Many who have visited Cuba maybe marvel at the architecture of Old Havana,
or the blue beaches of Varadero or Cayo Coco, and some other has ventured to
wander the cobbled streets of Trinidad, breathing history in every step; but there are few who
ventured out of the
traditional circuits of tourism in the largest Caribbean island and discover that Cuba keeps
treasures yet to be discovered or
exploited better.
I’m not talking of treasures hidden by Aborigines
in their flight from the Spanish
conquerors, nor less than the
trunks of gold and silver stolen
from the Spanish Armada by pirates and
buccaneers then hidden in remote areas of the island. Occasionally is worth going further and discover treasures
such as la Cueva de los Peces (the Cave of the Fish) in Ciénaga
de Zapata (Zapata Swamp).
In my last
visit to the island, I decided to
leave the "traditional" and went to check myself
what I had read or
heard from others, that Cueva de los Peces is a
unique diving site in Cuba and often overlooked.
Driving from Havana heading east along the national highway, you
come to the Ciénaga de Zapata, located south of the province of
Matanzas, in about 3 hours, considering a stop
in Jagüey Grande to enjoy a coffee with a sugarcane remover (which then you can eat, as an extra bonus),
or enter Guama ...
but that's a topic for another
day.
La Cueva de
los Peces is halfway between Guama and
Playa Girón, from Playa Larga, in
full Ciénaga de Zapata, the largest swamp in the Caribbean and a paradise for bird-watching.
It is a spectacular
cenote (sinkhole), one of these flooded caves
that abound in Mexico and Central America, but in Cuba are a rarity since
the Isla is younger. At the top of the cenote opens a pond of clear water
surrounded by greenery, and is just across the road opposite the waters of the Bay of
Pigs.
La Cueva takes
its name from the myriad of reef
fish that pass from the sea to
the lagoon through the underground tunnels, and adorn the cenote with a
thousand colors.
Diving in the
Cueva de los Peces is a bath of pure adrenaline. At the entrance of it there
is a diving center where you can
rent the necessary equipment for
a dive and accompanied by a
professional diver, entering the
depths of the Cueva de los
Peces, which communicates with the laguna, or try your
fearless side and dive to another gallery that
connects the cenote with the sea,
much deeper ... but
the most interesting part is at the bottom of the cenote, with stalactites and thousands of fish poking around.
La Cueva de
los Peces, 61 meters (201 foot-deep) is a memorable dive through underground passages full of fish and underwater vegetation, that I'm sure will awaken the
explorer within us.
Besides, if the dive leaves us hungry there is a small
restaurant "La Casa del Pescador" near the cenote that offers simple but
tasty lunch of fish, lobster, chicken and even alligator for
bolder palate.
My day ended
with a dip in Playa Larga, but the adventure in Cueva de los Peces was
something I’ll repeat again at every trip to Cuba ... after all, not every day
one can dive into a cave guided by fish, as if you would have arrived at the
bowels of the kingdom of Poseidon, on the same Caribbean Sea.
