ultimate shark diving & shark photography

Options in Cuba from 17 Novem-ber through to 19 Decem-

ber based at the superb dive centres in Jardines de la Reina and Cayo

Largo. Duration to suit you; 14 or 18 nights with intermedi-

ate stops to soak up the incredible atmosphere of Havana.

all images copyright Paul Colley 2014

photography-biased tripshosted by award-winning SLR and compact camera professional Paul Colley; a dive magazine freelance col-umnist and industry leader in under-water photography composition. Paul is a highly-accomplished instructor

with a renowned ability to adopt the different teaching styles that fit the needs of all

clients.

paul colley underwater photography

simplicity & funat the heart ofsuccessfulunderwater photography

Summary:3 options - All Deliver!

Option 1 duration 18 nights:

One night Havana, 6 nights Cayo Largo, 1 night Havana, 6 nights Jardines de la Reina,and 3 final nights in Havana.

Departs: 27th November 2014Returns: 15th December 2014

Cost: £3699.00 per person based on 2 sharing. Includes 4 days diving (2 per day) in Cayo Largo and 3 dives per day in the Jardines.

Option 2 duration 14 nights:

One night Havana, 3 nights Cayo Largo, one night Havana, 6 nights Jardines de La Reinaand final 3 nights Havana.

Departs: 1st December 2014Returns: 15th December 2014

Cost: £3579.00 per person based on two sharing. Includes 2 days diving (2 per day) in Cayo Largo and 3 dives per day in the Jardines.

Option 3, duration 14 nights:

2 nights Havana, 6 nights Jardines de La Reina, one night Havana, 4 nights Cayo Largoand final night in Havana.

Departs: 4th December 2014Returns: 19th December 2014

Cost: £3599.00 per person based on two sharing. 3 days diving (2 per day) included in Cayo Largoand 3 dives per day in the Jardines.

Itinerary

Depart London Gatwick on a Thursday or Monday, returning overnight on either a Monday of Thursday. Direct flights with Virgin Atlantic c. 1100am and arriving into Havana at c. 1700.

46 kilos of baggage allowance! 5* bed & breakfast accommodation in Havana’s finest Old Town hotel.

6 nights full board accommodation on your live-aboard, M/Y Georgiana, the newest addition to the Avalon fleet. 15 dives in shark-filled waters. Crocs and Goliath groupers too, as well as beautiful reefs.

2 dives per diving day in Cayo Largo, to include the fabulous offshore reefs of Cayo Blanco and Cayo Rosario. Diving days will be one day less than the nights you spend here based on the need for an internal flight back to Havana.

Accommodation in Cayo Largo is in a purpose built dive lodge situated right on the waters edge on an all-inclusive basis.

Photography Workshops

Hosted by our immensely experienced professional photographer, author and dive magazine columnist Paul Colley, the time spent on the live-aboard will be a blessing to all those who dive with a camera!

Paul provides daily briefings and coaching sessions, on both a formal and informal basis (attend or not; it is entirely up to you). He will also provide photograph review sessions, personal coaching and mini workshops for whatever interests the guests: lighting; composition; photo editing; whatever you wish. Paul regularly uses both compact and high-end professional SLR cameras, so can easily adapt to any teaching need. He is also an accredited INON photography instructor who can teach and award the INON Underwater Photographer certification if required. To clarify, guests will get as much as they want to out of this week on board - formal sessions will be offered, but are in no way mandatory, allowing photographers and divers with-out cameras to get the most from every dive!

Havana

Your accommodation in Havana is the very best. The Iberostar Parque Central hotel sits right in the heart of the Old Town, surrounded by cobbled streets and all of the famous bars and attractions. Floridita, also known as Hemmingways, is right across the square, and the Capito-lio is just around the corner. Museums are close by, and the streets of the Old Town Havana are right on your doorstep.

We would suggest that the best way to see Havana is in your own classic convertible car. A 1955 Chevy or Cadillac with a private guide and driver take you around authentic Havana, stopping off for lunch, getting out to walk the streets where necessary, and really taking in Cuban life. This can be arranged in advance, or in Havana with our staff who will be at your disposal throughout your trip.

Jardines de La Reina

This marine reserve was established some 16 years ago by the University of Havana, and still acts to this day as a fully focused marine reserve and research environment. The diving business is operated by an outsourced company called Avalon, who we represent exclusive-ly in the UK. Avalon are a very capable organisation, and provide exceptional quality in all things they do. Catering is superb (particularly if you like seafood!) and the dive guides are real experts. In fact, they seem to know the marine life personally, and even call the 'baby' croc by name when entering the mangroves! Needless to say, he comes along side the skiff, and you can choose to stay on board or even snorkel with him!

Your home at sea, M/Y Georgiana is a beautiful live aboard vessel launched in 2013 and equipped for safety and comfort! With 8 twin cabins, a huge open air saloon and dining area, Georgiana is a very special vessel. All cabins are en suite, air condi-tioned and have ample cupboard space. There are also laundry facilities on board. All meals and water are provided, together with self serve hot drinks - the bar is the only extra, and a bottle of rum costs 10 euros!

Jardines is a stretch of coral and mangrove islands that span 75 miles in an east-west direction, located some 60 miles off the southern coast of Cuba out towards the Cayman Islands. The whole habitat is in itself a total Eco-system, and the mangroves and lagoons provide the prefect nursery for all sorts of marine life. Corals are abun-dant and healthy, visibility often exceeds 50 metres, and the whole reserve is heavily protected. Only 700 divers per annum are permitted to visit here, so this is an exclu-sive destination if there ever was one!

