Yachting to Cuba: a new option for luxury travellers

The 107-foot mega yacht has four cabins with private bathrooms, a Jacuzzi, two jet skis, two auxiliary boats and a crew of four, including a chef.

With all those amenities, the flamboyant vessel named Reflections recently departed from Key West on its way to Havana, its second voyage to the Caribbean island in less than a year.

Reflections is just one of hundreds of yachts that have been sailing from the United States to Cuba since September 2015, when the US Department of the Treasury issued a new set of regulations approved by the former Obama administration that opened the door to passenger transportation to the island by sea.

Those in the industry say the number of yacht excursions is multiplying quickly even as passenger cruise ships, which operate under the same regulations, have gotten the most attention.

“Since December 17, 2014, almost nothing has happened in Cuba except tourism, and much if not most of the tourism is illegal,” said Coral Gables, Florida, attorney Michael T. Moore, referring to the re-establishment of US-Cuba relations.

“By this I mean that it does not comply with the embargo exceptions,” he said. “But there’s one exception, and it’s beautiful: yacht trips.”

Although Americans who visit the island can’t go simply as tourists, which is prohibited under the still intact embargo, luxury trips like what Reflections offers are legal — at least for now. It is not yet known if President Donald Trump will reverse the relaxed measures imposed by the Obama administration.

American travellers to Cuba, by sea or air, are required to comply with one of 12 categories approved by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which oversees embargo regulations over Cuba. Moore’s firm has facilitated more than 100 yacht trips to Cuba.

“Of the 12 exceptions for Americans to travel to the island, we focus on the environment,” Moore said.