Playa Girón, on the eastern side of the famous Bay of Pigs, 48 km south of Boca de Guamá, is named after a French pirate who frequented the area centuries ago. Upon the shores of this beach, on April 1961, an army of Cuban exiles based in the USA invaded the island in order to overthrow Fidel Castro’s newly established revolutionary government, and was defeated in less than 72 hours. A museum and several monuments bear witness to this event.
The clear Caribbean waters washing these shores, its huge underwater canyons, and the impressive wrecks make Playa Girón a favourite destination for scuba divers and snorkelers. A lasting legacy of 1961 is that the entire Bay of Pigs area is strictly out of bound to cruising yachts.
Like at Playa Larga and El Caletón, wall-diving can be practised here. Underwater areas are immensely attractive because of the steepness of the ocean wall, which is extremely close to the shore and covered by astonishing coral beds, including black ones, as well as sea fans, sponges and blind fishes.
And of course you can take a swim in the sea at Playa Girón, a beach with excellent sands and warm waters located at the far end of the bay.