Shark’s Friends Diving Center is based at Playa Santa Lucía on Cuba’s north coast and is the natural choice for divers who specifically want to see bull sharks. Alongside the well-known shark dive, the center offers reef, wall, wreck, drift and night dives as well as ACUC courses.
Bull shark diving
The bull shark dives take place near the entrance to Bahía de Nuevitas. The animals can appear there seasonally in clear, warm water. Dive profiles are typically around 18 to 32 meters and are planned around the local tide window because current and tide shape the dive.
The main season is November to April. Encounters are still wildlife encounters and cannot be guaranteed, but the stronger travel window for bull sharks clearly falls in the cooler dry season. The interaction uses controlled hand feeding by local guides, so this profile is marked as a feeding dive.
Area and experience
Santa Lucia combines shark diving with classic Cuba diving: reefs, walls and wrecks such as the Mortera are within reach of the base. Divers coming mainly for sharks should still allow several dive days and flexible expectations, because weather, boat logistics and tides can matter in Cuba.
The bull shark dive is not a beginner program. Certification, buoyancy control, calm behavior and a clear briefing matter more here than on a normal reef dive. For experienced divers, Santa Lucia is one of the few Caribbean places where bull sharks are such a concrete part of the local dive profile.
