Cuba | Exploration Dives in the Cienaga De Zapata

We’ve recently got back from a trip to Cuba. This time scuba diving in a region located within the Ciénaga de Zapata Biosphere Reserve. Until recently the area has been closed to tourism due to it being a Military forbidden zone and close to one of Castro Fidel’s homes. It has been around 50 years since anybody has dived there.

Most of the trip was spent on a liveaboard which took us to different dive sites, some of which where unnamed. Some of the locations visited include the Russi Wall and Canon de Blanco near Cayo Blanco, a tiny island no bigger than a strip of sand that drops abruptly into the blue.

We also dived Canon de Sigua a gradual sloping drop off which was covered in undamaged stunning Caribbean corals.

Another highlight was diving a cenote in Playa Larga, also known as ‘The Bay of Pigs’. The cenote (or casimba as they are called in cuba) was named ‘Casimba del Brinco’ meaning “jump”‘, in reference to the 2.5m jump required to enter the cavern. The cenote itself was visually stunning and ethereal, in particular the bright shafts of sunlight that shone through the crack in the top of the cave’s ceiling.