Get a glimpse of Cuba's underwater treasure trove
Posted: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 1:38 PM
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Havana, Cuba
By Mary Murray, NBC News Havana Bureau Chief
Cuba’s southern Isle of Youth was battered by two powerful hurricanes last summer, including Gustav, the worst storm to hit here in 50 years.
Gustav, a Category 4 hurricane, packed 140 mph winds that turned 95 percent of the homes on the Isle of Youth into rubble and decimated the entire power grid.
A week later Hurricane Ike swept through and washed away the few buildings that had been left standing.
The army chief on the ground accessing the damage, Maj. Gen. Alvaro Lopez, described the island as looking like the "remnants of a nuclear blast."
But in what seems to be nothing short of a miracle, the fast-moving storms only minimally impacted the coast and natural wildlife.
While the hurricanes did cause some beach erosion, especially along the southern coast, the small island’s protected coral reefs remain untouched and the wide range of underwater life continues to thrive.
Underwater treasure trove
And now tourists are slowly returning to the island, drawn by its reputation as one of the best diving areas in the world.
Some divers come looking for buried treasure. After all, this piece of land is said to have inspired Robert Louis Stevenson’s adventure novel "Treasure Island." There are a few dive sites that feature shipwrecks, but all the Spanish galleons were picked over years ago.
The real underwater treasure lies in the beauty of the seascapes. Hidden in the shallow reefs, tunnels and caverns are schools of colorful Atlantic stingrays, spadefish, jacks, tuna, barracudas and dozens more species, visible only a few feet below the surface.
Divers are especially enamored with the reef itself that stretches for almost 20 miles and includes the rare and protected black coral wall, reputed to be the tallest in the world. Last year some 25,000 international divers explored these waters and this year the number is expected to rise.
The island offers 56 different diving sites concentrated along La Siguanea Inlet, also known as Cuba’s Pirate Coast. This stretch of sand and water has been declared a Marine Reserve so diving is only permitted with a guide.
This past weekend Cuban divers took cameras below and photographed the unique beauty of Cuba’s underwater world. See the video link above to see a sample of what they saw.
