You’re standing in an underwater cage only about three feet below the ocean’s surface, breathing from a hookah when, suddenly, a streamlined, 600-pound torpedo armed with lots of teeth comes …
The Dive God Visits Cuba
12 Apr 20166:37 PM
by Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost staff writer
scocking@guyharveyoutpost.com
In his 62 years of scuba diving, Neal Watson (a.k.a. the Dive God) has pretty much done it all: set world records for depth and distance; tangoed with huge sharks; travelled the world; and appeared underwater in numerous television shows and movies. But there WAS one place on the globe that Guy Harvey Outpost’s dive team leader had never taken the plunge: Cuba.
That is, until very recently.
Watson joined Guy Harvey Outpost Resorts president Mark Ellert; Guy Harvey Research Institute head Mahmood Shivji; and Scuba Radio founder Greg Holt on a four-day diving/fact-finding mission to the island nation under the ‘people-to-people’ program.
To say the Dive God was wowed by his visit would be a gross understatement.
“This place ROCKS!” Watson said. “This is the pinnacle. I have literally travelled around the world and you’d be hard-pressed to find any place as uniquely different from any other culture in the world as you find 45 minutes from South Florida. Unbelievable!”
Watson’s enchantment began almost as soon as he deplaned in Havana: downtown streets filled with vintage American cars.
“It was like being in the world’s biggest antique car show,” he said.
And things only got better from there.
Accompanied by their Cuban American guide, the group rented a 1957 Pontiac, overnighted at a family-run bed and breakfast; sampled hand-rolled cigars at a tobacco farm; enjoyed dancing and listening to acoustic salsa music at various Havana night spots; sampled the signature daiquiris at La Floridita– a favorite hangout of author Ernest Hemingway; and, oh yes, dived.
The group cruised west in the Pontiac for about six hours from Havana to a dive resort in the village of Maria La Gorda located on the western tip of the Pinar del Rio province. Watson was pleasantly surprised at the fleet of clean, modern dive boats; well-maintained rental and first-aid equipment and the capable, friendly and knowledgeable dive crew.
The group only had time for a one-tank dive — an 80-foot-deep guided drift along mountainous coral heads and scenic caverns in a marine park established in 1984. It reminded Watson of his underwater explorations of Andros and the Exuma Islands in the Bahamas.
“Amazing,” Watson said.
Shivji, a marine scientist who has logged hundreds of dives, also was impressed.
“The coral reefs are in really good shape compared to quite a few other places I’ve been diving,” Shivji said.
The Guy Harvey Outpost team enjoyed the whirlwind visit so much that it organized another cultural/scientific/diving expedition to Cuba in June in conjunction with the Reef Environmental Education Foundation. The trip sold out in one hour. Stay tuned for more about future Guy Harvey Outpost expeditions to the island.
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Sue Cocking chronicles the Guy Harvey Outpost travel and adventure experience in regular blog posts on GuyHarveyOutpostNews.com/. For 21 years, Cocking covered the full spectrum of outdoors adventure opportunities in South Florida and beyond for the Miami Herald, including fishing, diving, hunting, paddling, camping, sailing and powerboat racing. She is a certified scuba diver and holder of an IGFA women’s world fly fishing record for a 29-pound permit.
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Share your photos, videos and experiences with Guy Harvey Outpost by hash tagging #OutpostAttitude to all of your social media posts.
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 has pretty much done it all: set world records for depth and distance; tangoed with huge sharks; travelled the world; and appeared underwater in numerous television shows and movies. But there WAS one place on the globe that Guy Harvey Outpost's dive team leader had never taken the plunge: Cuba.
That is, until very recently.
Watson joined Guy Harvey Outpost Resorts president Mark Ellert; Guy Harvey Research Institute head Mahmood Shivji; and Scuba Radio founder Greg Holt on a four-day diving/fact-finding mission to the island nation under the 'people-to-people' program.
To say the Dive God was wowed by his visit would be a gross understatement.
