Isla de la Juventud - General Info
Description:
The Isla de la Juventud (Isle of youth), also known as the Isle of Pines, is the second largest Cuban Island and lies off the western end of Cuba’s southern coast, 50km south of the main island. A great part of the Island is covered in a pine forest (timber being the main industry here along with tourism), the source of the Island’s original name.
Punta Frances National Marine Park at the Colony is one of the world’s most significant dive sites featuring shipwreck remains and diverse coral species.
Nueva Gerona is the Island’s capital with a commercial harbour and lies on the northern coast. Private yachts are not permitted to enter.
Ensenada de la Siguanea on the south-west coast of Isla de la Juventud lies within a bay formed by the Cayos Los Indios chain of reefs stretching away to the NW. The Siguanea marina can be found in the SE corner of the bay.
Position:
21° 37.01’N, 82° 59.06’W (approach to marina channel entrance)
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Related to following destinations: Cuba, Isla de la Juventud
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Craig and Joanna Pollak of SV Rambunctious took a 2-week cruise from Havana along the West coast of Cuba to Cayo Largo Del Sur (see their report dated July 2018 in the Related Reports section). This is an extract from their report about Isla de la Juventud:
We headed for Nueva Gerona on the Isla de la Juventud and covered the 45NM by 4 pm. We started off close hauled to avoid the shallower waters of the Bajo de la Cucina on the north side of the Cayos de San Felipe islands, before bearing off a bit and heading towards Nueva Gerona.
This supposedly is a quaint, beautiful old town, which can be used (if given permission by the Guarda Frontera) as the first re-provisioning stop when travelling West around Cuba from Havana. The Guarda Frontera agent in Maria la Gorda had called ahead to Nueva Gerona to alert them of my arrival in 2 days, so I felt relatively confident they’d let us in.
If not, we had a spot to anchor near the mouth of the Las Casas river, which leads 1.5nms to the town, so we knew we were covered in any event. In the 300nms we had travelled since departing Havana, this was going to be the first grocery store we could visit.
Unfortunately, the Guarda Frontera officer I hailed on the VHF gave me an immediate “No. This is not possible. The next place for despacho is Cayos Largo del Sur. Do you understand?”
Oh well.