Dive Review of Avalon Cuba Dive Centers/Jardines Avalon III liveaboard in
Cuba/Jardines de la Reina

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Avalon Cuba Dive Centers/Jardines Avalon III liveaboard: "Jardines de la Reina aboard the Jardines Avalon III", Jan, 2022, by Emmette Murkett, AL, US ( Reviewer 6 reports with 9 Helpful votes). Report 11857 has 6 Helpful votes.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations		Food
Service and Attitude		Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Jardines de la Reina (Gardens of the Queen) Marine Sanctuary starting 60 miles off the southern part of Cuba is the largest, most pristine and least visited marine sanctuary in the Caribbean. It has been on my bucket list since I saw Stephen Frink’s pictures in Alert Diver Magazine. It certainly did not disappoint! Only two dives out of twenty-four had no sharks. Most had 6-9 grey sharks and many had at least a couple of silky sharks as well. The greys would zoom in and out of our group and got to the point of being actually annoying. The silkies usually hung out under the boat. I had to push one out of the way to get to the boarding ladder. I saw more grouper in a week than I have seen in other parts of the Caribbean in the last ten years. At three sites, we had a Goliath Grouper hang out with us and actually beg us for a rub. As per instructions we didn’t touch them, but our lead dive guide had to push one just to keep him out of the way. The Goliaths lived up to their name. All were over 300 lbs and one was over 500. Every site had a couple of green morays, although not huge, many were out swimming until our group closed in on them. Many rare small fish were spotted by our intrepid photographers including Golden Hamlets, Golden Basslets, juvenile Spotted Drums, etc. There was so much diverse marine life that it is mind numbing to try to remember everything that I saw when filling out my logbook after the 4-5 dives of the day. We had two night dives that weren’t exceptional, especially when you consider the onslaught of blood worms, one of which ended up in my ear until the next morning. There were a couple of sharks on the night dives. Many sites had lots of tarpon and they were present on both night dives. The hard corals were in really good shape, especially the brain coral. Some had the usual issues and most of the brain corals were small. I didn’t see any big brain coral, but there was a lot of new growth on the larger substrate. The biggest healthy corals were pillar coral. There was lots of finger coral, both healthy and dead and many really nice small star corals. We visited a shallow area that had some beautiful staghorn coral. This was done as a snorkel dive because of the shallow depth and fragile nature of this almost extinct species. The corals at this site were teaming with a huge variety of colorful fish. I had to cover the diving first, because that is why I was there. However, the crew of the Jardines Avalon III really deserves a lot of credit for a wonderful visit. The dive staff was excellent, our 33’ tender was spacious, easy to enter and exit, the boat staff was always eager to please, and the food was fantastic. There was always fresh fish, beef, pork and chicken. Every meal had fresh baked goods like bread and pastries. Thursday was grill day. For lunch we had hamburgers, hot dogs and pork kebabs cooked on the grill. That night we had grilled lobster and a really good beef tenderloin. One thing that I missed was fresh milk for my coffee and there was no ice cream. The milk provided for cereal and coffee was made from powder. Pastries and snacks were offered between dives and fresh pizza served to you between the third and fourth dives. Hot cocoa with rum was served on the dive deck after the night dives. The fist mojito was on the house on the top deck after diving. Every table got a bottle of red and a bottle of white wine during dinner. Most of the wine came from Spain. Each guest was given an allowance of 48 bottle drinks and Dutch beer for the week. Cocktails were on the honor system and included Havana Club 3 year-old silver and 7 year-old dark rum. After each dive, all you had to do was yell "hot towel!" and the crew would respond with "hot towel!" and hand you a towel right out of the dryer. Our boat even had a medical doctor on staff and ready to assist us with any issues that can crop up when you do 4-5 dives per day. He measured and recorded our body temperatures every morning and gave us the obligatory rapid COVID test required for reentry into the US. There is no Internet or phone service in the park.
Websites	Avalon Cuba Dive Centers Jardines Avalon III liveaboard
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	Over 1000 dives
Where else diving	Caymans, Cozumel, Xcalak, Banco Chinchorro, Bimini, Southern Bahamas, Red Sea, Gulf of Mexico, US rivers and springs, Florida Keys, Belize, Culebra, Roatan, Cuba
Closest Airport	Havana	Getting There	Fly to Havana, take a bus to the port at Jucaro
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, rainy, dry	Seas	calm
Water Temp	80-85°F / 27-29°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	30-80 Ft/ 9-24 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	yes
Enforced diving restrictions	Cuban law requires a dive guide for every six divers. All dives are guided.
Liveaboard?	yes	Nitrox Available?	yes
What I Saw
Sharks	Lots	Mantas	None
Dolphins	1 or 2	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	1 or 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	The dive deck had two camera tables with power strips and there was a fresh rinse tank just for cameras. The lounge had a 60" tv with HDMI inputs and theater sound. The cabins had small flat screens with HDMI inputs. The sharks, Goliath Grouper and other grouper offered lots of photo ops. There were plenty of nudibranchs and other small critters for macro shots.

Report currently has 6 Helpful votes

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Dive Review of Avalon Cuba Dive Centers/Jardines Avalon III liveaboard in Cuba/Jardines de la Reina

Avalon Cuba Dive Centers/Jardines Avalon III liveaboard: "Jardines de la Reina aboard the Jardines Avalon III", Jan, 2022,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Avalon Cuba Dive Centers/Jardines Avalon III liveaboard in
Cuba/Jardines de la Reina