Isla de Juventud

12/14

Isla de Juventud : 

Last night we anchored in Siguranea Bay. Isla de Juventus is off the beaten track and far behind on it’s exposure to tourism.  It is said this island was the inspiration for Robert Lewis Stevenson's Treasure Island. It is also significant in the history of Cuba as this is where one finds the prison Presidio Modelo, modeled after the Illinois State Prison in Joliet, Illinois. This is the prison where Fidel Castro was incarcerated after a failed revolution attempt. 

We have opted to dive today as we are told this is some of the most pristine diving in Cuba. We understand we will find black coral yet not a lot of reef life. The boat ride to the dive site is about 2 hours and we take a short cut through the mangroves where we will fish for our lunch. 

We were up early and off the boat for a zodiac ride. When we arrived at the dock got fitted with dive gear and signed the paperwork. The one snag was the dive boat was having mechanical issues and the mechanic was pulling parts and pounding on them. As we were waiting for the boat to be fixed the dive shop gathered some coconuts and offered us a coconut full of great water and then the flesh.

We learned the problem with the boat was the pump which brings in sea water to cool the engine was broken. It seem the repair was being made with one wrench, a block of wood and a hammer. The pump was eventually repaired and installed and they fired up the engine. With much commotion and discussion the repair was not really complete as a gasket had blown. This did not deter the mechanic. He pulled the pump off and made a gasket from some cardboard and grease. Yes Cubans do more with less. 

Finally at about 1200 the boat was declared sea worthy and we loaded up and were off. We made our way across the bay  stopping to catch lobster for lunch. After a good long boat ride we arrived at the first dive site #26 Monkey. The depth was about 50 feet and we got a good long dive in. The reef was heathy with abundant life. We then made our way to the second dive site for a very shallow dive 30 feet. On this dive there was good reef life but the reef was covered in brown algae, yet we did see a ray and barracuda and a lion fish. When we surfaced we had the most wonderful lunch of lobster tail, and seriously this was the best lobster I have ever had. By the way the mechanic and deckhand was also the cook.The lobster was served with rice, veg and fruit. 

Caracara and Red Tail Hawk, Egrets, were observed as we awaited the dive boat repair. 

We sailed directly back to the Panorama II, and were allowed to board directly, rather than having to go all the way into the dock, clear customs and then zodiac back to the boat. 

The group which did the city tour said they had a great time as the town basically turned out to greet and host them. Sounded like they had a great time.  It was a tough decision and we are glad we went diving to say we have been diving in Cuba.