There you find islands where no cars or motorbikes are allowed. Only transportation on the island is walking, by bycycle or horse!

paradise on earth: Corn Islands in Nicaragua

Electricity isn’t available all the day and there is only little light pollution. And therefore the nights get really dark! When your there, you will definetly relax!

Perfect I had the right spot to go to, now I wanted to find the right people to go with…

sunset at the pacific coast in Las Penitas

Las Penitas at the pacific coast

Making a long trip on your own is always risky. Even if Nicaragua is one of the safer countries in Central America, its better to be careful!  Its not only safer to travel in a group, but much more fun!

the flow: finding the right people for the next adventures

When I stayed a couple of nights in Léon I meet some wonderful people from Italy and Germany!

In order to find out if we fit together for a long journey to Corn Islands we decided to spend a day on the beach of Las Penitas. With this visit at the pacific coast we found out, that we can be a little family and travel together.

Léon to Managua

In Léon I spend more than a week in order to do some special hikes to volcanos. Read my post to find out more about volcano hiking and boarding in Nicaragua.

El Hoyo Hike & Cerro Negro Boarding

After our “new” family had prepared itself well for the 3 day trip we took a walk from our hostel in downtown Léon to the public bus station. Asking locals it is quite easy to identify the right bus and for € 1,40 we took the bus to the capital Managua. In Managua we spent one night in order to get the next bus to El Rama. Managua was very special for me!

local buses in Nicaragua

I had my cheapest accomodation ever, sleeping in a private room with bath and shower for less than € 2 per night!

The next day for about € 3,50 we took the night bus to bring us to the port in El Rama.

El Rama to Bluefields

Here the journey continues on the river “Rio Escondido” by boats. If you get a little speed boat (around € 4-5) the trip takes about 2 hours to get to Bluefields. After we arrived in Bluedfields we assumed we can get immediately on an other boat to get us to Corn Islands.

traveling the Rio Escondido by speed boat

But due to weather conditions we had to wait to the next day and spend one night in special port town Bluefields.

Not that I recommend going there, but it is really special. Kind of cut out from the rest of the country, a very unique culture of criminalism, drug war and prostitution developed and is all around in this little town.

But also you can find very kind and religious people in Bluefields!

And with a local family we shared a dinner eating “Cevice” together. Ceviche is a very common speciality. Its basically a very healthy fish salad. If you want to know how to make a Ceviche, in the next chapter you find a clip about Making a Ceviche:

El Bluff to Corn Islands

In Bluefields we got our tickets (about € 5-6) for a container ship to bring us to Corn Islands. From Bluefields we had to take a little boat to El Bluff. There the container ship was about to leave.

traveling on a container ship

After waiting all day in the heat of the sun around 4 p.m. the passengers who had tickets boarded the ship.

going to Corn Island

The journey takes between 5 and 8 hours depending on the type of ship and weather conditions. On the ship itself everything is made to carry goods and products for the islands. And passengers just sit or stand whereever they find a place. And because there is no catering we made our own food during the journey!

preparing a fish salad on board of a container ship

With some creativness together we created a Ceviche salad for dinner! 

Finally in paradise

When you arrive in Corn Island everything is different! Usually in Nicaragua spanish is number one language, but like in all the caribbean islands also on corn island you find an english creole spoken.

my first sunset on Corn Island

The mood of the islanders is extremly chilled and welcoming!

After meeting some locals and asking for a cheap place, we found a local family renting a little house on their ground. After some friendly words in english we moved in a beautiful place close to the beach. Because usually you have to calculate between € 10 and € 20 for a night, we had good luck to live in this wonderful place for only € 5 per person and night.

Diving Corn Islands

And because caribbean islands are perfect for diving I choose a nice dive shop “Dos Tiburones” and did some fantastic dives on Corn Islands. Watch my clip about diving the spot Blowing Rock in Nicaragua, Corn Islands.

Blowing Rock is an underwater volcano and a very special dive!

I enjoyed an unforgetable and spectacular spot with unique rock formations and a lot of marine life!

On Corn Island I spend almost 2 weeks and it was never so easy to forget the time.

My Visa expired and I had an overstay of 11 days !

natural and authentic life makes me happy

Definetly one of the most fascinating places I have visited in my trip!

Bye for now & thanks for visiting Traveling Adventures

Lui

Have more fun under water

Since my very fist dive 15 years ago in the Red Sea in Egypt I already knew it!

I want to do diving as long as its possible and also one day go pro!

Lui going pro

Never before I had the fantastic feeling of being able to breath under water. And giving yourself this experience is so great, because you can start to explore a completely new world.

And when I started diving I couldn’t stop anymore!

