Cuba – Playa Larga & Playa Giron

Finally the day arrived – after quite intense days we had time for beachcombing, frying, snorkeling and cocooning (but not screencombing!).

And everything would be super beautiful if it weren’t for…. a breakdown in the weather and the beautiful creatures that are the crabs, which effectively thwarted our plans.

As always, below you will find some tips on what to see in the area….

Bahia de Cochinos or Bay of Pigs

After a short stay in Cienfuegos, we drove by car toward the Bay of Pigs (Bahia de Cochinos), which is also colloquially known as Playa Larga after the village located right on its shores. That was our destination, the small town of Playa Larga. Waiting for us there was another casa particular, where we were to stay.

The Bay of Pigs witnessed the famous invasion of “Cuban exiles” in April 1961, aimed at overthrowing Fidel Castro’s rule. The invasion failed, and now the Bay of Pigs is a tourist destination mainly because of its nice beaches and, of course, the beautiful coral reef.

Playa Giron and snorkeling with “all-inclusive” on a Caribbean beach….

Before reaching Playa Larga, however, we decided to see the beaches on the east side of the bay with Playa Giron in the lead.

We passed quite a few holiday resorts that are long past their glory days. The vacation homes were in deplorable condition, falling apart, and we can only hope that this is not the dream vacation Cubans have to work for for years.

Of course, not all of them look like this, we also found in quite good condition – colorful houses, and next to them repaired cars….

We have been to both wild beaches and hotel ones in the area. Surprisingly, the most beachgoers were on the hotel one, where there was a beautiful… in the sea. concrete structure! Of course, the wild ones, despite the natural algae, were much more attractive. Fortunately, even there you could find native amateurs of sand and crystal clear water :)

Continuing on, we headed towards Caleta Buena – a place with a coastline perfect for snorkeling! The whole attraction is to pay to enter the resort, where you can use the deck chairs, umbrellas, beach…. Plus there is an “all you can eat” Cuban style buffet with spirits included :) We were already late, so the buffet had an hour left, but the bar itself was open longer.

In general, the food does not impress. It may be a coincidence, but the next night Paweł had a sleepless night. Good thing we took Stoperan with us ;)

But coming back to the food, you could eat it, but don’t count on all-inclusive from 5-star Caribbean hotels :) On the other hand, you can count on food companions – crabs could be found everywhere, but fortunately they are more afraid of people than we are of them. At the time of eating we were not yet disturbed…. The problems started on the way, but about that later.

Drinks served at Caleta Buena were rum-based (and how else! in the Caribbean, after all), but unfortunately lousy. However, this was not the biggest attraction – immediately after eating we went diving into the water.

It is a small cove sheltered from rough seas. You can only go down to the water by ladders, as the entire bay is surrounded by smaller and larger rocks. The water is warm, and most importantly, you can watch some fish and the underwater world.

If we were to spend a whole day here it would probably be boring, but nevertheless it is worth including this or a nearby point (there are several in the area) on the map of your travels in Cuba. Unfortunately for us, the weather began to deteriorate quickly, it started to rain and we had to bundle up in the direction of Playa Larga.

Destination – Playa Larga

Near the car, we heard a distinctive rustling in the woods that signified a taboo of crabs. In fact, there were some hundreds of them!

They were not limited to the forest, but came out onto the road (marching from the sea towards the land) and the slalom ride became even more difficult – not only did we have to avoid the holes, but also these crustaceans, which could break off out of nowhere and move in any direction.

In addition, the rain did not help us. Every now and then we heard some crunching under the wheels and thought only about not having a tire go. This time we were luckier than other tourists, who unfortunately had to replace the wheel in the rain (maybe it was revenge for the animal abuse earlier, in Caleta Buena). As it turned out later, what goes around comes around.

Eventually, we happily arrived at our casa particular at Playa Larga and it was even still light out. So we jumped down to the beach and walked around the immediate area for a bit. Generally, there is nothing to do here except for the beach, although surprisingly there was even a mini open-air gym in the “center” (the same as in our playgrounds). Even the weather gave us hope that the next day would only get better…. ;)

Our casa this time turned out to be of a higher standard, as we even had a TV (it didn’t matter what kind, the important thing was that there was one), and the owners welcomed us with fresh pineapple juice.

It was another intense day, mainly due to unfavorable conditions during the trip. It’s a good thing we’re staying here for two days, because although there seems to be nothing here, we already had further concrete plans for the next day – diving!

Report soon :)

Zobacz galerię wszystkich zdjęć >>>