Advertisement
Published: January 4th 2014
Edit Blog Post
April 28th - May 1st
As we are a bit mad about diving we had to devote at least a day to this incredible sport. One of the best and the most accessible spots is the Bay of Pigs with about 12 dive sites along the shore. Bay of Pigs has a long stretch of beach and the main attraction is the wall diving, which is very near the sea and divers can dive from shore (very nice for my earsJ). Besides being an incredible dive destination, The Bay of Pigs is very significant for the Cuban history. Playa Girón and Playa Larga were the landing sites for seaborne forces of armed Cuban exiles in the Bay of Pigs Invasion, an American CIA-sponsored attempt to overthrow the new government of Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro in April 1961.
Getting to the destination was actually a lot harder than expected. To make the story short – our advice for getting from Vinales to Playa Larga or Playa Giron: morning Viazul bus towards Cienfuegos, get off at Juaguey Grande, where you have to wait for about 2h for the next Viazul bus Varadero - Juaguey Grande – Playa Larga – Playa
Giron – Cienfuegos. The casa owner in Vinales already arranged our accommodation in Playa Giron, which was very clever since there are not that many options in this tiny town. We had two very nice dives the next morning: excellent visibility, beautiful corals, however not so many sealife. Dives were also nice because of couple of swim-through and even a sunken fishing boat, of course with the famous revolutionary quotes.
It was 1
st of May (Labor Day in all the socialist countries) so we hurried further on to Cienfuegos where everybody was preparing for big celebrations. Since we didn’t arrange an accommodation before, we let the “room hunter” to get us one. The room was a bit shady but the owners were lovely – a lawyer and his 96 year old mother made us feel very welcome – we especially enjoyed the conversations with the lawyer about international issues.
Cienfuegos, which translates literally to "one hundred fires", is known as the "Pearl of the South," and it is an attractive city sitting on the Caribbean Sea. It is particularly famous for the colonial Spanish architecture alongside ancient American cars operating as taxis that give the city a very
authentic feel. One of the many highlights of Cienfuegos was also a stunning little restaurant with live music on the balcony of the main avenue, where we were soaking-in the celebration vibe from the busy streets.
The next morning we wandered the streets of Pueblo Nuevo and stopped at Reparto Punta Gorda where the big parade was going on. The 1
st of May celebration was a whole day event full with concerts, food stands, drinking and all Cubans were dressed in red. While all the Cubans might be capable of drinking rum and salsa in the middle of boiling hot day, we weren’t so brave, so we went to the beach Rancho Luna for a cool dip. We spend the evening back in Cienfuegos on the busy Paseo el Prado talking to locals and drinking rum with coke.
Next destination – the best city in Cuba – Trinidad!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.212s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 21; qc: 82; dbt: 0.1372s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2;
; mem: 1.3mb