Having the feeling of being completely balanced under water and being able to move in all three dimensions adds a lot of fun, too! And the more you dive the more you start to recognize the differences and uncountable details of the marine life.

fun dive with dive staff and DMT’s

With the diving I also developed a passion for the vast varieties of the marine life.

And you never know when it happens!

Always when you don’t expect it you meet a turtle, dolphins or sharks or something else spectacular.

always having fun underwater

Because it is not a zoo you cannot plan anything! You go down as a visitor in a world thats not made for us and always come back with remarkable memories!

Dive saver

Usually you would think the more dives you did the more safe you are. Because of more experience, the possibility of having a dive accident is reduced, but the opposite is the reality! Most dive accidents happen with more experienced or pro divers, because they underestimate the siuation.

my instructor explaining the dive board for DMT’s

In my own experience I can tell you that whenever I dive in a new dive spot I feel like a beginner!

In the same time thats a big advantage for diving, because its never the same!

Whenever you dive in a lake, ocean or river, everything changes. And all conditions can change within a couple of minutes.

Thats why I do guided diving when I am in new and for me unknown places.

Even as a pro its important for me to be connected to locals!

They know their dive spots, the water and weather conditions very well. After I dove a certain location a couple of times and know the place I feel saver and able to guide at this spot!

learning from a local Divemaster

As soon as I travel in a new country or a new dive place, the procedure starts all over again!

The good thing is whatever dive organsiation you choose e.g. PADI your dive instructors (=teachers) are going to make sure to practise all important things for save diving.

Whats different before and after my DM course

For sure after my Divemaster course a lot of things changed for me! Because I choose a very poor maintained dive center I had to dive with very old equipement and sometimes the parts didn’t work properly.

Before I always dove with my own and very good maintained dive equipement.

happy after a good dive

Now I feel much saver, because I learned to handle different situations with e.g. a regulator that didn’t give air! I had a dive guest on 17 meters having a panic attack because the tank was still filled with lot of air, but the regulator didn’t release any air.

As a well trained Divemaster I have all the skills to handle the siuation as a pro!

Cancel the dive, inform other divers and calm down the panicing diver. Until we had reached the surface you give your dive partner air from your alternative regulator. And the situation was easy and save at the end. For sure I gave the failing regulator into maintanance.

Building up experience as a pro

And also some personal things have changed to positive! Like I reduced my air consumption and reduced the amount of weight I need to go down. Due to the intense training I can control my lungs easier and have also much better balancing.

busy days as a DMT: sometimes up to 4 hours in the water per day

After finishing my Divemaster training in Honduras I did more dives in Nicaragua, Cuba and Thailand.

And the experience doing dives as a Divemaster is awesome!

At a dive shop in Cuba I got offered free dives for helping an instructor with his OWD course (Open Water Diver)! At other dive shops I got good discounts. Some dive centers give between 10 and 25 % off the regular price! Because as a pro diver you don’t need the attention like recreational divers.

proud to have finished my Divemaster

And the shop knows that ususally you are going to help whenever your help is needed! When I arrived I Thailand I was really surprised how easy it is to work as a pro in diving! Especially when you speak many languages like I do!

How I am continuing

My intention in the beginning was to reduce the pressure on my travel budget during doing a lot of dives.

And it worked out well!

I already had many situations where I was able to save money. And still do a nice amount of dives during my trip around the world.

easy and save diving

Now that I am a Divemaster I am already thinking a step forward!

I have the idea to do my Dive Instructor course somewhere in Southeast Asia. And right now I am choosing a nice place for it!

In Thailand I already visited some islands where I can imagine to do the further pro step to a certified Instructor. Koh Lanta and Koh Chang are fantastic islands, just to name two of them!

But I am still traveling around and I might also choose another place

Thanks for your visit at Traveling Adventures and for sure I will keep you updated!

travel & dive – life & food

Watch me fun diving during my DMT:

Bye for now!

Lui

If you want to know more about how I changed my lifestyle before traveling, get my free E-Book. “3+1 Power Recipes” is now available for downloading on this website. All you need to do is to subscribe with your E-Mail below this post down here or in the side bar.

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Then you have to confirm an E-Mail you will receive from Traveling Adventures. After that you will be directed to a Welcome page with more details about my personal change. There you can download your free version of my E-Book 3+1 Power Recipes in german or english.

Have fun and C U soon on Traveling Adventures!

Even the same dive spots can be tricky in different situations.

Therefore its my personal task to do save diving and respect my limits under water!

Now I dove in more than 20 countries around the globe. And for sure during my world trip I am having the great possibility to dive in more countries and explore more of the marine world in the oceans!

when I dive, I am in a different state of mind

But diving is an expensive sport!

Thats the reason why  I decided to start with diving on a professional level!

In conclusion I am able to do more dives. And instead spending lot of money on diving I am relieving the pressure on my budget during traveling the world!

