POSSIBLE FERRY SERVICE to/from CUBA by a FORT LAUDERDALE COMPANY
Imagine taking a ferry from the Florida Keys to Cuba?!
Boundaries have recently eased; a Fort Lauderdale-based company is planning on introducing a ferry service from the Marathon City Marina in Florida Keys to Havana, by the end of the year.
A four hour trip on the 200-passenger catamaran traveling one-way or round-trip from the Florida Keys to Cuba, Brian Hall, owner of KonaCat, said he is self-assured and buoyant that he can get authorization. Traveling via boat used to be a very popular way of travel before the U.S. government terminated tourism to Cuba shortly following the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
The Fort Lauderdale-based company says they will operate as a nonprofit organization and the owner, Hall feels certain that they will get the OFAC license. “The trips are going to be for religious groups, educational trips and for Cuban-Americans to see their families again.” General U.S. tourism travel to Cuba remains banned but the federal government has no way to enforce it. It’s basically an honor system — one must cite a specific non-tourism reason to go to the island.”
This ferry service could cost passengers about $169 or ($338 round-trip) including luggage. Brian Hall said he is very hopeful the under-construction Customs international entry point will be finalized at the Florida Keys Marathon Airport before the first vessel takes-off. “It will be similar to the Customs screening you get if you flew into the country by plane. Space for what would be an increase in parking at the Marathon marina is another obstacle Hall said he’ll have to overcome. Still, having traveled to Cuba himself last month, Hall sees day trips from Marathon to Cuba as inevitable.”
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