"This place ROCKS!" Watson said. "This is the pinnacle. I have literally travelled around the world and you'd be hard-pressed to find any place as uniquely different from any other culture in the world as you find 45 minutes from South Florida. Unbelievable!"
Watson's enchantment began almost as soon as he deplaned in Havana: downtown streets filled with vintage American cars.
"It was like being in the world's biggest antique car show," he said.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Cuba.mules_.jpg"><img class="alignnone wp-image-4014 size-full" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Cuba.mules_.jpg" alt="Cuba.mules" width="800" height="531" /></a>
And things only got better from there.
Accompanied by their Cuban American guide, the group rented a 1957 Pontiac, overnighted at a family-run bed and breakfast; sampled hand-rolled cigars at a tobacco farm; enjoyed dancing and listening to acoustic salsa music at various Havana night spots; sampled the signature daiquiris at La Floridita-- a favorite hangout of author Ernest Hemingway; and, oh yes, dived.
The group cruised west in the Pontiac for about six hours from Havana to a dive resort in the village of Maria La Gorda located on the western tip of the Pinar del Rio province. Watson was pleasantly surprised at the fleet of clean, modern dive boats; well-maintained rental and first-aid equipment and the capable, friendly and knowledgeable dive crew.
The group only had time for a one-tank dive -- an 80-foot-deep guided drift along mountainous coral heads and scenic caverns in a marine park established in 1984. It reminded Watson of his underwater explorations of Andros and the Exuma Islands in the Bahamas.
"Amazing," Watson said.
Shivji, a marine scientist who has logged hundreds of dives, also was impressed.
"The coral reefs are in really good shape compared to quite a few other places I've been diving," Shivji said.
The Guy Harvey Outpost team enjoyed the whirlwind visit so much that it organized another cultural/scientific/diving expedition to Cuba in June in conjunction with the Reef Environmental Education Foundation. The trip sold out in one hour. Stay tuned for more about future Guy Harvey Outpost expeditions to the island.
*****************
Sue Cocking chronicles the Guy Harvey Outpost travel and adventure experience in regular blog posts on GuyHarveyOutpostNews.com/. For 21 years, Cocking covered the full spectrum of outdoors adventure opportunities in South Florida and beyond for the Miami Herald, including fishing, diving, hunting, paddling, camping, sailing and powerboat racing. She is a certified scuba diver and holder of an IGFA women's world fly fishing record for a 29-pound permit.
**********
Share your photos, videos and experiences with Guy Harvey Outpost by hash tagging #OutpostAttitude to all of your social media posts. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/the-dive-god-visits-cuba/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Mako: Your Ultimate Dive in Isla Mujeres&body=
You're standing in an underwater cage only about three feet below the ocean's surface, breathing from a hookah when, suddenly, a streamlined, 600-pound torpedo armed with lots of teeth comes shooting by. Then, without warning, it does a 180 and swims straight toward you. What do you do?
If you are Dr. Guy Harvey--marine scientist, artist and conservationist--or cinematographer George Schellenger, or one of the many guests who've chartered the Keen M Blue Water fleet in Isla Mujeres, Mexico over the past decade, you thank your lucky stars for this opportunity to observe the shortfin mako shark up close.
"It was cool," Harvey said after a trip last year. "Most of them are really interactive. You have a fantastic opportunity to film mako sharks."
Then, after your dive, if you're not ready to say goodbye to the fastest sharks in the ocean, Keen M owner/operator Captain Anthony Mendillo will take you on a catch-and-release fishing excursion. Trolling with lures and natural baits will usually result in a hook-up, and if you keep alert, you can snap a photo or video clip of a mako breaching the surface.