Choose a cheap location

Due to the fact that I already was traveling in Mexico and Central America I had to find the right spot in order to do the training and course that at least takes 5 to 6 weeks. Because I am doing it the “slow way” I choose to spend 7 weeks in order to complete my Divemaster course.

arriving to Utila, a caribbean island in Honduras

It was also very important for me to do a appreciable amount of dives in order to get the most experience out of my training. And for sure I had to choose a location that wasn’t expensive. I would have loved to make the course in Mexico, but unfortunately the prices for diving in south mexico have been climbing over the past years. And now Yucatan can be considered as one of the most expensive places for diving in all America. Prices have almost doubled in the past ten years!

one of the cheapest places worldwide for diving: Utlia, Honduras

So it is already known that Honduras is a very cheap and popular place to start with diving. And also to start professional diving courses.

Honduras is considered as one of the three cheapest places worldwide for diving!

Choose an island

There are not many possibilities in Honduras you can choose between few dive locations on the caribbean coast. And I considered Roatan and Utila and decided for the smaller and more backpacker friendly island Utila. Accomodation was incredibly cheap!

my home for 2 months during my Divemaster training

Simple and cheap! For 8 weeks I spend only € 240 for my appartement! And also general living costs in comparison to other caribbean islands are really low.

The right dive shop

To complete my low budget experience in Honduras I choose a very cheap and poorly maintained dive shop.

With some bargaining I got my course for less than € 350! In some places you can pay € 1.000 and more for the same course!

A very good advice I got from a local dive instructor is to choose a small and familiar dive shop that has only few DMT’s (Divemasters in training). In some bigger diveshops you can find more than 10 DMT’s at the same time. You can imagine that this doesn’t really help you in your training to get a good Divemaster. So I was happy to find the right little dive shop and also the right persons to join me in that exiting time of being a Divemaster in training.

Connect with your Instructor

Your Instructor during your DMT is the most important person in your start in professional diving. All the training, exercised and exams will be done by your Instructor. You will be assisting your Instructor in different dive courses, from Suba Explorer and the beginner course (OWD = Open Water Diver) to more advanced courses like AOWD (Advanced Open Water Diver) and Rescue Diver.

Ernesto Ruiz, my Instructor during my DMT, getting ready for a wreck dive

In order to understand and realize all the preparations of a dive boat and the equipement for commercial diving with guests you need somebody to teach you all the details. Even if I have been diving for a long time I never realized how many details need to be considered to make a dive day on a boat with paying guests a save and unforgetable memory. In this case I really had very good luck! I had the fantastic opportuniuty to do my Divemaster with Ernesto Ruiz, a local Dive Instructor from Honduras. He already has trained many Divemasters and everybody who learned from him, turned out to be a very well prepared diver.

25 different exercises, practical exams and written tests

In the beginning it sounds a lot! And in fact it is the most time consuming course you can make in your diving career. But when you can enjoy diving, the water and the ocean like me, every day in a divemaster course is packed with new and great tasks that are waiting to be fulfilled!

one of many exercises: emergency scenario training

And I have to say that after each of the single exercises, tests or exams I felt more save and confident in the next dive day. To summarize it, I can say that until that point this was the most important time for me in diving!

best time ever as a diver: spending time with buddies

And I am so happy and also proud that I did this step. And doing to course with the right buddies also adds some great friendships for life!

Read more about my Divemaster training on Utila in Honduras in my nextcoming post. I am giving you some more insights in a life of a Divemaster and how my diving changed before and after my DMT.

Lui

P.S.: Thanks Ernesto for your passion and love for diving and the marine life!

Watch me fun diving during my DMT:

Because I never plan any details for my travel route, first I just wanted to pass Guatemala to go as quickly as possible to Honduras in order start with my Divemaster course.

backpacking in Guatemala takes time, but is cheap and easy

But then I changed my plans and spend more than 3 weeks enjoying spectacular nature, active volcanos, a basic lifestyle and one of the wonders of the world.

Flores & Tikal

After visiting the northern part of Guatemala a couple of months ago I already was blown away from this great country.

On a 9 day jungle expedition with Mao from Planeta Indigena we visited the amazing mayan site Tikal and spend a couple of days in El Remate and Flores.

one of the most beautiful sunsets: lago Flores

At this lake I have done the picture for the cover photo of my blog Traveling Adventures. During a sunset we organised a boat and spend some good times on the lake.

thats Guatemala: most beautiful sunrises

At that point I already knew that its not enough to spend just a couple of days in Guatemala. In conclusion I knew that I want more of the Guatemala experience!

traditional mayan woman selling handcraft art

Because it is very similar to Mexico in many things, it was easy to acclimatize. And in the same time with a lot of similarities, the little differences of the daily guatemalans life make it worth a longer visit.

mayan woman with her daughter

From my point of view in Guatemala everything is more basic and thats what I am looking for in my trip.

