Playa Larga, nature reserves
March 20, 2023
After enjoying some rest in Soroa we travel to the south coast of Cuba and after a few hours in a colectivo, we arrive in Playa Larga. Playa Larga is famous for it nature reserves as well as scuba-diving. It is also well known as it is one of the Bay of Pigs beaches, which were the scene of a failed US-backed landing in 1961.
Based on Lonely Planet’s recommendation, we have booked a casa particular “Casa El Pescador” in the Caleton area instead of in the main area of Playa Larga.
After dropping off our luggage at the casa, we go for a short walk. Our first impression of Playa Larga is of an almost abandoned coastal village. There are very few tourists and the main resorts look completely empty. There are very few people on the beach or in the restaurants. The pandemic has had a major impact on the Cuban economy and many places have shut down.
The main reasons to come to Playa Larga are either to scuba-dive or to visit various nature reserves, where you can do some birdwatching and see some crocodiles in the swamps of this coastal national reserve.
I manage to join a few other tourists for a hike with an ornithologist. We start early to catch birds in their most active period of the day. In the four to five hours hike, we manage to see several owls, cuckoos, quails and various endemic Cuban birds as well as bats in a cave. I also manage to join a group of tourists in the afternoon to visit the Laguna de las Salinas. After a drive through a forest we reach the Salinas and spot our first few flamingos.
There we were lucky enough to be able to observe flamingos, herons, egrets, storks and even an endemic black eagle. Since I was able to join two excursions on the same day, we decide to shorten our stay in Playa Larga and travel to Cienfuegos a few hours down the coast.
