June, 16, 2017: Travel to Cuba
Cuba has recently become a hot spot for American fly anglers, more specifically in the last year when the last administration lifted travel restrictions from the US. These laxed rules for travel allowed more anglers to enjoy the flats that lie off the small island nation. On Friday, June 16, 2017, President Donald Trump announced that he was going to roll back the policy of the previous administration. Some of the best tarpon, permit and bonefishing in the world lie within a nation that is surrounded by political turmoil and decaying infrastructure.
Media coverage has made it somewhat difficult to truly grasp the new travel policies, typically more concerned with the politics rather than the policy. The bottom line is Americans can still go to Cuba, but it will simply be a little more challenging than recent months.
“People that are traveling casually, without the correct paperwork are going to have problems,” said Jim Klug, the founder and director of operations of Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures. “Overall it could definitely affect American travel and American fishing travel.”
Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures runs hosted trips to Cuba. Klug said that companies that took the time to implement the proper legal work will not be as impacted by the new policy.
“It is going to mean that we are returning to a time where it is a lot more work for us,” Klug said. “If people want to go there and do it right, and do it legally, we are going to be able to take care of them.”
Many travel agents were quick to jump on the opportunity of Cuban tourism in recent years according to Klug. And many of them are now exposed and at a loss because of the change in policy. Organizations like Yellow Dog and the others that followed Cuban laws will be minimally affected.
If Cuba is on your wish list of desired places to fish, it is still possible. Person to person travel is no longer allowed, requiring traveling in groups.
Airlines are still allowed to fly from the United States to Cuba. However, some airlines such as Frontier have already been canceling flights.
Despite this recent set backs and increased difficulty involving travel to Cuba, most policies regarding this world class fishery are never set in stone and change frequently. If you remember back 20 years ago, almost no one could travel there, and especially not to fish.