Find authentic places and feel the vibes of changing cultures.

Deep inside the jungle: Semuc Champey

So instead of taking a boat to a harbour in Honduras, I started to travel upwards a huge river Rio Dulce.

different way of travel in Guatemala

And took further transportation in order to get to Semuc Champey.

It is called a wonder of the world due to its beautiful waterfalls and unique natural swimming pools.

amazing waterfalls in Semuc Champey

But it is deep inside the jungle and travel Guatemala means that you need a lot of time and change transportation frequently. It took me more than 2 days to pass about 220 kilometers!

when you are there you understand why its called wonder of the world

And it is absolutely worth it!

In Semuc Champey I spend 5 wonderful days just enjoying this beauty.

I was spechless watching this beauty of mother earth

Watch my clip about Semuc Champey and you will never forget this place!

Volcano Pacaya

After approaching the west parts of Guatemala I wanted to hike some of the amazing volcanos of this country.

volcano country guatemala

And its always a lottery, because lots of volcanos are still active and depending on the actual situation some of them are not offered for tours. Even if I did my visit in Semuc Champey without guides, here in Antigua, close to the capital Guatemala City it is highly recommened to join a guided tour.

vulcano view from pacaya

Most important reason is the danger of local bandits waiting for naive tourists equiped with money, smartphones and cameras.

view out of Antigua

Some volcanos are not hiked, due to very high probabillity of getting robbed. Because I never hiked volcanos before I started with an easier tour, hiking the Pacaya.

In a half day tour you hike about 1,5 hours up and get rewarded with a steaming vent and amazing view on the sourrounding volcanos of Antigua.

Lago Atitlan & Volcano Hike

This special lake is located in the mountains on about 1500 meters above sea level. And the lago Atitlan is surrounded by huge volcanos.

This gives an incredible view from almost all angles. The lake is also special because it has no natural drains. As a consequense the lake level gets higher every year about 0,5 meters and all locals living at the beaches need to move upwards or get floated.

watching a sunrise at lago Atitlan from top of a volcano

In order to get lots of impressions of lago Atitlan in one week I traveled around the little towns located at the lake, like San Marcos, San Juan, San Pedro, Santiago de Atitlan and Panajachel.

again I was spechless, but enjoying a fantastic view

And the best thing to do is hiking one of the Volcanos around the lake. Here I decided to do a much more challenging tour on volcano Toliman.

Walking up took about 8 hours and that was really tough but worth the effort!

drinking many juices before and after hiking volcanos

Especially having this fantastic view from more than 3.000 meters above sea level on the lake.

Enjoy a clip I edited about this exeptional lake and views of the volcano top!

For sure I could have spend much more time in Guatemala, but in the end I am very happy to know a little bit more about this amazing country and its exeptional nature.

this is it! I will come back!

Thank you Guatemala for a unique experience with mother earth! Here I am making a promise! Guatemala, I am coming back for more Traveling Adventures  

Lui

Dangerous Mexico

Frequently the media reports about criminal statistics and mortality rates going higher every year. Many travelers get influenced and avoid visiting.

But how are the mexicans really and is it everywhere in Mexico dangerous?

little boy guarding his parents sales stand

For sure the drug war is a constant topic, everybody in Mexico talks about this and it is definetly one of the tasks this country has to overcome. The reality is that you are going to change your behaviour while traveling through Mexico.

Move safely

Especially when visiting Mexico City or other big cities your are going to think about what you are carrying on you. And you will have to ask yourself what you really need for the day.

One of the most important briefings I got from my mexican friends!

ugly and beatiful at the same time: Mexico City

Dont carry a watch, dont use a purse and hide your expensive necklace and bracelet or better dont put them on. During a 4 months stay in Mexico City I visited the UNAM (University of Mexico City) to take part in a spanish course, I have experienced that you only carry the money with you that you need for the day.

Walking around with a backpack especially when using public transportation is not really a good idea.

visiting the aztec site Teotihuacan close to Mexico City

For example my books and learning materials I always carried in my hands. Like this everybody can see what you have and potential thiefs will not ask themselfes what you could have inside your backpack.

Get in tough with locals

Mexicans are a very proud nation and love to show and teach you about their impressive culture. Besides the great nature and an unbelivable big amount of historic places its just an amazing country with awesome people who still have the love for humans inside them. And if you open yourself for the mexican culture and start to learn about habits and conventions you are going to have access to a completely new world.

enjoying Palenque with mexican friends

From the very beginning of my mexican travel experience I started to build up friendships and serious relations with locals.

