Remote beach on the Caribbean Sea

Trip Start Dec 06, 2005

Trip End Jun 17, 2006

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Where I stayed

Hotel Maria La Gorda Pinar del Rio

Flag of Cuba Maria la Gorda, Cuba
Friday, March 17, 2006

So after a rushed afternoon and night in Vi�ales, we jumped back in our hired Hyundai and powered on to the most remote hotel on the Cuban mainland, Maria la Gorda. It�s basically a place where snorkellers and scuba divers reign supreme, where the beaches are deserted and the underwater life is spectacular. It was our first sighting of the beautiful Caribbean sea, with it�s mesmerisingly deep aqua blue colour. This is tropical paradise at it�s best. Hardly any people here except for a few scuba nuts, made it even better in our opinion - just what we needed after almost a week of hustle and bustle in Havana.

How else can I make you all jealous? Let�s see... palm trees, perfect weather, fine white sand, thousands of fish swimming amongst diverse coral, and the best temperature water in the world. Yeah.

Did my first ever scuba dive here

01 My first sighting of the Caribbean sea

. Having tried to do it in Aus and failed due to pesky asthma requiring doctor�s certificate, I was worried the same might happen, but it�s Cuba. They didn�t even ask if I could swim, let alone if i had asthma or asking me to sign an indemnity form! It was great fun and yet another thing I�ve never experienced anything like. Strange feeling, very slow and quiet, with pretty much your breathing controlling your depth. Get the feeling i�ll be doing a scuba course when I�ve got the money back home, it was pretty awesome.

Other than that, we ate great fresh fish, snorkelled and sunbaked a whole lot, and revelled in the glorious Caribbean surrounds.

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