Caribbean Compass Yachting Magazine - April 2018

— Continued from previous page
Marina Cayo Guillermo
Cayo Guillermo’s Marina Gaviota is Cuba’s newest
and probably smallest boutique full-service marina.
The marina is sparkling new, looking towards the east,
on the northeast coast. It is the next eastern stop after
Varadero. Only 18 slips are available, for boats with
six feet or less draft. Fuel and water are available,
tucked into a safe, but little nook in the shallow bay.
The rates are CUC.75 per foot. The marina is set
alongside a bridge of the main highway. The place is
quiet except for the almost constant breeze. After making
the last turn into Bautista Bay (Ensenada Bautista),
on the northeastern coast of Cayo, pass the first long
dock. The fuel dock is the next right. Have your courtesy
flag flying.
The shallows are still there and entry into Marina
Cayo Guillermo can be touch and go, with six feet or
less at high tide. If you have an alarm on your depth
sounder, set it. The bottom is sand. I recommend having
a hard copy chart. If you doubt the channel, there
are dive boats, sportfishers, and daysailers to follow.
The marina monitors VHF channels 16 and 19.
Customs and Immigration will check your papers.
The marina is operated by the Marlin Group and the
manager is Sra. Kenia Gonzalez. She explained, luckily
for us in excellent English, that there had been
some damage from last September’s Hurricane Irma.
All boats were taken south for protection, but the
marina was up and running three weeks later. Their
e-mail is direccion@cco.marlin.tu.cu.
There is a dolphin exhibit near by — The Dolphinarium
— across the road past the gas station, if swimming
with captive dolphins is of interest to you. Sportfishing
is definitely a bargain at Marina Cayo Guillermo at
CUC440 for an entire day, with October to December
being the prime months. There are several sportfishers
and daysail cats available.
Marina Cayo Coco
Marina Cayo Coco is farther east, tucked past a
series of big hotels. This area is a diver’s and fisherman’s
paradise. This Gaviota marina is a bit larger
than Cayo Guillermo, with two concrete piers, 33 slips,
and all the amenities, including fuel and water.
Customs and Immigration are on hand. The rates are
basically the same as at Marina Cayo Guillermo. Both
have 110- and 220-volt hookups, cars available for
rent, bars, telephones, reasonably priced small restaurants,
and decent bathrooms — a definite plus.
The map showed Cayo Coco connected to the main
island by a bridge. I imagined steel girders; instead it
is a concrete causeway 27 kilometers long and just a
few feet above the water. It is an impressive undertaking.
The toll is CUC2. At the mainland end of the
causeway is a unique stadium dedicated to rodeos.
The nearest town, about 60 kilometers south, is
Morón. Not a lot going on, but it is an authentic Cuban
city still mainly unchanged by the tourism explosion.
There is a hospital here, should you need one. You can
probably catch a baseball game there also.
Cayo Coco is a very upscale island. It is still very
beautiful. The island has several hotels and almost
all are private, built away from the centerline road
along lovely, wide beaches. Cayo Coco has an airport
with direct flights to Canada. Two short causeways
link Cayo Coco to Cayo Guillermo and, to the east,
Cayo Romano.
A visiting Canadian yacht
at the Cayo Coco fuel dock
Of course, both marinas (and everything else in this
modern world) are on Facebook.
With some other islands’ tourism damaged by Mother
Nature, Cuba is beckoning. Marlin operates a number
of excellent marinas with rates comparative to or better
than farther down island. Cuba is safe for yachts.
CUBA RULES
Excerpted from Cuban Cruising Regulations:
https://cuba-boating.com/cuba-regulations-3
• Once your initial inbound clearance is completed,
a coastwise cruising permit (despacho
de navegación – costera) can be obtained from
the Coast Guard (Guarda Frontera) on departure
from your port of entry. Be sure to advise
the harbour master that you intend to cruise
Cuba, so the Guarda can be prepared. No preplanned
list of ports is
required, but the Guarda
must be advised of your
next stop. This permit
currently allows you to
cruise the waters of Cuba,
but it does not allow you
to go ashore, except at a
designated marina.
• If any of the ports of
entry are entered, one has
to go through the clearance
procedure again.
• When cruising along
the coast, one must
report to the Guarda
Frontera office in every
port. All papers are usually
inspected and the
cruising permit is kept
until departure.
• Officially, yachts may
only visit harbours and
anchorages where there
are marinas — except for
the offshore cays. No other anchorage or harbour
may be visited and if it is (e.g., in an emergency),
the captain and crew may not go ashore.
APRIL 2018 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 27