a Trip to Long Beach: an adventure through the reefs,

A friend came to my house early. I was on a trip to Playa Larga in the Matanzas province. He had been given good references and was not going to miss the opportunity on this visit to Cuba. The invitation was attractive, so I made the necessary arrangements and we went on a tour of the Bay of Pigs.

We had several options for access to Long Beach: on a bus from the company Víazul leaving from Havana to the Zapata Swamp, then continued to Cienfuegos and ending in Trinity; we could also get to Jagüey Grande where almost all of the bus stop and take a taxi to Playa Larga (economic); or choose a bus ASTRO comes out of Havana to Playa Girón on alternate days. We opted for the first, and we started the tour.

The idea of doing a tour of the Bay of Pigs is excellent because the area has magnificent funds for scuba diving and snorkeling, not as renowned as that of Mary the Fat, but high-quality and crystal clear waters. They explained to us that there are more than 30 dive sites, with access from the shore, so that we do not need to rent a boat. Less than 50 meters away from the coast, we can observe large coral formations with caves, precious corals and the remains of a shipwreck.

The underwater areas impressed us a lot, especially the colonies of black coral, gorgonians, and sponges. The underwater caves are belonging to the system espeleolacustre of Montemar. We made many friends in Long Beach that the view of our interest in the dive we were recommended to explore the Cave of the Fish, The Cenote and The Jump.

In the International scuba Diving Center Octopudos, we were offered several alternatives: snorkeling, night diving, open water diving, or take the courses of initiation to scuba diving. To do this they have 13 points of diving and dive directly from the shore.

The offer was tempting, so we stayed at the hotel and continue the adventure. The next morning we learned that Long Beach is a small town of about 2000 inhabitants, in Colette. There are about 200 houses. In addition to the Diving Center they have a central office of the National Park of Ciénaga de Zapata and an International Centre for the Observation of Birds. We wanted to learn about its people and we stayed in the rental house Motica and Santico, in the Zapata Swamp. Accommodation that we recommend are the people very friendly.

On the day we make new dives. Immediately appeared corals elk horn (Acropora cervicornis), brain (Diploria spp.), coral sheets (Agaricia agaricities), corals of stars, sea fans (Gorgonia spp.) and various species of fish.

When you arrive at the reef, close to 100 meters, find the wall that we had talked to the fishermen, with an approximate depth of 40 metres. The hours went by and never stopped to amaze the marine landscape. It was a good decision this adventure.

Have you visited Long Beach?

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