"A lot of adrenaline," Mendillo noted.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/makocage.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4523" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/makocage.jpg" alt="makocage" width="960" height="539" /></a>
The mild Caribbean waters off Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula are the prime destination for mako catching and diving between mid-March and early May. Harvey plans to be back there for about two weeks in April when he and Mendillo and scientists from the Guy Harvey Research Institute at Nova Southeastern University will try to implant some makos with satellite tags in their dorsal fins. These SPOT tags transmit the shark's location to a satellite whenever the fin pops above the surface. That movement data is then downloaded to computers at the institute near Fort Lauderdale where researchers post it online at the <a href="http://cnso.nova.edu/sharktracking/">GHRI shark tracking web site</a>. Mendillo built a special mobile platform on the stern of his boat so the sharks can be tagged in the water-- minimizing stress on the animals.
Harvey and colleagues Mahmood Shivji, Jeremy Vaudo, Michael Byrne, and Brad Wetherbee recently published a first-of-its-kind research study on 26 shortfin makos that they tagged and tracked for up to two years in the Western North Atlantic and the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. The sharks-- tagged and released off Isla Mujeres and Ocean City, Md. -- travelled through the waters of 17 nations where at least seven were harvested by commercial fishers. The scientists warned that makos-- prized commercially for their meat and fins and recreationally for their fish-ability--may be at higher risk of being overfished than previous conventional tagging studies suggest.
Harvey and his colleagues recommended a "cautionary interpretation of past stock assessments" of the shortfin mako and the need for close cooperation among Western North Atlantic nations to devise "regionally and seasonally-specific management strategies"-- in other words, not taking a one-size-fits-all approach to conserving the species.
To book your adventure interacting with makos go to <a href="http://www.GHOExpeditions.com">www.GHOExpeditions.com</a> or call the Outpost Travel Desk at 800-513-5257. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/mako-your-ultimate-dive-in-isla-mujeres/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=A Happy, Obsessive Bonefisherman&body=Below is a testimonial from a guest who recently stayed at the Big Game Club to do a little bonefishing with the Club's backcountry outfitter, Bonefish Pursuits Bimini. Please read on - this is what the Bimini Big Game Club Experience is all about....
Dear Big Game Club & Bonefish Pursuits Bimini Folks,
I wanted to take the opportunity to sincerely thank you for arranging our recent trip to Big Game Club in Bimini. The client care was seamless from start to finish.
Captain Vaughn, it is abundantly clear that you will only put your stamp of approval on a destination that has top class fly fishing. The bonefishing in Bimini was simply the best I have encountered. It was welcome surprise since I made the decision to head to BGC on the spur of the moment after reading your newsletter. The fishing was hands down better than Honduras, CR and Turneffe. So good that I don’t want to tell anybody!
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/alister3.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-294" title="Alistair with an 8+ lb. bonefish caught in the flats off Bimini" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/alister3.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="224" /></a>
The bones on average do not come in under 4lbs & are all hard fighting fish always running in to backing. I have attached a picture of me with an 8lb+ bone that I landed. I hooked many bigger fish that broke off which were definitely in the 10lb+ category. Eagle Eyes Fred was the best guide I have fished with. He can spot fish in any conditions and is dogmatic in putting his client on fish. As he has been fly fishing for years himself he knows how to pole the boat in just the right position for the best shot on the fish. He is a soft-spoken gentleman & also is very punctual.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/alister4.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-295" title="Alistair with another prized catch from the flats of Bimini" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/alister4.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="224" /></a>
I used mostly the brown "squimp" lead & beaded eyes, and Clint's secret fly which the bones went crazy for on the flat. I had never seen bonefish fight each other for a fly. As usual, thanks to the Bonefish Bimini Team for all the continued superb service & great gear!!
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/kim.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-296" title="Kim and "Eagle Eyes" Fred" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/kim.jpg?w=224" alt="" width="224" height="300" /></a>
Beth, thank you for you assistance with all the bookings, it was an absolute pleasure & interacting with you. Thanks for making it so easy to extend the trip by two days because the fishing was that good : ) !
Ned - thank you for taking the time to chat with us. Your genuine interest & follow up in making sure we had a great stay was greatly appreciated. Your concern for marine conservation was refreshing.
Also thanks to Turk for graciously giving us an island tour & ensuring our on island resort needs were all taken care of.
I really can’t see how BGC is not going to be a success. The top notch client care is there, the resort is beautiful, rooms are great, lovely restaurant & gift shop. The Bonefish Pursuits Bimini store will round it off and I know will be a hit.
Take Care,
A happy obsessive bonefisherman - I will be back soon
Alistair https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/a-happy-obsessive-bone-fisherman/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Sword Fights in the Cayman Islands&body=About 12 years ago, Cayman Islands businessman Clarence Flowers-- an avid sport angler-- chartered Miami Beach captain Bouncer Smith for a South Florida swordfishing excursion. Smith shared his tactics and techniques with his customer and they caught a fish. Flowers told the captain about the nascent recreational swordfishery in his Caribbean home waters: a 600-pounder had actually beached itself in Grand Cayman Island's North Sound and recreational anglers were taking some hefty ones on hook-and-line. That fateful conversation led to the inaugural Cayman Swordfish Challenge in 2005.
The 11th Challenge just wrapped up last weekend with local angler Thom Guyton taking top honors for boating four swords--including the tournament's largest, a 108.2-pounder--and releasing one off Cayman Brac.
The contest also serves as an on-water laboratory for scientists seeking to learn as much as possible about this unsung, but robust recreational fishery.
"Better than ours-- especially the night fishing," Smith, a 50-year-veteran charter captain, said of Cayman Islands swordfishing. "The daytime I would say is on a par with here--maybe slightly better."
Fisheries scientist Travis Moore of Pompano Beach-based Gray FishTag Research was on the water for the two-day contest and implanted a 54-incher with a satellite tag before releasing it. The tag, anchored in the dorsal fin, will detach after a year and beam minute-to-minute data about the fish's movements to a satellite which downloads the data to Moore's computer. It is the ninth satellite tag to be implanted in Cayman Island swords by Moore and colleagues since 2011.
"What we're doing is to help develop this fishery for the Cayman Islands," Moore said. "The Cayman government may decide to use this data to regulate foreign fleets coming into their waters."
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/SwordTag2.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4666" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/SwordTag2.jpg" alt="" width="1440" height="960" /></a>
Right now, both Moore and Smith say, there 's really no directed commercial fishery for swords in the Cayman Islands; the effort is primarily recreational with a few fish kept to eat or sold to local restaurants. But as word of the bounty gets out, the powerful and tasty billfish potentially could face heavy exploitation and would require careful management. The islands' record is a 392-pounder caught in 2012.
Moore says preliminary satellite tracking data shows the Cayman Islands serve as a "rest stop" for the tasty pelagics that hang out here roughly from November through May, then head north as waters warm.
"They're feeding in a perpendicular pattern to the Cayman Trench before going north," he said.
Recreational anglers target them in ways similar to their South Florida counterparts: deep-dropping squid, small tunas, bonitos or belly strips in 1,600 to 1,800 feet of water in daytime and either drifting or slow-trolling baits with planers 100 to 300 feet deep at night. Smith says all three of the Cayman Islands-- Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman--are basically sea mounts surrounded by very deep waters where upwellings concentrate bait, and therefore swords could be found just about anywhere.
"You can fish so close to the islands that you can read the license plates on the cars," he said.
Moore relishes the opportunity to enjoy the sport and collect important information at the same time.
"The fishing there is really off the charts," he said. "Amazing." https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/sword-fights-in-the-cayman-islands/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject="Underwater Realism" Art Course Offered at Islander Resort In Islamorada&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/roysterbj03tn-300x278.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-2889 alignleft" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/roysterbj03tn-300x278.jpg" alt="RoysterBJ03tn-300x278" width="300" height="278" /></a>Islamorada artist BJ Royster will unlock the creative process in you in a relaxed, informative and creative manner. This class is for designed for complete beginners, as well as those artists who want to enhance their knowledge and discipline within the creative process. You will take home a Keys reef scene on 11 x 14 stretched canvas.
