Diving in Cuba is the dream of every skin diver: about 50 miles away from the Southern coast, in the middle of the Caribbean sea, there is an archipelago formed by hundreds of kayos, small isles of various dimensions, rich in mangroves and palm trees that stretch over extremely white and absolutely virgin beaches. The Queen's Gardens, so named because of their beauty by Christopher Columbus, cover a total length of 200 km from East to West, marking a coral barrier (the third largest in the world) which gives shelter to an uncountable number of species of fish and all kinds of coral (except from the Mediterranean Red). Just in a few metres of water you remain fascinated by a picturesque succession of shapes and colours typical of these unexplored waters, virgin to the point, that already in 17 metres there are banks of black coral. You can photograph giant dentexes, sharks, sea bass of exceptional dimensions, rays, turtles, barracudas I have been to this marvellous place a numberless times but each time is a kind of return home, in a place that goes beyond all imagination: there are indescribable emotions, too deep to be told. Despite I have dived here hundreds of times, each time I have new feelings, as if it were the first time.

Certainly what makes the dive here, in this corner of paradise, unforgettable is the presence of seven kinds of sharks. It is incredible that one soon gets used to swimming amongst the sea predators: you do it with incredible ease, as if it were a daily occurrence. Diving with sharks here is not like a circus spectacle, you are simply between them and you are accepted as if you were part of the environment. It is an incredible sensation. Now it's November, the period of the whale sharks. The water is less clear and one can see just about 50 metres away, because of the plankton; that is why you are more likely to meet a whale shark.



Despite the long journey to the Gardens and the tiredness we are eager to take the first dive. In the programme there is a "soft" immersion, "Patricia", a name suggested by a friend who is, like us, a frequent client of the Gardens. At only 15 metres depth, amongst coloured sponges, one can see incredible branches of black coral and gigantic dentexes and barracudas that seem to be observing us. As a first impact, not bad. The second immersion of the day is one of my favourite ones: Faraillon.

It has an exclusive view of the Queen's Gardens towards the fantastic black cliffs with tunnels and canyons which create special colour effects in strong contrast with the white seabed: this is the kingdom of the gigantic sea bass (that can weigh 200 kg!!) that wonder about between the canyons and let us get close to them, nearly at touching distance. It is almost impossible to photograph one specimen because another very curious one arrives in front of the camera right at the moment of the click!!

Sea bass, sharks and morays move around us calmly and indifferently. The tunnels dug in the rock are fantastic, here and there one can see rays of light that lighten branches of black coral: at the exit of one of these passages, a turtle is waiting for us and leads the way during our surfacing. Below the boat, a shoal of about 30 silky sharks awaits us: amongst them there are some cubs too, who were born in autumn, in the period of closure of the park. They are the most curious ones: they look into our masks, they aren't yet use to see the scuba divers. Noel and Gualberto, the two guides of the diving club, caress them and play with them, as if they were kittens. The friends that have come with me are all wordless.

The incredible quantity of fish that you meet at the Gardens is due to the fact that, since 1996, the Queen's Gardens have been declared a Natural park. Every form of professional fishing has been forbidden but the Avalon Diving Center (by the way Avalon was the enchanted island of Merlin the wizard) has the exclusive right to manage the underwater activities in all the area of the Park, with the obligation, in exchange, of respecting certain rules and of a strict and active collaboration with the Cuban Government, in order to protect the sea and terrestrial environment. For this reason a Permit to enter into the Natural Park has been established, and its profit is used to self-finance its preservation and maintenance activities. In this way, in a few years, the archipelago has repopulated itself and a team of biologists works continuously with the guides of the diving club on a tagging project. This is useful to keep an eye on the movements and the births of new sharks and sea bass that live in the reserve.



We all go to bed early: the day after we are going to do a beautiful immersion - "Coral Negro 1" - with the much awaited encounter with the Caribbean Reef sharks, that reach up to three metres in length. The following morning everyone is ready very early, and we're a bit excited. The commander fastens the boat carefully to a buoy, nearly invisible in the waves: the sea is quite agitated, but the water is limpid. We descend to a platform at about -30 metres: it is like a pinnacle whose walls plunge in the blue. Gualberto has a big barracuda in a container. In a few minutes the sharks, who were first swimming in large circles and whirling around us, start getting closer to the container, trying to extract the fish. More and more sharks arrive: one, two ... ten. The important thing is not to put ourselves in the trail of smell that attracts the sharks: it's an incredible carousel.... then, as they have arrived, they leave, getting smaller in the blue. We continue with the immersion along the rock wall, hoping to have another lucky meeting with the sharks, when, suddenly, a huge sea eagle, all light blue spots, passes a few metres below us. Time passes by very rapidly, and the guides already start calling us to begin resurfacing.

What an unforgettable immersion!!! This evening we will watch the videos we have taken: here also a beginner manages to film something impressive: you are just spoilt for choice!!!

The great expectation is, though, for the whale shark. They tell us that lots of bonitos' shoals have been sighted, and so the whale shark shouldn't be far away from here... We are all ready to plunge if something is spotted. And then the commander shouts... "Look down there... the MANGIANZA (????)"... On the horizon we can see a storm of seagulls that circle above the water around big sprinklings: seagulls, a bonitos shoal that runs in turn after clouds of fries and amongst them, the whale shark, in vertical position, with his mouth wide open...it's an incredible spectacle. The boat gets closer cautiously and slowly, not to frighten him, we are all ready, we don't need any oxygen cylinders, the bubbles may disturb him and make him go back down in the depths: he lets us get closer: we are so small next to this giant of nature! He's got blue skin with scales and light blue spots. He has got a suckerfish attached to him, which is nearly two metres long: while the giant is in a vertical position, the remora slips down and then tries to get back in place. Once he has eaten his lunch, the shark swims next to us for another few minutes and then he descends into the abyss: we aren't wearing our cylinders, so we can't follow him, but this has been an unforgettable experience.



We get back on the boat for lunch, because we are hungry too! There is a sumptuously laid table and the "usual lobsters"! Not bad as a diet!!!

We are just on the second day of immersion and we have already seen more than in all the other years' trips! The following day we dive in "Meseta de Los Meros", a rocky platform at about -30 metres with the cliffs that get lost in the blue sea. We go down along the chain: here there is often a strong current, so it's best not to go to far away: already half way through the descent the first groupers - enormous - appear. In particular, one is as big as a car. They call her Pastorita and she weighs about 300 kg. Two sea bass fight for the same fish that Gualberto is offering them, and neither one nor the other seems to be giving up!! I'm thinking about our groupers, also to the ones in Lavezzi, that had already seemed very big to me but compared to these ones they're just their grandchildren!!! And amongst them, as always, some morays swim in free water and some sharks pass by!!

The immersion days come one after the other and now it's already time to leave: anyhow, as always, everyone is planning to come back in the future. My holiday luckily isn't over yet, because once I'm back on dry land, Noel will accompany me on some immersions in the cenotes, which aren't as famous as the ones in Mexico, but as good as them.