Posts by Alejandro

Quote from Marco

Even when the current is ripping, it can be fairly maneageable when the tide is at its high or low point.

so should i be checking for high/low tides when i decide i want to kayak out farther than usual?

how do you guys predict current? my cousins and i paddled out to the second reef today but the current was ripping.

what's the best way to predict current?

Well I'm planning this pretty far in advance, I'll be leaving in January.

Quote from Dan

Don't waste your time with rubber, they all use pneumatics over there. Shafts for pneumatic spearguns may be useful, but I don't see too many people parting with theirs, and shaft prices here are not cheap. Plus there may be difficulties matching up our shafts with their home made air guns, as a rule they use heavy shafts. Mono and Dyneema are never used for shooting line, rather some kind of cordage. I imagine they scrounge up cord from the military.

Masks, and snorkels of any kind are always appreciated. Since materials to put together and maintain carbon and fiberglass fins are not available, the best fins to bring are plastic fins like Cressi gara. It's warm for a long time out of the year, and Cuban divers are used to cold and difficult conditions, still any kind of old wetsuit would be welcome.

In general you'll find that those interested in spearfishing gear are subsistence spearfishermen. They know the local value of diving gear, it's part of their work, and they know they must pay for it. So your idea of charity is a little out of place IMO. Gear is much needed by those people, and the idea of giving it away arbitrarily doesn't work out well in reality. You best keep your stuff to yourself, wait until you make a friend or two, then gift them some gear. It's like having $100, you spread it among 200 people and $.50 each is not going to make any difference. But if you give one person the $100 it will make a difference for them. In general foreigners have some misguided idea about how goods should be distributed. Cubans in Cuba are very aware of the value of stuff, it's all about business and who knows who to get something over there.

Keep in mind you're only allowed so many pounds as part of your air fare. Anything past that you'll have to pay the airline to bring it on the plane. Also there's a limit in Cuba on how many pounds you can bring in without paying some BS fee. Also if you bring a lot of stuff Cuban customs may see it like you're going to sell it, and try to squeeze some money out of you.

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Thanks for the post Dan. I figured most of that would be coming from someone who knew more about the diving there than me.

I wasn't planning on giving it to random people, rather like you said to a few individuals who seemed like they could really use it. I'm sure some posters on the site are in-touch with spearos over in Cuba and could point me in the right direction to a few people that could make good use of the gear.

Not to mention this is a great way to build up some good karma!

:laughing:

Thanks a ton Lunker, that's really great of you.

The student who ran the skate program is named Miles. Here's the site in case you are interested in checking out the program: ¡Cuba Skate!

I should definitely be able to take that stuff over or, at the least, give it to Miles when I get back up to school.

I think that type of diving equipment is perfect for this cause: it might not be brand new or expensive, but it might be something you don't use and will be greatly appreciated over there. Used/Old/Missized bands would be awesome for you to donate. Masks, dyneema, and everything are also exactly what would work.

If anyone here wants to contact me about this shoot me a text at 305-904-9764.

Again, thanks a ton Lunker!

Hey guys, I figured that I'd post this in the Miami section since we have a lot of Cuban natives down here.

I'm planning on studying abroad starting in January with my school and will be going to Cuba for a semester. A few kids a couple years ago went on the same trip with my school and started a program that bring skateboarding supplies to the country since they are lacking most basic equipment to be able to enjoy the sport (wheels, bearings, trucks, etc.).

While there I was planning to dive and talked to a few members on this site and on other places on the internet about what I should expect over in Cuba. The majority of people I talked to gave me the same advice: to make sure to bring extra bands, shafts, blades, etc. because anything that breaks over there will NOT be replaceable since they do not manufacture many of the products needed to spearfish.

After thinking about it a bit tonight while driving I realized it would be cool to maybe do something similar to the skateboarding program and bring supplies into the country when I visit to help out the locals. I'm thinking about bringing anything from rubber, line, bungees, shafts, or anything small in size over there.

Is anyone here interested in maybe starting a little donation package to put together for the spearos in the country? Most of them have it pretty rough over there and resort to using some crazy setups to spear. I think it would be pretty cool to help make some type of impact on the spearing community over there.

At this point I really haven't thought anything fully out yet, but I figured fishing for ideas on this site would be a good start.

If anyone is interested in helping but doesn't have gear to donate I could set up a PayPal account for donations and that money can be put towards buying items like rubber in bulk online (like on eBay).

Let me know if you have any interest, ideas, or input.

Thanks!!

:thumbsup2:

My cousins and I are probably going out by Hollywood on Sunday. PM if you would want to come

fwiw, i have a friend who went out today off the beach and said the viz was terrible near sunrise blvd

no chance, it's gonna be a milkshake.

however, it's going to be calming down a lot. it's forecasted to be less than a foot both saturday and sunday.

i still wouldn't go out until the weekend after this one coming though, it takes a while for the viz to clear up after a horrible week like this.

Quote from LunkerBuster

Be careful Alejandro. It is NOT pretty outside right now

Lol

I woke up at 6, took a peak out the window and decided to wait. Checked again at 7:30 and it was OK in plantation. I decided it wouldn't hurt to wait another 30 mins and then everything went downhill starting then.

Made the right decision to stay out of the water and went down to Shell Lumber and a couple shops down in Miami instead.

alright i guess i'll take a chance and go out tomorrow. i've seen a few places online that claim the viz was no good today and yesterday but i work during the week so i might as well go.

thanks for the posts.

Nice photos. Very useful video for my question.

Just to be sure, that was 4:00 today right? Lol

Anyone have a clue how the viz is of the beach?

Thinking about yak diving tmrw

pockets are size 9-10. good shape.

one of the blades has a chunk missing from it. if you were to buy this gear i would suggest buying for the footpockets and using the blades as a backup (if that). one of the blades is fine but one is chipped badly.

taking offers. also open to trading for some different footpockets. thanks.

pm me if you want to go out tomorrow morning. i'm thinking of kayaking out of dania.

Quote from Bulit 7

Anyone dive off a waverunner, pwc, etc??

these guys do. you might want to find something with some more space for catch on it though, lol

Spearing 30lb cobia from jet ski filmed with go pro HD - YouTube

scratch my previous post, got a refund of my money and will be buying one of these asap :thumbsup2:

tons of grouper actually. looks like we should be having a good season coming up. i probably saw 7 or 8 of them in the boulders in only about 35 minutes of time out there. saw a ton of them out at the reef too.

we had a little crowd checking out our catch. one guy offered $10 for my cousin's hog :laughing: