A Cuban man has gone viral on social media after making his own diving fins—known in Cuba as "patas de rana"—using a 20-liter plastic container and a rubber boot, due to the impossibility of purchasing the equipment on the island.
The video published on the Facebook page "Pesca y más en Camagüey" has garnered over 138,000 views and summarizes in 35 seconds the everyday reality of millions of Cubans.
The person filming the scene addresses a man with amazement and humor: "Look, everyone, so you can see what life is like in Cuba, there's no budget for anything."
The fisherman casually responds that his fins are made from a "20-liter jug and a rubber boot," and explains that he will use them to go into the sea with a bucket to fish.
The narrator, laughing, compares the makeshift fins to a brand, to which the creator of the unique invention clarifies that theirs are from a different brand.
The exchange concludes with an ironic suggestion: "Invest in a pair of fins, if only so you don't get scraped," referring to the abrasions that homemade fins will inevitably cause.
The phrase uttered by the narrator—“It’s true that Cubans haven’t dominated the world because they haven’t felt like it”—captures the tone of proud resignation with which many Cubans describe their resourcefulness in the face of scarcity, a popular expression that often circulates in situations like this.
This type of ingenuity is not an isolated case. The Cuban ingenuity in the face of the economic crisis has been documented in various areas: from stoves made from leaves of almendrón to fans assembled with walkie-talkie batteries.
In March, a case was reported of a Cuban who invented a stove using almond leaves to cook during power outages, while others have turned old rice cookers into charcoal stoves to cope with the same energy crisis.
The shortage of sports and fishing equipment is a direct consequence of the economic collapse that Cuba is experiencing, regarded as the most serious since the Revolution.
The average salaries on the island range from 16 to 54 dollars per month at the informal exchange rate, a figure that makes even the most basic goods unaffordable.
Blackouts lasting between 12 and 18 hours daily further worsen the situation, crippling production and trade.
In this context, Cubans have even returned to using stoves from the 80s to cope with the energy crisis, while tutorials on surviving by lighting charcoal proliferate due to the lack of gas and electricity.
Artisanal fishing is a fundamental activity for self-sufficiency in coastal provinces like Camagüey, making the improvisation of equipment such as fins a real necessity. Dionelito's video is not just a viral curiosity: it is a true portrait of what it means to survive in Cuba in 2026.
Filed under: