{"id":5581,"date":"2016-04-07T13:34:41","date_gmt":"2016-04-07T13:34:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=5581"},"modified":"2016-04-07T13:34:41","modified_gmt":"2016-04-07T13:34:41","slug":"the-other-largo-cayo-largo-cuba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=5581","title":{"rendered":"The “other” Largo, Cayo Largo, Cuba"},"content":{"rendered":"

Of course, every cruiser has heard of Key Largo, in FL but how many American cruisers have visited the \u201cother\u201d Largo, Cayo Largo, on the southern coast of Cuba?\u00a0 Well, that\u2019s where we are and it\u2019s a remarkable place indeed.<\/p>\n

I have to say that it is a treat to be here as we don\u2019t usually tie up at marinas and it\u2019s the nicest of the marinas that Brenda and I have seen during the month we have spent in Cuba.\u00a0 Cayo Largo is an interesting island, some distance from mainland Cuba as is totally devoted to tourists.\u00a0\u00a0 The only Cubans that are here work in the hotels and marina and all of them only live here while they are \u201con duty\u201d for their 21 day (I think) cycle.\u00a0 While they are here they live in housing provided for them on the island.\u00a0 After their \u201ctour\u201d is over, they move home to the mainland for a week and then begin the process all over again.<\/p>\n

There are many buildings that make up the marina complex but clearly the bar is the center of activity.\u00a0 It\u2019s a nice spot.\u00a0\"4-6-16aAnd, there is a great view of Pandora right out in front. \u00a0\"OLYMPUSInterestingly, a cerveza (beer) is $1CUC if you buy a single can or a case in a grocery and the price doesn\u2019t change if you purchase a full case.\u00a0 And a beer in the bar is also $1CUC, the same price as in the grocery.\u00a0 Go figure.\u00a0 To that point, we have found that most consumer goods seem to be sold at set prices regardless of where you purchase them.\u00a0\u00a0 For diesel, it\u2019s always a pretty high $1 CUC\/liter as the price is set by the government.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also interesting to see how prices compare to the U.S. as some things are much more expensive here than in the U.S. and other things are less.\u00a0 Beer in a bar wins the prize as the low cost item.\u00a0 The last time I paid the equivalent of $1 for beer in a bar was many, many years ago.<\/p>\n

On another topic, a \u201ccold\u201d front came through the area the other night bringing with it, a temporary break in the humidity, a welcome change for us.\u00a0 We have been in the marina for a few days now and to be able to run our AC, well at least one of our two zones, has been great.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the electricity on the docks isn\u2019t quite strong enough to handle both zones, but cooling the main salon during the day and our cabin at night has been a real treat.\u00a0 Another benefit is that the prices at marinas here in Cuba are considerably less than in the U.S. at less than $40CUC per day and that includes electricity, such as it is.\u00a0 One consideration though is that the water on the dock is brackish, at best, so you don\u2019t want to put it in your tanks.\u00a0 However, because the harbor is so clean, with about 20\u2019 of visibility, even at the dock, we have been able to run our watermaker each day.\u00a0 When was the last time you were in a marina with that kind of water clarity?<\/p>\n

How about 5\u2019 long tarpon swimming near the bar?\u00a0 Not something that you see every day.\"4-4-16bThis area of Cuba is known for spectacular diving and I have to say that the amount of sea life, even close to the marina is remarkable, especially compared to The Bahamas, where we have spent a lot of time.<\/p>\n

When you get about a mile from the marina the water is even more amazing and I was surprised to find literally dozens of conch, both mature adults and smaller juveniles nearly everywhere.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In the Bahamas, where they are heavily fished, you would never see such a sight.\u00a0 These are the little ones, about 3-4\u201d long.\u00a0 Brenda and I were fortunate to find a few shells that had no occupants.\u00a0\u00a0 What a find. \u00a0Believe it or not, this shot was taken trough the water. \u00a0 Gin clear.\"4-6-16aIf you didn\u2019t see the ripple on the water you\u2019d never know that this starfish was even in the water.\u00a0\u00a0 This one measures a foot across.\u00a0\"4-6-16aAnd, just above the surf line there is a very healthy population of iguanas.\u00a0 This big guy was looking for a handout and was pretty intimidating at over 4\u2019 long.\u00a0 There are some like this in the Bahamas too but they only populate a very few islands.\u00a0 Here in Cuba they are on many islands.\u00a0\u00a0 A few years ago one of the Bahamas colonies was wiped out in a hurricane and some \u201cstock\u201d from here was used to repopulate.\u00a0 \u00a0They are pretty fearsome looking creatures.\"OLYMPUSI expect that once Cuba is \u201cdiscovered\u201d by folks from the U.S., there will be much more pressure on the environment.\u00a0 Yes, there are a lot of tourists from all over the world here but I expect that an \u201cAmerican Invasion\u201d is going to have a big impact.<\/p>\n

Make no mistake about it, there are plenty of tourists here now as witnessed by this beach scene on the other side of the island but somehow things are still pretty pristine.\"OLYMPUSThis huge catamaran makes the rounds between here and Cienfuegos as we have seen her several times including blasting by us on her way back toward Cienfuegos as we made our way here the other day.\u00a0 Catamarans are clearly the popular choice verses monohulls here in Cuba and there is a busy charter community, both bareboat and crewed.\"OLYMPUSEvery day dozens head out for snorkel trips here at the marina and to head to some of the nice reefs nearby.\u00a0 The crowds aboard those boats are a bit different than what Brenda and I experience aboard Pandora where the mantra is \u201csix for cocktails, four for dinner and two (that\u2019s us) sleep on board\u201d.\u00a0\"OLYMPUS \"OLYMPUSWhile there only a handful of boats here it\u2019s a very international group including France, Luxembourg, England, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and even Russia.\u00a0 And then there was little old Pandora with us Yanks.\u00a0 Here\u2019s some highlights from just the last two days.<\/p>\n

