Maria la Gorda

This port is reached by tender.

Maria la Gorda lies in western Cuba's Pinar del Rio province and is largely identified with its diving camp. The settlement has a hotel, diving centre, small shop, sandy beach and 2 restaurants.

A walk of a few kilometers from the camp towards the peninsula tip reveals interesting scenery: mangrove swamp and sea separated by a wall of old shells and corals, with some large empty shells of 50 cm.

Diving is the main activity, with a choice of options, and snorkelling trips leave with every dive.

As in any third world country, much available merchandise is aimed at tourists taking gifts home. Rum, cigars and coffee are Cuba's biggest tourist exports, sold in government shops and on the streets. For genuine goods, pay the official price in legal stores.

Watch out for the following:

Government-owned restaurants employ underpaid staff, so Cuban food is notoriously bland. Within Cuba, the best meals are usually in a casa particular or paladares, locally owned restaurants in private homes.

• Street touts offering discounted cigars that look genuine but may be of dubious authenticity.
• "Friendly" locals inviting visitors for a Mojito or restaurant meal, then charging the tourist two to three times the normal amount and splitting the proceeds with the business and the "friend".
• Short-changing in taxis or bars, or giving national pesos (CUP) as change for convertible pesos (CUC).

Most tourists in Cuba use CUC, paying with it for hotels, official taxis, museum entry, restaurant meals, cigars and rum. Exchange into CUC at casas de cambio, or cadeca, found in many hotels and other city locations. Euros are widely accepted, but US$ is not.

Cuba has scarce ATMs, and credit cards are not widely accepted.

Cuba's official language is Spanish.

Cuba's emergency number is 116.

In many cities, tourists can access internet only through the government's communications centres, ETECSA. It is expensive, and there is a good chance someone is watching your activity on the PC.