Veradero- Deep Sea Fishing

In light of the upcoming travel restrictions/tightenings from US, my family and I are looking to deep sea fish while in Veradero; however, I want to pay in CUC day of so I'm guaranteed that my $ is paid to "Support for Cuban People". Anyone on here know how I can find someone to deep sea fish and get that arranged. There are quite a few online tour co that are actually owned by the Cuban govt., so I just want to ensure I'm following the law of the land. Or, does anyone know of a tour company that is owned by an individual Cuban?

The boats that are in the marina used for deep sea fishing are owned by the government/military. On a practical note, unless the US government is tracking you by satellite there is absolutely no way for them to know what you're doing in Cuba unless you voluntarily provide them with that information. It will be nearly impossible for US tourists to follow the letter of the law as Raul and the military own and operate nearly every aspect of the tourism business in Cuba and I don't foresee that changing anytime soon.

Changes are supposed to take place in 90 days after the announcement. Your other thread says you're leaving 6/26 for 14 days.

Yes Lorena45, we are. Thx for keeping up w me. But, DT is nuts! I asked a question. Have you been told 90 days for certain? And, are any of us certain that we still won't be audited? NO! I try to do right, all the time. I pay my bills, I follow the law. I just want to go on vacation, have a good time, and try to give my money to people of Cuba! I honestly have no desire to give any $ to a communist govt. But, again, thx for checking up on my whereabouts on another post. Geez. I'll just get off the lonely planet. My time here is done.

High on Cuba policy proposal: restricting U.S. business deals with Cuba’s military-run entities

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article155772469.html

The announced changes do not take effect until OFAC issues new regulations. Consistent with the Administration’s interest in not negatively impacting American businesses for engaging in lawful commercial opportunities, any Cuba-related commercial engagement that includes direct transactions with entities related to the Cuban military, intelligence, or security services that may be implicated by the new Cuba policy will be permitted provided that those commercial engagements were in place prior to the issuance of the forthcoming regulations.

https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/cuba_faqs_20170616.pdf

I believe that particular passage was written specifically for the airlines and cruise ships only,but we won't know for at least the next 90 days.

You are right - sorry.

I meant to quote the previous section:

The announced changes do not take effect until OFAC issues new regulations. Consistent with the Administration’s interest in not negatively impacting Americans for arranging lawful travel to Cuba, any travel-related arrangements that include direct transactions with entities related to the Cuban military, intelligence, or security services that may be implicated by the new Cuba policy will be permitted provided that those travel arrangements were initiated prior to the issuance of the forthcoming regulations.

There are tour companies owned by individual Cubas. WowCuba would be an example. It is owned by a Cuban man and his Canadian wife. However, they specialize in scuba diving and bicycle tours and I don't think they do deep sea fishing (although you can find out by checking their website.) That said, the minute their tour group steps foot on a boat, that boat will be one owned by the Cuban government (as indicated by Poster #1. The exact same thing would be true for any other tour company, be it a US or a Cuban company. The boats will not belong to the company, but to the government. (Or perhaps to the resort, which will belong to the government.)

But what's your issue about the money you spend in Cuba going to the government anyway? Are you not aware that the government provides every citizen with free prenatal to grave medical care, preschool to grad school education, specialized training in sports and the arts for those who are interested and show an aptitude, a monthly food quota for every single citizen. Where do you suppose the government gets the money to do all that for all of its 11 million plus citizens, if not its capitalist (yes, capitalist!) business ventures?

I'm not saying this is the world's greatest system or anything of the kind. I'm merely pointing out the obvious: that it's money brought in by tourism that it makes it possible for the Cuban government to do as much as it does for its people. Without it (like back in the early 1990s when tourism was not nearly as robust as it is now), things were a whole lot harder for ordinary Cubans.

Varadero is a special district/province in Cuba,like Havana, under the direct governance of Raul Castro,the Commander in Chief of the military, beyond its geographic location Varadero is not part of Matanzas province and the majority of the businesses there are run and managed by Raul Castro and the military,they benefit from the business generated there. So just about anything you do in Varadero is going benefit Raul and the upper echelon of the military first.

ttjpdo - well put.

YankieBoy - There are many businesses in Varadero that are not owned by the military, including casas particulares. If you want to see a real military-owned enclave, look at Cayo Santa Maria.

The revenues generated in Varadero do not go to the province of Matanzas and the provincial governor of Matanzas has no jurisdiction over Varadero, all of that lies within Raul's control.Matanzas city wouldn't look so run down otherwise.My point is is that technically speaking,Varadero would be off limits to Americans more than other places on the island since Gaviota controls nearly all of it,under the new rules and the old ones also since its primary function is tourism.

Do the revenues from Cayo Coco go to Ciego de Avila ? I don't know how provincial finances work.