This opened possibilities for me that you never could experience as a tourist. As someone who lived most of his life in Europe I had to a adapt my habits to be able to come along in Mexico.

Sharing everything

First that sounds weird, because I was raised in a western society where egoisms and individualism is the religion. There is no: thats mine in Mexico! We are friends so we share everything!

mexican couple celebrating dia de los muertos: day of the deads

When I learned to relax in these situations, I started to have one of the most valuebale times of my life!

beautiful sunset at Rio Lagartos

And yes for a german thats not that easy but I am so happy to have done this personal process of sharing. However if you want to be friends with mexicans you are going to know about differences of real friendships.

Historic places

All over the country you can visit archaeological sites and formerly I used to think about temples as boring places. When I learned more details and stories from my mexican friends about their culture and history, the pyramids and temples turned into the most fascinating places for me and I couldnt stop visiting mayan and aztec sites. Everybody knows Chitchen Itza and for mexico travelers it is one of the priorities to go there. Even if Chitchen Itza is a great place I can really recommend to visit as many temples and sites as you can.

not so popular, but amazing: mayan site Ek Balam

In almost one year traveling through mexico I have done more than 15 different ruins and I still have the feeling that I want to do more of them.

Once you start you can not stop! In one of my clips I have summarized my visits in the mayan world. However the mayan world spreads also on Guatemala, Belize and parts of Honduras.

Mayan Underworld

Because diving is one of my most favorite activities, I also did many dives on the pacific ocean (Oaxaca) and the caribbean of mexico. Did you hear about cenotes in Yucatan (south of mexico)? For sure you heared about it!

It is the biggest underground river system in our world!

And for the mayans these cenotes are sacred places and one of the connections to the underworld. Almost in every trip I did to Mexico I visited different cenotes and swam and dove inside them. Cristal clear and fresh water is playing with the shining light of the sun and when going inside the cave system you are entering this underworld of the maya. Therefore the caves are filled with stalagtites and stalagmites, sometimes grown together to a huge pilar.

entry to the underworld: a mayan cenote

A visit in this different world gets you back to your own connection with god and the universe!

Stay healthy

When I started to travel Mexico 10 years ago I had no task to eat healthy. My only focus was to try all the new foods and enjoy the great mexican cuisine.

drinking healthy and fresh pressed juices

But honestly now I think and act different!

Yes, the mexicans have exeptional food and they have their reasons to be proud of it. But I had to learn that mexican food isnt always that healthy! A lot of meat, many fried things and too much industrialized sugars are nearly everywhere. And I am not talking about all the fast food that is spread all over the country. It is obvoius that many people in Mexico have serious issues due to the unhealthy food that is available everywhere. But in the same time the mexicans have so many great vegetables and fruits.

one of the most impressive mayan sites deep inside the jungle: Yaxchilan

Coming back to Mexico was a little difficult for me, because I was scared to fall back into some of my old bad habits.

But when I opened my eyes for the healthy stuff I realized that its so easy to maintain almost all my healthy food habits. Wherever you are you can get fresh pressed juices (take care for added sugars), smoothies and lots of salads. In conclusion it is the every days choice you make on your own. And everywhere there is healthy and good food. After I teached myself to maintain my healthy habits, it is so easy to make good choices while traveling through Mexico.

You want to know more about my healthy food habits? Check out my posts about some of my food inspirations:

http://wahhoud.de/food-inspiration-juices/

http://wahhoud.de/food-inspiration-smoothies/

my food inspiration: salads

If you want to try out my most favorite recipes that helped me to get my health back on track, get your free E-Book here:

My E-Book “3+1 Power Recipes” is now available for downloading on this website. All you need to do is to subscribe with your E-Mail below this post down here or in the side bar.

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Then you have to confirm an E-Mail you will receive from Traveling Adventures. After that you will be directed to a Welcome page with more details about my personal change. There you can download your free version of my E-Book 3+1 Power Recipes in german or english.

Have fun and hope to C U again on Traveling Adventures!

Lui

The cuban island is filled with great places for diving, nearly anywhere on the coast there are many possibilities and its quite difficult to decide where to go! Because of its beauty and virgin dive spots it is almost guaranteed to have a fantastic time in the underwater world.

choosen dive spots

As a passionate diver I was really exited to do my first dives in Cuba and I wanted to take the chance to explore different dive locations.

In order to get a good overview I choose three locations to go diving!

In the east Baracoa, Cayo Coco facing to the Atlantic Ocean and Playa Giron on the caribbean side.

Dive Shops in Cuba

Almost all dive shops in Cuba are still run by the government and you cannot do dives without official permission.

Thats not an advantage for low budget diving!

There is no real competition and negotiations are not possible, because all prices are fixed. But still there are huge differences in prices between the different regions in Cuba!

good dive standards and safety in Cuba

A very good point is the saftey level in cuban dive shops. Because all shops are under frequent checks, all dive equipment is usually under very good condition.

