Fotosub 2025: A world in the depths captured in snapshots

Ismary Barcia Leiva

Just over two years ago, young lawyer Nosdalys Castillo Fuentes decided to venture into the sea. It didn’t take long to go from learning to swim to descending “like a fish in water” to 40 meters deep as an experienced diver.

“It was at these depths of the Faro Luna International Diving Center that it all began. Here I learned what it was like to be comfortable in the water, I tried diving, and for those who like discovering new things like I do, trying it is amazing. And a few months later, when I no longer needed further training, I wanted to do something more, and I picked up a camera.”

When the sixteenth edition of the traditional Náutica y Marinas Marlin S.A FOTOSUB 2025 competition was announced for July, Nosdalys decided to try her luck.

“It’s like revealing a submerged universe to everyone, one that not everyone can see.”

She particularly prefers Macro photography, in which she discovers tiny creatures and shapes, and once she’s snapped them, she wants to return again and again, eager to “capture” others with her lens.

“And I said to myself, I’m going to try it; it’s my first competition. I realized it’s a male-dominated world; there are practically no female photographers, so I felt a little self-conscious, but I also feel good about representing a minority among so many men.”

Third place in the Environment category, and surprisingly for her, first place among the twenty participants from Canada and Cuba in the Environment with Model category, were the rewards for the emerging diver’s audacity.

Although visibility during these summer months isn’t optimal—due to the rainfall that runs through several rivers and flows into this stretch of Caribbean Sea coast, 18 kilometers from the city of Cienfuegos, Matanzas native Luis Muiño Suarez always captures surprising snapshots.

More than thirty years under the surface haven’t diminished his capacity for wonder. Last year, he was crowned Overall Champion at the 2024 Fotosub event held in Varadero; this year, returning to Cienfuegos after three years, he repeated the feat, taking third place in the Fish category, second in Creative—a category introduced in this competition—and top positions in Macro and Environment of Overall Champion.

“I’m a fan of the Faro Luna seabed. It’s a spectacular diving site because it combines reefs, tunnels, sunken ships, wrecks and walls. It combines life—a huge number of species—and for me, it’s one of the best places in Cuba.

“What’s amazing here is that there’s still life in the coral. There’s a terrible crisis with global warming throughout the Caribbean, with the death of coral, and there’s plenty of life and species here. Thanks to the work of the Diving Center, there’s still life in the reef.”

Six dives, two days of competition, and an area offering forty different scenarios below sea level: these are what make Faro Luna attractive, as are the incredible sunsets from that balcony overlooking the Caribbean Sea offered by the resort of the same name.

These added values are offered by the destination each year to welcome underwater photography enthusiasts.

Punta Itabo, the canyons at the mouth of the Arimao River, Punta Barrera, El Laberinto, Camaronero III, El Cable Ingles, La Corona all gave foreign participants such as Terry Michael Davideon, with three decades of underwater practice, his first experience in a competition in Cienfuegos. As an award-winner, he achieved two second places in the Environment and Environment with Model categories.

These were rewarding days for Cubans Norge Santiesteban, who placed first in the Fish and Creative categories, and Pedro Duque Alfonso, second in the Macro and Fish and third in the Creative categories.

The event was sponsored by CRESSI, a prestigious diving equipment manufacturer, which represents Pipin Ferreras, a multi-world record holder in freediving, who is currently making his debut in this field of underwater photography. It was also sponsored by Náutica y Marinas Marlin S.A., and the ECOTUR agency.