set of shots Spencer!

Sadly not the greatest picture, but lack of time or viz with this little dude meant I couldn't quite do it justice....but thought worth a share anyway.

DSC_0396 by spencerjb22, on Flickr

Thank guys for the kind words. Glad you like them.This place has stunning reefs. It's 6 hours sailing from mainland and highly protected. I'd say most dives you'll see 20 + sharks and have the reefs to yourself as limited divers allowed each year.

DSC_0081-2 by spencerjb22, on Flickr

Super images Spencer!!

This looks like a dive location with so much to offer :-)

Well done and thank u for sharing :-)

Super images Spencer!!

This looks like a dive location with so much to offer :-)

 

Well done and thank u for sharing :-)

Cheers Damo, yes, it's got lots to offer.

It appears that some of the posts on here have 'gone missing' during the site move.

Here is the link to the Anderson Cooper piece on the area http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7392092n

Someone asked about whether it's ok for American's to travel. Official not quite, you have no issues getting into Cuba, getting back into the States can be a little tricky.

Saying that we had a group of American's on our boat, they booked with the same UK based operator we did. They flew via Cancun and had no issues getting back. There were also lots of American's in Havana too, so don't think it's stopping people going.

What liveaboard was this? I'd like to plan a trip before its accessible to the masses. Or is my ADD kicking in and I missed that part

Spencer, it was me who asked about Americans getting into Cuba. The post was lost during the site renovation.

Do you or does anyone know if Cuba stamped the American passports? I wonder how they got back to the US without hassles.

Yeah, I asked Adam (admin ) and sadly the posts were lost. No worries, let me ask the question and come back....

Spencer, it was me who asked about Americans getting into Cuba. The post was lost during the site renovation.

 

Do you or does anyone know if Cuba stamped the American passports? I wonder how they got back to the US without hassles.

Cuba does not stamp passports. its typically no trouble coming back but helps if you stay a day or so in Cancun/Cozumel on the way back. In the rare cases where there has been trouble, its Immigration trying to trick people into admitting they were in Cuba. The reality is they don't know so long as you aren't wearing cuban t shirts or coming back with a bunch of cigars/rum. Having receipts/photos of your "time in Mexico" always helps too.

Pretty much as jmauricio says. Keep it low key and you should be fine.