Our friend Lars and two of his buds from Norway relaxing on the bow of Luna.\"4-6-16aA group of guys chartering a boat here on holiday from Russia.\u00a0 Did you know that there is a branch of the \u201cRotary\u201d in Russia and one that\u2019s focused on sailing?\u00a0 It never occurred to me.\u00a0 it\u2019s the International Yachting Fellowship of Rotarians.\u00a0 No kidding and Oleg Karpeev, is the president.\u00a0 They posed with me and Brenda near Pandora. \u00a0One of them was even named Igor (the first real live Igor we have ever met) and their English was WAY better than our Russian.\u00a0\u00a0 Everyone had to get into the shot.\u00a0 They were a lively group.\"4-6-16cWe also enjoyed cocktails with a young couple Monique and Garth, barely 30 years old, who have been sailing for three years, beginning in New Zealand aboard their boat Heartbeat.\u00a0 They have made it all the way across the Pacific, \u201cup hill\u201d against the trades and if that\u2019s not amazing enough, they both suffer from \u201cmal-de-mer\u201d for the first few days of every passage. \u00a0Tough \u201ckids\u201d.\u00a0 \u00a0After Cuba they will be sailing to Europe or \u201cwherever\u201d.\u00a0 Monique keeps a blog, which I have not yet checked out, at svheartbeat.blogspot.com.\u00a0\u00a0 I understand that they post about weekly. \u00a0\u00a0I look forward to following their travels.\u00a0 We tried to convince them to visit us in CT but were unsuccessful.\u00a0 Oh well, perhaps we\u2019ll visit them in New Zealand someday.\u00a0 That would be great fun.\"4-6-16cFirmly secured in the \u201cIt\u2019s a very small world\u201d department, this SAGA 43, sistership to our last Pandora, Discovery, was recently purchased by a Swiss couple was on the dock next to us.\u00a0 They had looked at our old Pandora last winter while we were in the Keys and then decided to purchase my friend Carl\u2019s Discovery instead.\u00a0 Bumping into them here is further proof that it is indeed important to be on your best behavior wherever you go as you just never know who you are going to run into.\u00a0 \u00a0The folks in the sailing group SSCA call this \u201cleaving a clean wake\u201d and we are sure glad that we have.\u00a0 Well, as well as we know, anyway.\"OLYMPUSOne of the most beautiful beaches in Cuba is on this island and each year thousands of sea turtles agree and visit here to lay their eggs.\u00a0\u00a0 In order to ensure the future of these magnificent creatures, the island has established a turtle \u201cnursery\u201d.\u00a0 They dig up the eggs and transplant them to a protected area and then raise the hatchlings in pens so that they can later release them into the wild.\u00a0\u00a0 This way the survival rate is much higher.\u00a0\"OLYMPUSThis little guy was about 15\u2019 long.\u00a0 A beautiful creature.\"OLYMPUSSeveral pools were full of little 6\u2019 long juveniles.\u00a0 \u00a0The patterning on their shells is remarkable.\u00a0 I was amused by how the placed their front flippers while resting. \u00a0“look MA, no hands”\"OLYMPUSThis area is also the first we have seen since entering Cuba that has nice beaches.\u00a0 Much of the coastline is very rugged east of here and there is a healthy collection of lighthouses.\u00a0 The designs are all over the lot.\u00a0 For sure, most of them are quite utilitarian and seem to shout, \u201cstay away\u201d. Oddly, this one on the NW corner of the island is on a craggy point perhaps a mile from deep water.\u00a0 \"OLYMPUSWe have seen quite a few marks that are placed a good distance inside the shallows so you have to pay very careful attention to the charts lest you get into shallow water where you don\u2019t expect it.\u00a0 We have heard a number of cruisers who know of friends who have lost their boats.Pix<\/p>\n

Good charts for Cuba are a fairly recent development.\u00a0 Don\u2019t plan on coming to Cuba expecting to use Raymarine Navionics charts as you will find that what you see on the plotter has little relationship with what\u2019s here.<\/p>\n

Just about every Cuban that we have spent time with has expressed excitement about the improving relations with the U.S. government (Brenda and me too, BTW) including the manager of the marina here.\u00a0 Pier (Peter) has been very friendly and agreed to pose with Brenda and me behind Pandora.\u00a0 Notice that he\u2019s holding our Essex Yacht Club Burgee.\u00a0\"4-6-16aLater I visited with him in his office and he showed me that he has both American and Cuban flags on his desk.\u00a0\"4-6-16aWith things changing in many ways, perhaps there will be an opportunity for Pier to visit us in the U.S. to talk about visiting his homeland.\u00a0 That would be terrific.\u00a0 I am sure that there would be lots of interest on our end for sure.<\/p>\n

He also showed me a photo of him, a bit younger I\u2019d say, when he met Fidel Castro.\u00a0 I expect that Castro looks more \u201cmature\u201d now too.\"4-6-16aAll and all, being in the \u201cother\u201d Largo has been a treat and it\u2019s going to be tough to pry ourselves loose from here as we continue our journey west.<\/p>\n

Today looks to be a beautiful day and I hope to spend some more time with Brenda doing a bit of beach combing and snorkeling so that\u2019s it for now.<\/p>\n

Stay tuned\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Of course, every cruiser has heard of Key Largo, in FL but how many American cruisers have visited the \u201cother\u201d Largo, Cayo Largo, on the southern coast of Cuba?\u00a0 Well, that\u2019s where we are and it\u2019s a remarkable place indeed. I have to say that it is a treat to be here as we don\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","_s2mail":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5581"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5581\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5604,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5581\/revisions\/5604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}