Who did I dive with in Cuba? Gardens of the Queen is a protected marine area and the number of divers per year is limited to under 1000. It is an area with 150 islands. We dove in the Southern part and expected to see Caribbean reef sharks, Silky sharks, sting rays, nurse sharks and healthy coral reefs which Andersen Cooper called a “Living Time Machine” when he visited for CNN in 2011.
How many people are on the boat? I was on the recently renovated Avalon 2 which has 10 staterooms and holds 20 divers. There were 12 divers on my trip. 10 men from Mexico, one Israeli paratrooper and ME!
Did you need a visa? I bought a visa at the airport in Cancun while waiting in line to check my bag for my flight. It was $20usd cash. Leaving Havana my exit visa was included in the price of my ticket back to Cancun. I was in Cuba from Oct 20 – 29, 2016 which was before many of the new flights from the USA to Cuba began this month. Things are changing rapidly now but while I was there you could not use an American based ATM or credit card in Cuba.