A big plus for safe diving everywhere in Cuba!

Diving in Cayo Coco

Getting to the sand keys in Cuba is like traveling in paradise. Due to its fantastic waters and awesome beaches all the keys on the northern side are very popular. Therefore they are also one of the most expensive places in Cuba to visit.

paradise on earth: keys in Cuba like Cayo Coco

There are no casas particulares (read about casas particulares) to rent in, because locals dont live in these places. The main possibility is to get a quite expensive hotel starting from € 80/day.

But I found a much cheaper and more exclusive way to spend  4 days and nights in Cayo Coco!

Thanks to my spanish I was able to get very useful informations from locals how to visit the keys for less money! Instead of booking a hotel, you can get into a country residence run by the government.

low budget country residence: best happened to me & my budget

A stay here is much cheaper than any hotel and costs between 35-40 €/day including 3 meals and drinking water.

And a big advantage for my healthy food habits!

Because as a guest in a government country residence your food is prepared as you want it. And I got lots of salads, fruits, vegetables and fresh fish prepared for me. And I asked not to serve me any bread, sugars or processed foods!

living good & eating healthy on a low budget

So this was the most important point to save on my budget during diving in Cayo Coco. Because nearly anything on the keys is costful, also for diving it is not the best place for saving money.

Two dives did cost me € 70 including all equipment rental.

For this reason I decided to do more freediving activities. And for one of my freedives I got a great hint from a local divemaster where to go to see lots of sharks! Unfortunately the sharks where getting fed and a shark feast happened in front of me! Watch this clip about my freedive in Cayo Coco.

Another very important saving tip is getting on and off the keys.

Taking a taxi is the most common but also the most expensive possibility and you can easily spend € 100 and more for a one way drive. When I got on Cayo Coco I found a little group and we shared a taxi together in order to save money .

cuban oldtimer taxi

But using the local buses the cuban workers use to get on and off the keys is still much cheaper. Its a little bit tricky, because you need to tip the bus driver, but with some friendly spanish words and a little “propina” everything works fine.

Instead of spending for an expensive taxi I payed € 10 including the tips to get a ride back by local bus to the main island.

Diving in Playa Giron (Punta Perdiz)

Before arriving to Playa Giron I have already heared many divers talking about this huge bay and its exeptional underwater world.

Playa Giron is a little town and perfect for economic divers!

In comparison to the keys accommodation is possible at local families and I took a nice room including breakfast and dinner for only € 20/day.

driving an Oldtimer in Playa Giron

And the diving itself is also much cheaper in comparison to the keys. Here I payed less than € 20 for a dive, what made me do five dives in total!

And again a local gave me a great tip for a good dive shop!

You can go to the only dive shop in Playa Giron and dive with huge groups of divers. Or you go to a little dive shop in Punta Perdiz (only few kilometers north) where you can enjoy small groups and more individual diving!

a little bit hidden: the dive shop in Punta Perdiz

And every dive was fantastic and I was able to do some great footage underwater!

In this clip you can watch an exeptional fish in its different phases of his live:

And more great things happened during my dives.

Here you can watch a moray eel that fell in love with me and my GoPro cam and tried to give some kisses!

No joking, moray eels can be quite dangerous and I would never try feeding them. Watch this nice clip where a green moray eel is swimming very close with me.

Diving in Baracoa

Unfortunately the weather in Baracoa was very rainy during my visit. It was easy to get a connection to a local dive shop by asking my guest family. And I planed to do some dives with a local Dive Instructor, but due to the weather I had to postpone my diving experience in Baracoa. But even if I did not do dives in Baracoa it was the most magic place in Cuba for me and I would definetly recommend going there!

Baracoa is a perfect hiking location

The expenses for one dive should be around € 25, that seemed pretty fair to me. Nevertheless that gave me possibilities to do other great stuff in Baracoa.

Thanks for you interest and hope you enjoyed my saving tips! If you want to read more useful hints on saving money while traveling Cuba you should read the previous post on my blog Traveling Adventures!

Your Lui

Low Budget Cuba? Too expensive for backpackers?

If you want to know more about how I changed my lifestyle before traveling, get my free E-Book. “3+1 Power Recipes” is now available for downloading on this website. All you need to do is to subscribe with your E-Mail below this post down here or in the side bar.

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Then you have to confirm an E-Mail you will receive from Traveling Adventures. After that you will be directed to a Welcome page with more details about my personal change. There you can download your free version of my E-Book 3+1 Power Recipes in german or english.

Have fun and C U soon on Traveling Adventures!

