Direct flights to Cuba.....if you're a Brit that is.........

Virgin Atlantic started direct flights twice a week from London Gatwick to Cuba this week. The new service is expected to bring 42,000 passengers in the first year.

This is exciting news for British divers who wish to explore Cuba's deep blue. I spent a few days at Maria la Gorda last year before attending Ernesto Bazan's photography workshop. Let me tell you.......the diving is ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS! I chose Maria la Gorda, located on the Guanahacabibes Peninsula of western Cuba, because it was off the beaten path. Many Cuban and European based dive operations will meet you in Havana and arrange transportation to the remote "resort". After bouncing and jostling around for four and a half hours in a van, the clear blue waters off Maria's beaches were a welcome site. The Hotel Maria la Gorda modestly consists of some newly constructed cabins and
a few units of bungalows. The "hotel" is small, rustic and intimate and whether they be solo travelers from Germany or a family of 5 from France, guests travel there from all around the world. No MTV beach party, no tacky plastic resort-style wrist bands........people come here to dive and take their surface intervals on the beach.

Peaceful, clear blue waters and walls filled with colossal sponges is what you will find here. My favorite dive site was Yemaya, named after the goddess of the sea in the Santaria religion. Plunging to 60 feet Yemaya had us enter a small cavernous swim-through that was guarded by silver tarpon. Exiting the tunnel at 100 feet we found ourselves on a beautiful, dramatic wall dotted with black coral and glided past sponges five to six feet high. Maybe it was slight narcosis, but I felt like Alice in Wonderland.

My days at Maria la Gorda involved three dives each day with a fabulous dive staff (minus a cowboy here and there).Evening's began with dinner, sinking sunsets and eventually led to sipping mojitos during dive tales while the hotel staff played salsa music and eventually enticed us to dance. I was glad I chose Maria la Gorda over big tourist resorts like Veradero.

Americans aren't allowed to legally travel to Cuba without a license, however there are ways to get there without one. Politics aside, I was honored to experience such pristine diving. Hopefully when the island does open up, the Cuban government will continue to protect its beautiful reefs.