There are reasons and attributes galore for those who love underwater curiosities and beauties, and want to take a glance at this island’s hidden side.

Over 500 well-probed diving sites are registered all across Cuba, all teeming with exotic underwater scenery, caves, vertical walls, tunnels, outcrops and canals that offer endless opportunities for both daytime and nightly immersions.

Coralline formations lying just a few feet off the coasts –they provide protection to Cuba’s beaches- are hot spots for the safe practice of a variety of water sports, let alone their being major havens for marine flora and wildlife that boast assorted shapes and species. It’s like a jungle of corals, sponges, gorgonians, seaweeds and other marine life species that inhabit all along the island nation’s seabed –penciled in as one of the most plentiful and varied in the Caribbean.

No wonder the largest Caribbean island is considered a getaway for lovers of ocean depths. Cuba is blessed with a huge insular platform packed with landscapes, sunken boats, well-preserved coral reefs, plus countless historic and archeological relics.

As a complement to everything Mother Nature bestowed on this island, there are dozens of recreational diving centers lodged in most sun-and-sand destination hotels, offering tourists a wide array of products and services.

A Lot to Choose From Both the north and south shorelines of the island –including the promising surrounding keys- feature great locations for those willing to unravel the secrets of the country’s underwater.

High on the list of places are the Isle of Youth and Cayo Largo del Sur; Maria la Gorda in Pinar del Rio, Havana’s north coast; Varadero and its manmade underwater park; the Zapata Peninsula for cave diving, as well as offshore Cienfuegos, a location that boasts such wonders as the 20-foot-tall Notre Dame coral; and Santiago de Cuba’s shore, boasting a number of sunken vessels. Other good locations are the northern coast of Camaguey, Holguin and Jardines del Rey –especially Coco and Guillermo keys- and the north side of the Ciego de Avila province.

Diving buffs may also head for other Cuban spots, like Villa Trinidad, featuring amazingly transparent waters. Also to the south of the main island, Jardines de la Reina offers a truly marine sanctuary of unspoiled, breathtaking nature that really astounds everybody who lays eyes on it.

The blessing of a big city with beaches on both sides is given by the Hemingway Marina and El Salado Beach on the west, while the Tarara Marina crowns the east.

The warm and quiet waters of the Caribbean Sea harbor an assortment of marine life, caves, exclusive landscapes to be caught on film, not to mention so many legends from yesteryear involving Spanish settlers, pirates and buccaneers.

On the largest Caribbean island, this form of tourism features both daylight and nightly immersions, deep-water diving, cave and vertical wall diving, swims through coral reefs and into sunken ships, plus a number of underwater tours and training courses for beginners. All this much is based on the preservation of the environment –a condition Cuban stands up for with might and main. If men don’t protect the environment, they will be driving a nail into this magnificent habitat’s coffin.

Underwater Secrets Shipwrecks that rest on the seabed –evidence of the bustling trade activity, wars and accidents that marked the region for centuries - actually make a difference when foreign customers, divers and scholars have to make a pick for this destination.

For instance, near the eastern part of Santiago de Cuba, some 560 miles east of Havana, there are countless sunken gunboats that took part in the final naval battle that put an end to the 1898 Spanish-Cuba-American war.

Among the shipwrecks, the “Christopher Columbus,” the “Oquendo,” the “Maria Teresa” and the “Infant” are all man-of-wars that belonged to Spanish Admiral Pascual Cervera’s fleet, clearly outnumbered by U.S. battleships.

Historic records have it that over a thousand vessels sank off those waters, including a number of caravels that used to ferry treasures off the New World to Europe and eventually fell prey of sea bandits or wicked weather.

That’s the reason why many experts call Cuba’s coastline the “Paradise of Underwater Architecture.”

The advance of underwater and nautical activities in Cuba is marked by recreational, scientific, technical and sport purposes, and by a clear-cut commitment to the preservation of marine and coastal environments for the benefit of present and future generations.

The practice of scuba diving counts on a multitude of conveniences in this Caribbean travel destination, as well as on the advisory of divers certified by the World Underwater Activities Confederation (CUAC) and the American-Canadian Underwater Certification (ACUC), plus other prestigious international schools.

Cuba is located in the way of all major sailing routes in the continent (the Yucatan Straits, the Old Bahamas Channel, the Passage of Winds) and its seaports of Havana, Santiago de Cuba and Cienfuegos, as well as the wharfs in Trinidad and Punta Frances (Isle of Youth) are all registered in maps and navigation charts.

Cuba’s insular platform is home to over 38,000 species of crustaceans, 1,500 different mollusks, more than 700 fish, 300 sponges and a much larger number of starfish, seaweeds and sea urchins. There are also five different turtle species and sea mammals like dolphins and manatees –the latter labeled as an endangered species.

Institutions like the Nautical Entrepreneurial Group and Marinas Marlin S.A., from Cuba’s Tourism Ministry and the Gaviota Tourism Group S.A., offer visitors a number of options, including boat tours and catamaran rides, yachts for anglers and other nautical means. Moreover, those companies guarantee docking and anchoring services, communications, customs, repairs, maintenance, fuel and food supplies, water, power, migration and customs arrangements, as well as accommodations and other conveniences.

Scuba diving conditions Water temperature: between 24 and 28,5 degrees Celsius Divers may wear swimsuits or 3-milimeter neoprene suits. Average horizontal visibility: 30 meters Slightly choppy seas and feeble undercurrents on both coasts.

Scuba diving centers are outfitted with: Well-trained instructors specialized in underwater rescue and salvage operations, first aids and oxygenation. Civil responsibility insurance. First aid and oxygenation means. Radiotelephonic communications. Efficient emergency treatments for evacuation in case of underwater accidents. There’s a nationwide system of hyperbaric chambers and round-the-clock specialized medical assistance that provide all necessary treatments.

General regulations for recreational scuba diving practice: All immersions are guided by scuba diving instructors. It’s mandatory for customers to show their international certificates. Removal of any flora or marine life species is forbidden. Information courtesy of the Marlin, Nautical and Marinas Division (MINTUR)