Maria La Gorda

Maria La Gorda is a world-renowned diving spot located on the western tip of Cuba

Exploring María La Gorda

maria la gordaMaria la Gorda has been specially designed for divers, but it is also a wonderful option for eco-tourists and vacationers looking for a quiet and secluded place. The International Diving Center is located at the westernmost end of Cuba, on the Guanahacabibes Peninsula, near Cabo Corrientes. A true opportunity to discover this biosphere reserve and experience a paradise where countless species of endangered or endemic animals live, and where small, protected beaches of pirate stories and hidden treasures remain intact.

A little bit of history…

Legend has it that Maria La Gorda was an aboriginal Venezuelan woman who was kidnapped by pirates and abandoned on the outskirts of the island of Cuba when they got tired of her. To make her situation more bearable, she ran an inn to accommodate travelers, but reading between the lines, she was more likely forced by her circumstances to engage in prostitution. Whatever her fate in life, she was apparently a very large and memorable lady, hence the name Maria La Gorda.

Places of interest

  • Hotel
  • Restaurant
  • Villa Maria la Gorda
  • International Diving Center
  • El Almirante
  • Salón de María

Hotel María La Gorda

This is one of the most remote hotels in Cuba, and the isolation has its advantages. The adjacent beach, lined with palm trees, is pretty (although a bit rocky), but most people come here to dive; the reefs and vertical drop-offs are just 200 meters from the hotel. María la Gorda is located in the Bay of Corrientes, 150 km southwest of Pinar del Río.

The tourist complex of María La Gorda offers three types of accommodation: a couple of the original beach cabins that line the shore (which were surprisingly still intact after the big hit), three rather utilitarian-looking pink multi-unit buildings, some of whose rooms have views of the Caribbean, and a good supply of fairly new small log cabins that apparently were prefabricated in South America and brought to María La Gorda. The log cabins are placed on stilts over the swamp with a distant view of the water.

I loved the privacy of these little cabins, and by Cuban standards, they were very nice, although basic in their decor – private bathroom, TV (which we never turned on, more on that later), air conditioning and ceiling fan, and a private terrace with some nice but very uncomfortable wooden chairs for watching the lovely sunsets. There are several outlets in the cabins, which work on 220V with two-pronged receptacles from Eastern Europe.

Mangrove cabin

And there was a lovely wooden walkway from the main entrance to the cabins that was lined by a welcoming committee of cats. That’s right, cats. There’s not a dog in sight (they’re all busy playing chicken with traffic on the road). María La Gorda (they should rename it María Los Gatos) is overrun with feral cats, and these guys have figured out how to trick soft-hearted guests like us into bringing them treats from the dining room. Our kids named all their favorites and kept them well-fed during our time there.

maria la gorda cubaBeach in Maria La Gorda

The hotel is located on Maria la Gorda Beach, where the most famous Cuban underwater scenery can be found. Beautiful. Desolate. Lush palm trees. Turquoise. You can walk for miles and never see another person. That pretty much covers the beach description.

The only downsides are the sand fleas (it is recommended to stay off the beach during early morning and late afternoon) and the amount of iron coastline infested with sea urchins, which makes entry and exit points for diving and swimming limited.

Also, don’t expect a clean, raked, pristine stretch of sand in front of the resort. There is very little in the way of landscaping in Maria La Gorda (overall I would describe it as a low-maintenance place for low-maintenance people). There is no troop of landscapers outside at dawn lining up the plastic chaise lounges (of which there are a few, although several are unusable due to broken pieces) and picking up fallen coconuts and dead fronds swept by the wind left over from the hurricane, nor the cigarette butts of inconsiderate smokers who insist on using the beach as a giant ashtray.