La Havana: low budget Cuba

Because Cuba is well prepared for tourists and a big part of the cuban economy relies on travelers it can be quite expensive to move around, get accomodation and good food.

Its just enough to be a tourist and you are going to pay a completely different price for any kind of product.

Malecon, La Habana, Cuba

This fact is supported by a divided money system CUC and CUP. The worth of a CUC is more or less equal with a dollar or euro and is the currency you get when exchanging your money at official places like airports or banks.

The cubans themselves mainly operate with CUP.

In exchange you get 24 CUP for 1 CUC (equal to 1 € & $) or 1 CUP is worth about 4 cents. But anybody traveling from outside can also get CUP, its just not common for foreigners to pay in CUP that is used by cubans mainly.

Getting CUP and paying with it whenever its possible is the first step that is going to save a lot on your travel budget.

local fruit & vegetable market in la Havana

Thanks to  the explanation of Eddy & Miriam, my guest family in la Havana I exchanged part of my money to CUP and went shopping at a local mercado for ingredients for a huge salad!

preparing a big salad in my guest families kitchen

For about 250 CUP (€ 10) I bought greens, beans, fruits and herbs that lastet for a complete week!

And I also invited my guest family to share the food with me, because it was just too much for me.

super healthy salad with local ingredients

If you go to a regular restaurant for tourists in La Habana you are going to spend at least € 10 for a meal and drink.

Like this I was able to spend a week in La Habana and enjoy the most important parts of this great city on a low budget.

Cienfuegos & Trinidad: acting like cubans

In comparison to other areas in Cuba prices are even higher here. Both mentioned cities are popular tourist destinations and I was negotiating hard to be able to spend some days here without spending too much money. But it went out very fine, because it was not high season the owners of casas particulares (cubas guest family rent system) dropped their prices sometimes to half the announced price.

clean, comfortable and cheap after a short negotiation

Here is a nice example of a complete appartement rented for € 15/day.

Unnegotiated price is € 30/day.

In some cases and depending of the area in Cuba you can even get breakfast and other meals included.

typical blue sign for a casa particulare

In all Cuba its easy to find local people renting out rooms or complete appartements for a low budget.

A great alternative to more expensive hotels and you get easily in contact with cubans.

Just watch out for the blue sign and dont forget to negotiate like a cuban!

Camaguey: cuban rules cuban prices

Camaguey is one of the bigger cities in Cuba and the city has frequent tourists coming to explore the narrow streets, old buildings and beautiful downtown of Camaguey.

Not always I had the access to a kitchen, so eating outside was obligatory sometimes.

Because I was traveling with a group of friends and we shared the accommodation I learned about the pricing system in local restaurants and their rules.

Camaguey, Cuba

On the first night in Camaguey we were hungry and looking for a snack. After asking in different restaurants we were very unmotivated, because it seemed like a meal is going to cost about € 15 in any restaurant close by. Even if the price tables inside the restaurants or shops showed a cheaper price, they wanted to charge more. Again our guest family gave us a hint.

All you need to do is insist on the advertised prices, just anywhere!

Cuban law forces any restaurant or shop owner to charge only the announced price, also for non-cubans. For sure many cuba visitors get inside this trap, but only making clear that you want to pay the announced price any cuban is going to understand you.

Like this its possible to eat a huge low budget cuban dinner for less than € 3 per person.

guarapo a cuban speciality: sugar cane juice for 1 CUC or 1 CUP?

Or you can enjoy a cuban speciality the Guarapo for just 1 CUP (equal 4 cents) instead of paying 1 CUC. Its fresh pressed and pure sugar cane juice. Super healthy, extremly tasty and gives a lot of energy for hot days. Thats low budget Cuba for backpackers that want to stay healthy!

Baracoa: Cuba at its origin tip & save

The more you tip the more you save!

This basic rule works perfect in Cuba, like in all america! Even if it sounds wrong, because you are spending more money in that moment, in the end it will save you a lot of money!

drinking a fresh coconut at the No 1 viewing point of Cuba

Baracoa is a very original place in east Cuba. Here you are transformed many years back in time. And sure like in all Cuba you can find a lot of poor people here. So tips are well appreciated and rewarded if not expected!

complete meal for less than € 4

This is how low budget Cuba works! You help me and I help you!

And it really works fantastic, thats what I really like about the cuban culture! Thinking in solutions and pushing the limitations to make life easier and happier. In one very small restaurant I insisted to give a tip, because the waiter denied the tip first.

Look what happened to me 2 days later when I returned to the same place for lunch!

a happy moment: super healthy cuban food

A huge meal with salad, vegetables and fresh shrimp and fish for free! Yes and anybody can tell from my face that this healthy food made me very happy!

Watch more about Cuba:

Here you can watch some video clips I made during my Cuba visit. The first footage shows a hike to El Yunque. A quite difficult hike when its rainy and wet. And a challenging river crossing included! But definetly a great day inside the jungles of Baracoa!

