For Americans, Cuba is shrouded in mystery. Since the early 1960s, the United States has prohibited its citizens from traveling there. This restriction was put in place at the height of the Cold War. When the Cold War ended in 1991, the world let out a collective sigh and hope for change and peace after decades of gut wrenching, nerve wracking tension. As things changed quickly globally, the United States decided to keep ties with Cuba severed. In 2015, 24 years after the Cold War officially ended, diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba were finally restored.
I had been waiting for this moment since I was a teenager. I could have gone before, but it would have required a lot of planning and a lot of inconvenience. As soon as Alaska Airlines announced direct flights to Cuba from LAX, my wife and I had tickets. I had researched the surf on the island, but most of the country has not been explored. I got in touch with a group of surfers on the island and we planned out a trip together with their help. Without them, I would have not been able to surf or probably even find the surf breaks.
When we landed in Havana, our driver picked us up in a hot pink Bel Air from the 1950s. He asked me if I had dead bodies in my board bag. He had never seen surfboards before. Everywhere I went, I realized that most people had never seen surfboards before. EVER. When we met up with Yaya and Dani, they gave us a run down of surfing in Cuba. Surfing is technically ILLEGAL in Cuba, and was vigorously enforced up until less than a decade ago. Surfers would paddle out at their own risk, usually ending up getting their board confiscated by the military. Surfers still are not able to open surf shops, so they have been making boards from used boats and refrigerators. Ding repair is interesting. I saw a few creative boards when I was out there. I even saw fins made out of glass! The Cuban people are resourceful and have always had the quality of ingenuity. They depend on it for survival. They rely on donations from traveling surfers. We brought a few boards, lots of wax, leashes, fins, fin keys, t-shirts and board shorts. Dani and Yaya distributed what we brought to the locals based on who needed it. Then after a day of surfing under the hot caribbean sun, we spent the entire night salsa dancing. Cubans are salsa dancing pros.
Cuba has roughly 11.5 million people, and the locals estimated that only about 50-75 of them surf in the entire country. It is also the biggest island in the caribbean. Imagine that untapped potential. Dani took us to a few spots and we surfed every day. The locals there are among the kindest we have met in our travels. The message they told me to bring back to the states was to help them. Help them legalize surfing in Cuba. Help raise awareness. If you travel to the country, drop off a few bars of wax, or an old set of fins, or even a fin. Drop off that snapped board thats been sitting in your garage for a year. They will fix it and ride it. Any little contribution you can make to help them realize their dream of surfing would be appreciated. They have spent decades watching swells roll in and unable to surf due to militant rules, or lack of equipment. The surfers in Cuba are hardcore. They LOVE surfing. It is all they talk about. It is what they do and what they live for. Most of their tattoos are surf related. They have the surf stoke that you and I had when we were learning. It is infectious and contagious. It is impossible to put into words the vibe they set, but it is like watching your kids catch their first wave and claim it hard. You can feel the excitement and energy. They surf whether it is 2 foot and sloppy or overhead and victory at sea.
If there was ever a good place to get skunked, it would be in Cuba. There is so much culture, good food, entertainment, architecture, history and more to keep you busy around the clock if the wind is howling or if the waves are flat.
The Cubans have been through a lot in their recent history. The stories they told me were pretty insane. Communism, socialism, human rights abuses, propaganda from a state run media, disappearances and jailed dissenters, food shortages, no freedom of public expression, tyranny…etc, they have been walking on eggshells for a really long time. Surfing is an escape for all of us. I’m encouraged by the surf stoke that I saw while out there. They are determined to succeed and they will because if their drive and devotion.
