Cuba - Lonely Planet [162]
Sleeping & Eating
Hotel María la Gorda (Gaviota; 77-81-31, 77-30-67; s/d incl breakfast CUC$44/68; ) This is the most remote hotel on the main island of Cuba and the isolation has its advantages. But, while the adjoining palm-fringed beach is pretty, most people come here to dive; there’s a dive site with a vertical drop-off just 200m from the hotel. María la Gorda (literally ‘Maria the Fatso’) is on the Bahía de Corrientes, 150km southwest of Pinar del Río and 14km from the park office at La Bajada along a rough road. Room-wise you get a choice of three pink-concrete, motel-type buildings or 20 newer cabins set back from the beach. The latter are more comfortable and private. Not that luxury is an issue here. Far from being a posh resort, María la Gorda is a place where hammocks are strung between palm trees, cold beers are sipped at sunset and dive talk continues into the small hours.
Buffet meals cost CUC$15 for lunch or dinner; reports on the food vary. Water in the hotel shop is expensive, so bring your own or purify the tap water.
Villa Cabo San Antonio ( 75-01-18; Playa Las Tumbas; r CUC$75-120) A 16-villa complex on the almost-virgin Guanahacabibes Peninsula, situated 3km from the Roncali lighthouse and 4km from the new Gaviota Marina, this environment-friendly place has satellite TV, car rental, bike hire and a small cafe.
Restaurante La Bajada ( 8:30am-10:30pm) Just next to the meteorological station, this place has (you guessed it) fried chicken, and french fries and sandwiches – when it’s open.
Getting There & Away
Without a hire car or a prearranged transfer, getting to Cuba’s extreme west can be problematic.
A transfer bus operates between Viñales and María la Gorda, but only with a 10-passenger minimum. Current demand dictates that this bus runs once a week at best. It is scheduled to leave Viñales at 7am and arrive at the peninsula at 9:30am. The return leg leaves María la Gorda at 5pm and arrives in Viñales at 7pm. The cost for a single/
return ticket is CUC$15/25. You can inquire at Cubanacán ( 79-63-93) in Viñales or Havanatur ( 77-84-94) in Pinar del Río.
Via Gaviota ( 77-81-31) has an office at Hotel María la Gorda and offers a jeep taxi service with driver to Cabo de San Antonio at CUC$50 for up to four people. It also offers transfers to/from Pinar del Río at CUC$50 one-way for the whole car (or CUC$120 to/from Havana).
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VALLE DE VIÑALES
Embellished by soaring pine trees and scattered with bulbous limestone cliffs that teeter like giant haystacks above the peaceful and well-tended tobacco plantations, Parque Nacional Viñales is one of Cuba’s most magnificent natural settings. Wedged spectacularly into the Sierra de los Órganos mountain range, this 11km-by-5km valley was declared a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1999 for its dramatic rocky outcrops (known as mogotes), coupled with the vernacular architecture of its traditional farms and villages.
Once upon a time the whole region was several hundred meters higher. Then, during the Cretaceous period 100 million years ago, a network of underground rivers ate away at the limestone bedrock, creating vast caverns. Eventually the roofs collapsed leaving only the eroded walls we see today. It is the finest example of a limestone karst valley in Cuba and contains the Caverna Santo Tomás, the island’s largest cave system.
Rock studies aside, Viñales also offers opportunities for fine hiking, history, rock climbing and horseback trekking. On the accommodation front it boasts four first-class hotels and some of the best casas