It would be overstating Playa Larga somewhat to call it a town – we have seen no shops (not uncommon in Cuba), one restaurant, and only one stall selling pizza on the street (although that was closed and again that is not uncommon in Cuba). It is more a collection of houses sitting alongside a great beach.
It is set at the top of a 30-km long bay known as the Bahia de Cochinos or more infamously as The Bay of Pigs. Pick up a copy of Great American Military Disasters and you'll find the chapter just before the one entitled 'Vietnam – winning hearts and minds. but not battles'.
In 1961 a US-backed and trained invasion force landed here but was routed by the Cuban army within days. Eventually 1,197 men were returned to America in exchange for $50 million (the only war debt the US has ever paid). Apparently Kennedy was so humiliated by the disaster extra funding was given to NASA to facilitate the moon landing by the end of the decade. He also learnt a painful lesson about not underestimating an enemy, and promptly invaded Vietnam.
I visit a superb inland snorkelling site, a 70 metre deep fissure in the rocky ground which has filled with water (essential for snorkelling) and thousands of fish, the beach is pretty damn good too.
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