Four NEW Opportunities to Join Our Award-Winning Travel Program in Cuba!
Ocean Doctor was selected as honoree in Outside Magazine’s annual Best of Travel awards for its Cuba Travel Program
Join Ocean Doctor for your trip to Cuba! We have been conducting ocean research and conservation work in Cuba since 2000 and we invite you to take part in our award-winning and unforgettable educational trip to Cuba. Outside Magazine awarded Ocean Doctor’s trip its “Best Dive” award for 2015.With the recent announcements of restoring diplomatic relations with Cuba have come many changes on the island. See Cuba now at this unique moment in history. We have just added four new trips now available for booking. Space is limited. Your travel helps support our work.
- May 28 – June 6, 2015: How Cuba Went Green (with Cross Cultural Journeys Foundation)
- August 5 – 15, 2015: Gardens of the Queen aboard Tortuga Floating Hotel
- September 23 – October 3, 2015: Gardens of the Queen aboard Avalon I Live-Aboard
- December 23, 2015 – January 2, 2016: Gardens of the Queen aboard Avalon II Live-Aboard
See details about these trips below
How Cuba Went Green: May 28 – June 6
Join Cross Cultural Journeys Foundation, Ocean Doctor’s Dr. David E. Guggenheim and The Baum Foundation May 28 – June 6, 2015 on an exciting People to People exploratory journey as we explore the history, culture and sustainable practices of Cuba through meeting with researchers, university officials, organizations and with the local people to learn and discuss Cuba’s ecological and environmental issues.
What can the U.S. learn from Cuba about sustainability? When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Cuba lost its oil supply. Without petroleum for transportation, agriculture and manufacturing, Cuba’s economy shrank by 30% in one year and famine loomed. To feed its people and rebuild its economy, Cuba had to adapt, developing novel ways to survive on less. Cuba’s natural environment benefited, too, as its forests, reefs and coastal wetlands thrived in the absence of chemical pollution. Today, many of these practices are models for how other countries can adapt to challenges like global warming, resource depletion, species extinction.
Join the first exploratory trip this year examining what lessons we can learn from Cuba’s experience. Experience this “off limits” island during this unique period before it is fully open for US tourism. Travel legally to be with the people of Cuba under a People to People educational license issued to the Cross Cultural Journeys Foundation.
How Cuba Went GREEN:
What Cuba can teach us about sustainability and what the future holds
May 28 – June 6, 2015
$4,950/person + $675 Miami-Havana Flight
Download Our Flier:
Cuba 2015 05 28 How Cuba Went Green (2.1 MiB)
Activities
This unique educational journey delivers an exception educational and cultural program that both connects you with the Cuban people and explores the story marine conservation and Cuba’s Gardens of the Queen. You’ll examine the relationship of Cuban citizens with their natural environment, including burgeoning socioeconomic and cultural issues brought about by Cuba’s growing ecotourism industry. The exchange also represents an opportunity to explore with our Cuban colleagues important environmental issues that impact the marine waters that both nations share. Visitors will meet with Cuban scientists, resource managers, ecotourism professionals and community members.
Six days of this 11-day/10-night trip will be spent aboard a floating hotel or liveaboard dive vessel in the heart of Cuba’s Gardens of the Queen National Park, where much of the story lies underwater. U.S. visitors will accompany Cuban specialists and be able to scuba dive in one of the healthiest marine ecosystems remaining in the Caribbean. Visitors will spend four nights at a 5-star hotel in Havana, visiting a variety of Cuba institutions and meeting with a range of Cuban professionals and community members.
About the Gardens of the Queen
Gardens of the Queen was named by Christopher Columbus to honor the Queen of Spain and the area remains as spectacularly beautiful and wild as when Columbus experienced it centuries ago. Today, it is among the healthiest marine ecosystems in the region. The Gardens harbor abundant and healthy fish and shark population, stunning mangrove islands and shallow bays that teem with juvenile species, rare crocodiles, flamingos and other birds, iguanas and the jutia, a native rodent.
Included:
- Roundtrip Airfare from Miami to Havana including VIP check-in service
- Cuban Visa & Health Insurance
- Cuban airport exit tax
- 5-star accommodations in Havana (4 nights)
- Luxurious accommodations in the Gardens of the Queen (6 nights)
- Most meals
- Up to 15 dives, tanks
- Nitrox available at no extra cost on Avalon II
- All transfers (Separate transfers due to late or alternate arrival may incur additional fees)
- Educational Program including presentations & tours
Not Included:
- Gratuities
- Baggage Fees
- Domestic travel to/from Miami and Miami accommodations, if necessary
- Rental Dive Equipment
- Gardens of the Queen Park Enforcement Fee (50 CUC – introduced Jan 2015)
- Additional beverages, food or activities
- Incidentals
- Insurance, Cuban Visa & Health Insurance
Please let us know if you have any questions. We hope you’ll be able to join one of these upcoming trips. If you’re interested in other dates, please feel free to be in touch and we’ll continue to work with you to identify other options. You can read more about the trips, including a sample itinerary and testimonials from travelers by visiting oceandoctor.org/gardens.
Please note that we require a minimum group size of 8 in order to make these trips possible. As a result, we will not be able to confirm your trip until we have received a 50% deposit from the minimum required. In the event that we cannot confirm your chosen dates, we will offer you the chance to transfer to another date or issue a full refund. 50% deposit will be required within 48 hours of receiving a contract. The final 50% will be due 100 days prior to departure. Please note that the airport exit tax is now included in the price.