There are no beach waiters bringing out Piña Coladas to worship the sun. There are also no beach vendors, palapas, jet skis, sailboats, parasailers, windsurfers, or drinks until the catamaran falls from the evening cruises. It is a very quiet and serene place where you sit under a palm tree to get away from the sun. There is also no internet, cell phone or Blackberry service, no CNN, daily newspapers, etc. In fact, it is so far from civilization that we didn’t know about the terrible tsunamis in Southeast Asia until we got on the plane to go home a week after the horrible events.

We were told that faxes can be sent and received at the resort for exorbitant prices. The same goes for long-distance calls that can be made at the front desk.

Children brought to the resort have to be self-taught because there is no pool, kids’ camp, beach volleyball, basketball hoop, tennis court, or anything else but acres and acres of beautiful sandy beach and a beautiful sea for swimming and snorkeling. To me, that’s a big part of what makes the place so charming, but buyer beware.

Guests of Maria La Gorda can arrange for a tour of the Biosphere Reserve located just north of Maria La Gorda, which is apparently extremely rich in bird species, plants, and marine creatures. It costs $10 per person for a guided tour (extra transportation, and all visitors must be guided). We did not participate in this opportunity, but our intrepid friends who put us up in Maria La Gorda did, and enjoyed it very much.

There is a car rental counter at the resort adjacent to the front desk, so visitors like us who were transported to Maria La Gorda can rent a vehicle and explore the area.

corales en maria la gorda cubaSports: Includes scuba diving, diving courses, bay walks, snorkeling trips. Snorkeling from the beach. Different types of sport fishing. Excursions in the nature reserve, beach volleyball, table tennis, badminton court.

Special activities: Different themed nights during the week, dance classes, karaoke and live music, among other activities.

Honeymoon: Includes a bottle of sparkling wine and flowers in the room upon arrival as a courtesy. Afternoon maid service. Late check-out at no extra charge (subject to availability).

Eating at Maria La Gorda Cuba

There are two restaurants, also haunted by cats, in Maria La Gorda. The cats actually seemed to have their territories – there were buffet dining cats, main restaurant and bar cats, and cabin cats, and the three were never supposed to meet. The lord of all this was what the children called “The devil cat,” a large, fat black cat (an anomaly in a sea of very dirty and malnourished cats) that seemed to wander around the place at will, and that materialized almost preternaturally from the darkness, growling and scaring the other cats, every time food was being handed out. By the end of the week, we thought there must have been at least 20 or 30 normal cats prowling around. Main restaurant, bar, and reception.

Buffet Restaurant

We purchased a package with included meals (the way to go in my opinion when traveling with a pack of hungry teenagers), and therefore only ate at the buffet restaurant near the dive cabin. There was a second, small à la carte restaurant adjacent to the bar, and the food looked quite good from a distance, but it wasn’t cheap. Buffet meals, if purchased at the resort, are $15 each for lunch and dinner (Convertible Cuban Pesos – one peso equals one US dollar), which is quite expensive considering the cost of living in Cuba. The food was plentiful and well-prepared, but typically Cuban in the sense that it was bland. These people apparently haven’t heard of jalapeños.

We ate a constant diet (i.e., not very varied) of chicken (prepared in various ways), rice, surprisingly good beef and pork, tomatoes (prepared in various ways), sweet peppers (ditto), cucumbers (tritto), what I think was jicama, and tons of oranges, grapefruits, papayas, and pineapples that, like the vegetables, were cut into attractive slices and cubes and placed in trays. Occasionally they threw a curve by producing some bananas or apples or grapes or chopped lettuce. For special festive meals (Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve), they pulled out all the stops and served a butterfly turkey with funky stuffing and a whole roasted pig, among other delights. Dessert was hit or miss, typically hard disks like cookies, squares of dry cake, and a kind of baked custard that we didn’t like. Oh yeah, and a strange special cake with Smurf-blue frosting for Christmas and New Year’s. Ice cream was sold à la carte, as was bottled water (not cheap – $2 for 1.5 liters) and beer (almost cheaper than water at $1.50 per bottle).