But the profits from Cubanacan, Gran Caribe and Islazul hotels go to the Ministry of Tourism, and from there to central government, not the military. (Unless you want to argue that everything is really run by the military anyway.)

But Cayo Santa Maria is entirely Gaviota run.

Americans can go to Varadero but they can't enjoy themselves ! ?

I don't know about any of those other places , I only know people who've been working in the tourist business for over 10 years in Varadero and live in Matanzas who tell me Gaviota and Raul are in charge of Varadero in the capacity of the provincial government as opposed to the provincial governor of Matanzas . Varadero is the only place you have to pay $2 CUC to enter and depart in all of Cuba and none of that goes to Matanzas.

Varadero is the only place you have to pay $2 CUC to enter and depart in all of Cuba

Not true - you also have to pay to cross the causeways in to Cayo Coco and Cayo Santa Maria.

Have yet to get to either of those places,so excuse me :)

It used to be worse, as the checkpoint for Cayo Coco also used to only allow Cubans to pass if they had special permission. (That was one change that Raul made that I approve).

Beardo is right in saying that there are many privately-owned commercial operations in Varadero, the most numerous of which are casas particulares (note to OP: these are Cuba's version of our B&Bs) and privately-owned taxis. But there are no--zero--privately owned boats. All of Cuba's marinas and all of the Cuban boats that utilize them are government-owned. As are all of the islands planes, trains, and buses. And while there are privately-owned taxis, anyone flying into the Varadero or any other airport will need to take one of the government-owned taxis to their
destination. (although one may choose a privately-owned taxi when returning to the airport.)

YanquiBoy, your comment that "the only place you have to pay $2 CUC to enter and depart in all of Cuba..." is hardly excusable for someone who knows Cuba as well as I thought you did. Besides the fees mentioned by Beardo to Cayo Coco, how about the fees charged to cross the causeways to Cayo Juitas, Cayos Santa Maria/Los Ensenachos/Las Brujas, Cayos Coco/Guillermo, and Cayo Saitia? There is also a 10-CUC fee for entering Parque Guanachabibes, Parque Sierra Maestra, the Las Terrazas Biosphere, and a dozen more I could name. Fees are even charged to access certain hiking trails (for example, El Yunque, near Baracoa.) Have you not visited ANY of these places?

To say that these fees, or indeed, income from any military-owned properties "go to Raul and Gaviota" is like saying that the fees to enter US national parks or travel on toll roads go to Trump and Trump Industries. (Although maybe that's is a bad example, as this could be the case nowadays!) Seriously, though, these areas, like Varadero, are all national resources, and the income generated from them go to the Cuban government, which in turn uses the money to support itself and provide goods and services to its population.

Oh--and one side note re "having to pay to enter and depart from Varadero," there is only a toll for those traveling on the Via Blanca, and not then if you're on foot or on a bicycle. There is no toll on the highway that enters Varadero from Cardenes.

I don't pay the tolls,I go the Cuban way. And you're right, I remember paying to enter the zoo,I was trying to make a point and the Trump comparison is weak.Matanzas gains no benefit from Varadero other than tourists passing through who decide to stop off in Matanzas.
Many states and cities in N.America and in Europe benefit individually from tourism before the money gets to the federal government.

PS Public outrage at Trump's conflicts of interests are expressed everyday, heck he might even get thrown out because of it.

I must have driven the highway to varadero a hundred times. No exaggeration. Don't recall if one pays going and coming. Going East to varadero, then going West back to Havana.

Apparently the money is used to maintain that stretch of road. I believe it. It is perfect.

It is a good stretch of road, but I can't believe it costs that much for upkeep.

Maybe it was intended to be designed, built and maintained by user fees, including the original construction costs. Plus a profit.

2cuc for that stretch is pretty inexpensive when you compare similar private toll roads built by private enterprise, in NA.

The 2cuc is charged to 'foreigners'. Local cars pay in cup.

You're right, Gres. And the toll is charged only on the way in (ie, heading east), not on the way out.

YanquiBoy, you're right, too, about my comparison with Trump being weak. I was just being silly. But as a joke it was pretty weak, too. Most Americans are not finding his financial antics all that funny, are they?

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The 2cuc is charged to 'foreigners'. Local cars pay in cup

You're right, Gres. And the toll is charged only on the way in (ie, heading east), not on the way out.

A couple small things:
1-Actually, it(Varadero toll), is paid in both directions. Most recent 3 weeks ago.
2-And you CAN have a private taxi pick you up at any airport. This must be pre-arranged as they cannot tout their services there. Done it dozens of times. Usually about 50-75% of Cubataxi rate. YMMV of course. :-)

True.. If i recall, the toll is paid both ways.

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