The next clip is a summary of the three best viewing points in the eastern part of Cuba. Spectacular views from Guantanamo Bay, Baracoa and a viewing point from where you can see the caribbean and atlantic ocean at the same time!

If you like my videos make sure to subscribe to my channel and like the clip on YouTube!

Hope your enjoying my blog! In my nextcoming post I am reporting about the second part of my cuban experience. With more low budget Cuba tips, diving in two awesome places involved and for sure more healthy food choices!

Lui

My free E-Book “3+1 Power Recipes” is now available for downloading on this website. All you need to do is to subscribe with your E-Mail below this post down here or in the side bar.

[lab_subscriber_download_form download_id=2]

Then you have to confirm an E-Mail you will receive from Traveling Adventures. After that you will be directed to a Welcome page with more details about my personal change. There you can download your free version of my E-Book 3+1 Power Recipes in german or english.

Have fun and C U soon on Traveling Adventures!

Watch this video of my hike:

 and my buddy Lloyd from UK uploaded also a great clip of our tour:

Cerro Negro Boarding

Watch my video boarding down:

   on the morning of our 2 day tour

Watch a video showing a macaw attacking my camera!

What a great place and day to share some time with a macaw or toucan. During my visit at the Macaw Mountain Park in Copán, Honduras I had some close feedback from a toucan and more than one macaw playing with my camera gear. Watch my great videos showing both birds in action from all angels and finally some of the released macaws in liberty at Copán Ruinas.

Facts about macaws:

Macaws are members of the parrot family and beautiful birds.

Most macaws have  a coloring that is perfectly suited to life in Central and South American jungles. The rain forests with their colorful flowers and fruits are an ideal macaw habitat. These birds have huge and strong spouts that crack nuts and seeds easily. With their tongues that have a bone inside they tapp into the fruits and nuts.

Macaws are very intelligent and social animals that usually gather in bigger groups. Macaws vocalize to communicate, mark their territory and for identification. Some parrots can even mimic human speech, Hola!

Once a macaw couple finds each other they typically mate for all their life. They breed and share food with their mates. During breeding the mothers incubate the eggs while the father goes for hunting and gets the food for all.

Most species of macaws are endangered, because these great birds are very popular pets. And also their homes the rain forests are  disappearing at an alarming rate.

Facts about toucans:

The toucan is at home in Central and South Americas jungles.  The toucans colorful appearance and his impressive bill has made it one of the worlds most popular birds and luxury pets. Actually a toucan is a very popular pet and too many are captured to satisfy the market demand for this trade.

Both, males and females use their bills to catch food and  explore any items. The bill is very seldom used as a weapon but a bigger bill helps for showing off predators. The inner structure of a toucans bill looks like a honeycomb and is made out of bone. Because it contains a lot of air it is also is very light.

Toucans live in small groups. Their bright colors provide them a good camouflage in the rain forests where they nest in tree holes. They have 1 to 4 eggs anually, which both parents take care for.

Native people see the bird with a different, a sacred eye. In many indigenous traditions they connect between the spirits and the world of the living.

Macaws in freedom:

for more details visit:

http://www.macawmountain.org/

On a 9 day jungle expedition through the mayan world we meet a wild howler monkey baby with family. During a visit at the temple of Yaxchilan in Mexico we experience something very rare.

My friend Mao, a native ecotour guide attracts and talks to the wild howler monkey and something very rare happens…

The alpha male comes down to the ground to pass to the next tree. The mom with her baby follows and all happens very close to us…..

My guide explains that the female with the young baby is too heavy to jump. So the alpha guards her and the baby to the next save tree. The rest of the howler family jumps from tree to tree….like any  wild howler monkey would normaly do…

A perfect moment with mother nature getting a unique experience so close to a wild howler monkey baby and his dad, mom and family. If you want to experience something similar in the wild nature a tour with Planeta Indigena is highly recommended.

Maos shop Planeta Indigena is located in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. He organises eco tours and expeditions  in all the mayan world.

Visit his homepage for more details:

http://www.planetaindigena.com

Facts about Howlers:

Howlers are New World monkeys that live in Mexico, tropical Central & South America. They are  named for their loud cries and shouts. When a big number of howlers start their concert, their voices can be heard up to 5 kilometers away in the jungle. Their noises sends a clear message to other monkeys: This territory is ours!

Wild Howler monkeys are the biggest of all the New World monkeys and also have a very useful  tail in comparison to other monkeys. However their long tail is used as an fifth arm for gripping or also hanging from branches. A perfect tool because they rarely descend to the ground. The howler monkeys prefer to stay in the save trees, protecting them from dangerous invaders.