Cuba / w. Avalon ?

[Tony Buzolich]

Has anyone out there had any experience with fishing Cuba? I keep getting solicitations from Fly Fishing the Run located in Chile who handle the booking for Avalon.

I'm a bit skeptical about dealing with ANY non-US business but would sure like to try fishing Cuba. Anybody ever use either of these companies and what are your recommendations about them?

Thanks, Tony

[Mike O]

Is it kosher to travel to Cuba? How's that work?

[Tony Buzolich]

The U.S. has gotten very lienient on enforcing rules and restrictions about going to Cuba. The standard program is to book with any number of travel companies, get a visa, and buy a plane ticket to Cancun. There you can purchase a plane ticket direct to Havana :)

Avalon will be at the Pleasanton Fly Show and I plan on talking with them some more there. Also, Global Rescue says they do cover Cuba as well.
Tony

[FISHEYE]

There are quite a few guys on Blanton who have been to Cuba.

[TheAnglingReport]

Tony, and for those interested in fishing cuba, We have reviews from our subscribers for a number of trips booked with Avalon you can read here. For the most part, our subscribers have good things to say about their trips with the company: http://www.anglingreport.com/Cuba_Fishing.cfm

We also did an article in our March 2015 issue about new developments related to fishing in cuba (legally!): http://www.anglingreport.com/current_issue.cfm?id=883

If I can help you with any guide recommendations, please message me.

[gitt]

Had similar concerns, but would rather send you an email.

[Tony]

Normalizing relations should end any travel issues
The Bahamas may want to straighten their Guide/DIY siutaion out or they will be having to go 1/2 price to get people to come flyfish.

[Randy B]

Have a couple buddies, who are very much law abiding citizens, that fished their 10-15 years ago. They had a good experience. They were two of the three guys fishing the entire area. The other guy was also from the US, either Wisconsin or Minnesota, and he got his slam. They went through an outfitter in Italy, if I recall correctly, and flew in via Cancun. They were surprised that there were plenty of US families visiting Havana.

I can get details or put you in touch with one of them if you want, just let me know.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

You should go there.....I have heard it is some of the best flats fishing left in the world.

Many cool species, like the Cubera Snapper, are still on these pristine flats just like they were in the Florida Keys 100 years ago.

[Mort]

Anyone have experience fishing Cuba without using one of the larger tour companies like Avalon? Anyone used http://guidesforflyfishing.com or Flyfishindreams.com? Would like to target tarpon there but try to get it to $3000 or less.

[gitt]

Mort,

Cayo Romano was an area pointed out to us for its tarpon fishing by one of the Chilean anglers we fished with on Cayo Largo. He mentioned great fishing if we were ever to return and want to target tarpon. This would be through Avalon as per his experience. If you can find a better deal with the websites mentioned go for it. It would be worth knowing if they rotate the areas as Avalon does or if you can fish the same specific area of water more than once for your stay.

Consider yourself fortunate that you are able to fly direct to Havana. Don't look just at the price without taking into account your cost of lodging, meals and getting there via in country air fare. What surprised me for our time frame is we had anglers come in for few days (3-4 days fishing) and move on. We did not query them as to their costs nor how they made the arrangements. These anglers were also staying in the resort area 20 minutes away from where we were. They required transportation to and from our location daily. It would also be nice to hear if Avalon has a lock on a specific area of Cayo Romano or if it is shared with the other companies that you refer to. We were initially put off by Avalon for its arrangements, but now having done it, I would easily do it again without regret. Whoever Avalon has their arrangement with is certainly a sweet deal. Avalon even pays for the port authority to keep the waters pretty much in check maintaining the preserve. The guides provide the boats after spending a day on the water with their clients. The guides actually police the area for visiting/stray boats. For our time frame we saw only boats from Avalon and no others. Pretty amazing for an area that covered 45 by 5-7 miles. This was all flats area and not blue water. We did talk to a couple of guys from Hawaii that had flown in to sail a 47' skiff left from hurricane season up the Atlantic seaboard. They were amazed at the abundance of lobster near the blue water and ready available fish to spear for meals. When we mentioned the area was a preserved marine sanctuary, they said there was no one out there to tell them otherwise- not another boat in sight, unless you count one encounter with the Cuban coast guard that motored up on them to ask what they were doing. So it appears that the enforcement is for land based operations only and Cuba's citizenary.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Go on to Dan Blanton's message board.....I have seen some talk about Cuba there.