The Diving

The daily routine starts with a wake up call, together with fresh coffee and juice, at 0715. A full breakfast starts at 0730, and then it is off diving from about 0845. A surface interval is normally spent on a desert island, playing with the iguanas and Jutias (an indigenous beaver type critter) or snorkelling with Lemon sharks, or even into the mangroves to visit with Niño, the 'baby' croc, who is actually about 3 metres from nose to tail!

A second dive takes you to either the reefs and walls, or into the lagoons, dependent upon the tides, and then it is back 'home' to your live aboard for a full lunch. After a necessary siesta (!) the third dive departs, returning you to base at about 1630, where you will be greeted with hot fresh pizza and a cocktail of the day, with compliments from the staff on board!

A twilight dive can also be arranged with the dive staff, but this is not included in the overall price. This is an unofficial but official 'tip' arrangement that helps the dive staff supplement their £350 annual salary! The same works for the bar on board -the staff buy the drinks with their tips, and then sell back to the guests. As a result, the bar prices are very very cheap, and a whole bottle of rum costs 10 euros, and they will thrown in the coke for free!

The vast majority if the diving will get you up close and personal with the shark populations here. Lemon sharks, black and white tipped reef sharks, grey reef sharks, bull sharks in the mangroves and even great hammerheads in the blue! Whale sharks are commonly seen in between November and January as they migrate to the Gulf of Mexico too!

Most spectacular are however the silky sharks, and you will be surrounded by more than 20 of these beautiful animals at any one time. Up close, and per-sonal! Visibility is maintained as you dive the inside or outside of the reefs, depending on the tides, and water temperature in November to January can be expected to be 25 degrees. Air temperature is normally late 20s to early 30s so you will get a tan!

All diving is done from fast skiffs, where your kit stays (except your cameras etc) and this is all very James Bond. Zipping through the mangrove channels at 30+ knots is an experience, particularly when the sun is setting and the whole area becomes a mirror for the sunset!

Jardines de La Reina can only be reached from the port of Jucaro on a Satur-day morning. You return by fast transfer boat or your live aboard on a Friday morning, giving you 5 full days of diving. Jucaro is some 5 hours from Havana, and the luxury coach leaves Havana at 0430 on the Saturday, return-ing for about 1900 on the following Friday. There are meal and refreshment stops on both legs. Whilst it is a long journey, it is both comfortable (reclin-ing seats on the coach) and the scenery is a big draw too. Seeing the real Cuba as the sun rises is pretty special!

Cayo Largo

Cayo Largo is one of the smallest offshore islands around the coast of Cuba, situat-ed a 35 minute flight from Havana in the Caribbean Sea. Only 17km in circumfer-ence, Cayo Largo is the real 'Robinson Crusoe' destination, and its beaches were ranked 8th in the world by Conde Naste in 2013 and 11th in the Trip Adviser Top 100 beaches in The World - this really is a little slice of Heaven on Earth! Accommo-dation is in the Villas Marinera - a small collection of 20 timber lodges on the waters edge, and a 30 second stroll to the jetty, dive centre and dive boats!

All inclusive board basis, air conditioning, a club lounge with library, pool table, bar and games area, a salt water pool and restaurant make up the lodge, but it is the staff that really make the experience here - you arrive as a guest and leave as part of the family! The island offers plenty of non-diving activities too - next to the dive centre is a turtle sanctuary, and seeing the critters hatch from the sand, or releasing them into the sea for their first bid at freedom is a very special experience! A vol-canic outcrop at the Northern tip of the island is home to a plethora of huge igua-nas and Ospreys, horse riding along the beach or hiring a scooter for the day (£8) to explore and find your own beach - perfect!

The diving here is pretty special too. There are over 30 recognised dive sites at Cayo Largo, ranging from local dives that are shallower and that are perfect for macro photography to a stunning offshore wall. Marine life is plentiful, and it is not un-common to encounter sharks (grey reef and hammerhead), schooling eagle rays, dolphins, giant southern sting rays and even whale sharks. Snapper, grouper, grunts and the normal Caribbean reef inhabitants, plus a whole array of crabs and nudi-branchs are seen on pretty much every dive too!

The whole itinerary, whichever departure date you choose, will be fully bonded under ABTA, IATA and ATOL for your financial protection.

The way forward

Booking:

We require passenger names as per their passports, together with passport numbers, expiry dates, dates of birth and nationality for each passenger travel-ling. We will require a deposit of £250 per person against the trip, and this is non refundable. Payment of the balance is due 13 weeks before departure, but interim payments can be made at any time between deposit and balance due date. There are fees levied for payments on credit cards. 2% of the transaction value will be charged for all Visa and MasterCard payments, and 3.5% for American Express payments. Debit cards attract no surcharges, and on line payments may be made, together with bank transfers or cheques if necessary.

A copy of our booking conditions can be found at http://www.holidayplace.-co.uk/about/booking-conditions.

Visas are included in the prices quoted.

Travel insurance for visiting Cuba is mandatory, and should include repatriation cover.

Tickets and full travel documentation will be issued to the lead passenger 2 weeks prior to departure for the sake of safety and security and all passengers will receive confirmation of their booking and receipt for parents made imme-diately they book, together with anATOL certificate.

At present, there are no mandatory inoculations required for travelling to Cuba, but we advise that you check with your medical practitioner in plenty of time prior to departure.

John Spencer-AdesDirector, The Scuba Place. john@thescubaplace.co.uk. 0207 644 8252