Cuba - Lonely Planet [205]
Activated on April 15, 1961, the invasion was an unmitigated disaster from start to finish. Intending to wipe out the Cuban Air Force on the ground, US planes painted in Cuban Air Force colors (and flown by Cuban exile pilots) comically missed most of their intended targets. Castro, who had been forewarned of the plans, had scrambled his air force the previous week. Hence when the invaders landed at Playa Girón two days later, Cuban sea furies were able to promptly sink two of their supply ships and leave a force of 1400 men stranded on the beach.
To add insult to injury, a countrywide Cuban rebellion that had been much touted by the CIA never materialized. Meanwhile a vacillating Kennedy told a furious Bissell that he would not provide the marooned exile soldiers with US air cover.
Abandoned on the beaches, without supplies or military back up, the disconsolate invaders were doomed. There were 114 killed in skirmishes and a further 1189 captured. The prisoners were returned to the US a year later in return for US$53 million worth of food and medicine. For the US, the humiliation was palpable.
The Bay of Pigs failed due to a multitude of factors. Firstly, the CIA had overestimated the depth of Kennedy’s personal commitment and had made similarly inaccurate assumptions about the strength of the fragmented anti-Castro movement inside Cuba. Secondly, Kennedy himself, adamant all along to make a low-key landing, had chosen a site on an exposed strip of beach close to the Zapata swamps. Thirdly, no one had given enough credit to the political and military know-how of Fidel Castro or to the extent to which the Cuban Intelligence Service had infiltrated the CIA’s supposedly covert operation.
The consequences for the US were far reaching. ‘Socialism or death!’ a defiant Castro proclaimed at a funeral service for seven Cuban ‘martyrs’ on April 16, 1961. The Revolution had swung irrevocably toward the Soviet Union.
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DIVING IN THE BAHíA DE COCHINOS
While the Isla de la Juventud and María la Gorda lead most Cuban divers’ wish lists, the Bahía de Cochinos has some equally impressive underwater treats. There’s a huge drop-off here running 30m to 40m offshore for over 30km from Playa Larga down to Playa Girón, a fantastic natural feature that has created a 300m-high coral-encrusted wall with amazing swim-throughs, caves, gorgonians and marine life. Even better, the proximity of this wall to the coastline means that the region’s 30-plus dive sites can be easily accessed without a boat – you just glide out from the shore. Good south coast visibility stretches from 30m to 40m and there are a handful of wrecks scattered around, including one from the infamous 1961 Bay of Pigs landing.
Organizationally, Playa Girón is well set up with highly professional instructors bivouacked at five different locations along the coast. Generic prices (CUC$25 per immersion, CUC$100 for five or CUC$365 for an open-water course) are some of the cheapest in Cuba.
The International Scuba Center ( 98-41-18), at Villa Playa Girón, is the main diving headquarters. It is complemented by the Club Octopus International Diving Center ( 98-72-25), 200m west of Villa Playa Larga.
Eight kilometers southeast of Playa Girón is Caleta Buena ( 10am-6pm), a lovely protected cove perfect for snorkeling and kitted out with another diving office. Admission to the beach is CUC$12 and includes an all-you-can-eat lunch buffet and open bar. There are beach chairs and thatched umbrellas dotting the rocky shoreline and enough space in this remote place to have a little privacy. Snorkel gear is CUC$3.
More underwater treasures can be seen at the Cueva de los Peces (admission CUC$1; 9am-6pm), a flooded tectonic fault (or cenote), about 70m deep on the inland side of the road, almost exactly midway between Playa Larga and Playa Girón. There are lots of bright, tropical fish, plus you can explore back into the darker, spookier parts of the cenote with snorkel or dive gear. Hammocks swing languidly around the cenote and