WHAT: "Underwater Realism" art course
WHEN: Thurs, Oct 8, 22, Nov 5, 19; 1 – 4 pm
HOW MUCH: $165 <a href="http://moradaway.org/underwater-realism" target="_blank">REGISTRATION</a> (Materials Included)
Born and raised in South Florida, BJ is recognized as a foremost artist specializing in reefs. After overcoming a fear of diving, she became a certified SCUBA diver and now translates the underwater beauty to her canvases. Her award winning work can be seen around the world, in several publications, and in her gallery, BJ Royster Ocean Gallery in Islamorada.
CALL 800.513.5257 TO RESERVE YOUR ROOM AT THE ISLANDER AT OUR INCREDIBLE WEEKDAY RATES! https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/underwater-realism-art-course-offered-at-islander-resort-in-islamorada/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Bimini Mysteries & Legends: Flight 19: The "Lost Patrol"&body=Today is the 65th anniversary of the disappearance of <a title="Wikipedia entry for Flight 19" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_19" target="_blank">Flight 19, the US Navy's infamous "Lost Patrol"</a>. On Dec. 5, 1945, five <a title="Wikipedia entry for Avenger torpedo bombers" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TBF_Avenger" target="_blank">TBM Avengers</a> were on a routine training mission from their <a title="Wikipedia entry for NAS Ft. Lauderdale" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Air_Station_Fort_Lauderdale" target="_blank">base in Ft. Lauderdale</a> when they disappeared after a practice bombing run. No trace of the crews or their planes were ever found.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/f191.png"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-315" title="Artists Rendering of Flight 19, the "Lost Patrol"" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/f191.png?w=250" alt="" width="250" height="300" /></a>
The case of of the "Lost Patrol" is one of the 20th Century's great mysteries, and is another chapter in the very colorful history of <a title="Islands of the Bahamas web site" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Air_Station_Fort_Lauderdale" target="_blank">Bimini</a>, the tiny islands in the <a title="Wikipedia entry for the Gulf Stream" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_Stream" target="_blank">Stream</a> that seems to have more than their fair share of mysteries and legends. You see, shortly before disappearing forever, Flight 19 had just completed a bombing run on the <a title="Wikipedia entry for S.S. Sapona" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Sapona" target="_blank">S.S. Sapona</a>, a shipwreck just off the coast of Bimini and only a short trip north from the <a title="BBGC web site" href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com" target="_blank">Big Game Club</a>.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/sapona.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-316" title="The Wreck of the S.S. Sapona" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/sapona.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a>
So what happened to the "Lost Patrol"? No one really knows, but some believe Flight 19 was a victim of the <a title="Wikipedia entry for Bermuda Triangle" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bermuda_Triangle" target="_blank">Bermuda Triangle</a>, the area where ships and planes have disappeared for centuries without explanation. Many theories have been given for the strange occurrences in the Triangle, from aliens to the paranormal to some type of interaction with the <a title="Wikipedia entry for Atlantis" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis" target="_blank">Lost City of Atlantis</a>. For those that believe in the Triangle, Atlantis is the most plausible explanation for the disappearance of Flight 19. Why? Because Bimini also happens to be the home of the reputed <a title="Wikipedia entry for the Road to Atlantis" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bimini_Road" target="_blank">Road to Atlantis</a>. Coincidence??
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/bimini_road.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-318" title="The Road to Atlantis" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/bimini_road.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="200" /></a>
NOTE: The S.S. Sapona and the Road to Atlantis (AKA the Bimini Road) are two of Bimini's most popular dive sites. For more information on scuba diving these famous sites, as well as Bimini's other underwater adventures, contact <a title="Dive Bimini's web page" href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com/dive-bimini.htm" target="_blank">Dive Bimini, a Guy Harvey Outpost Dive Center</a> located at the Bimini Big Game Club. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/after-65-years-flight-19-remains-the-lost-patrol/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=The Family Easter Weekend is on at the Big Game Club&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/eco-easter12.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-549" title="Easter at the Bimini Big Game Club" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/eco-easter12.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="751" /></a> https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/the-family-easter-weekend-is-on-at-the-big-game-club/){kind=link}
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