Puerto Rico is loaded with world-class surf and surfers. The Dominican Republic is a surf destination for people who know. Jamaica too — tons of great surf. But Cuba? A surfing desert, for decades. Part of that is admittedly because it’s blocked by the Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas from receiving the brunt of swell energy from the Atlantic, but more than that, surfing was outlawed for decades by the Cuban government. Paddling in the ocean might have meant fleeing the island. But in recent years, Cubans have begun exploring their own coastlines with, at first rudimentary