maria la gorda playaBreakfast was not just any event: they cooked eggs to order in a tortilla (with cheese and ham if requested), scrambled or fried, there was some mysterious meat to accompany on the steam table as well as greasy looking crepes trying (unsuccessfully) to pass as pancakes, canned juice (mango or pineapple), the omnipresent fresh oranges in slices and cubes, grapefruit and mangoes, and some dry husks that looked more like cookies than bread. There were also some sliced meats and cheese, as Maria La Gorda’s clientele is almost exclusively European, and they like to eat that kind of thing in the morning. I tell you that by the end of our stay, I would have given my kingdom for a slice of hot toast, butter, and jam. It was a banner day if there was hot milk in the morning to make a latte, otherwise it was black coffee or tea at all meals.

Overall, I would say the quality of the food was very good, if not very varied. We all came home feeling very healthy from the lack of junk food and the consumption of sugar that we replaced with copious amounts of fresh fruit and vegetables.

Bars & Cigars

There is only one bar in the resort. It’s covered but open to the elements, including diving bats, thirsty blood noses, and the aforementioned flea-infested bar cats that lurk under the plastic tables and chairs. There was some live entertainment (a Cuban trio) playing most nights we were there, and they put on music otherwise. In a nod to Western civilization, there is a television screen mounted above the bar where Spanish-language movies are constantly projected, mostly to entertain the bar staff, who seem quite laconic.

Think of Cuba and drinks, and the word “Mojito” should immediately come to mind. It’s a refreshing concoction: fresh crushed mint, sugar, simple syrup, and Cuban white rum, topped with soda water. A rum and Coke is also good, but don’t call it a Cuba Libre. The price of cigarettes is $2 in Maria La Gorda.

costa de maria la gordaThe available sodas are Cuban imitations of Coca-Cola, Sprite, and Fanta, and cost $1 per can.

Cuban beer is fantastic, and for a lighter beer, Cristal is what you should order. But for a “real” beer, the wonderful and malty Bucanero is the ticket. The beer costs $1.50 at the tourist center.

Wine is available by the bottle, but since we didn’t try any, I don’t know the quality or cost.

A large bottle of water (1.5L) costs $2 at the bar and in the dining area (refrigerated), or $1.80 at the small convenience store located next to the bar (not refrigerated). There are small bar refrigerators in the wooden cabins; I’m not sure if other types of accommodations offer them as well.

The modest store also has a limited selection of swimsuits, t-shirts, cigarettes, rum, snacks, soft drinks, basic toiletries, and some over-the-counter medications (but no antihistamines). They also offer a fine selection of cigars. A box of powerful and fine Cohiba cigarettes will cost you about $12. They have most of the top-quality Cuban cigar brands, and the prices are comparable to those at the Havana airport Duty Free.

It’s an hour’s drive from the nearest small town, so it’s advisable to bring a full first aid kit and travel medicines, as well as an adequate supply of sunscreen, toiletries, insecticide, and after-sun cream.

Health in Maria La Gorda

There is a doctor in Maria La Gorda, mostly, I suspect, to treat any DCS problems that may arise in such a remote location. Helicopter airlift to Havana is necessary for bends, so make sure your DAN insurance is up to date if you decide to dive in Maria La Gorda. I don’t know how many people require chamber treatments annually at this location, but with the combination of very steep and deep terrain, a number of inexperienced divers in the water, and some questionable diving practices (more on that later), I would wager a guess that it would not be unheard of.

It was a good thing for us that there was a doctor on the premises. P2 had a very adverse reaction to sand fleas that infested the beach early in the morning and late in the afternoon. By day 3, she was covered in ugly red welts, and had unbearable itching and felt miserable. She quickly stocked up on antihistamine pills from our first aid kit, and the kind doctor was able to supply her with enough pills to survive our ten days there, for only $5. Ironically, $5 was also the same cost as the canker sore ammonia solution sold in the store, not including the doctor’s consultation. Imagine that.