Maria La Gorda. In Cuba most western and remote corner, in Pinar del Rio province, one of the virgin natural areas in the Cuban archipelago is found. Because of their high values of the flora, the fauna and the landscapes, marine and terrestrial, this region has been declared Biosphere Reserve. Inside the limits of this Reserve, well-known by the name of Peninsula de Guanahacabibes, we meet with a wide fringe of white sands bathed by the Caribbean Sea, with rich and extensive areas of coastal vegetation that give place to the well-known beaches as Maria la Gorda, name given by old histories of pirates and where the Diving Center of the same name is located.

The Maria La Gorda diving area, in "Ensenada de Corrientes" is one of the most protected ones in Cuba, which has given place to a surprising development of the coralline reef, located at scarce distance of the coast. Starting from the 5 meters (16 feet), big and isolated corals patches appear with an abundant fauna, where the gorgonians and fans stand out, more than 20 corals species and an infinity of fishes. Lobsters, moraines and crabs are frequently observed among the bottom hollows. Starting from the 10 meters (33 feet) of depth these patches begin to merge and win in height, forming a mountain range of high coralline "mogotes" interrupted by channels and passageways that fall abruptly in wall form toward big depths. The wall shows attractive structures as grottos, tunnels and vertical caves, where coral black colonies, big tubular sponges og branch or glasses form and gorgonians of more than 2 meters (6.5 feet) of height stand out .

The fish that move for the whole borders of the wall are fundamentally represented by barracudas; jureles, jocuses, pargos and cajíes. Bishops and lines are everywhere. In occasions and with some luck you can see blankets and whale sharks. This Diving Center has 50 immersion points of high level, some still without baptizing, all of them at less than 1 hour of sailing, some to only 5 minutes. In most of them, "wall diving" is carried out, but each one has a particular charm. We recommend visit El Cabezo de Ludo, El Salón de Maria, El Almirante y Yemaya, Acuario, El Ancla de Francois and El Jardin de la Gorgonia.

The Diving Center has as a security measure, that the immersions are not deeper than 30 meters (98 feet) and the permanency of 40 minutes top.
Maria La Gorda is 304 Km. (190 miles) of Havana City, and you can only arrive there trough highways.
It's the ideal place to practice diving and ecotourism.

Scuba Diving Courses	ACUC
Type	Price
Introd 1	44.00
Introd 2	64.00
Open water	358.00
Advance	245.00
Stress & Rescue	197.00
Open water referido	182.00
Master civing dive	343.00
Dive Con	736.00
Cada especialidad	148.00
Snorkeling	44.00

If you want to reserve some course,
Please, contact us