Vinales 2 nights
Driving west into Pinar del Río province, skip the autopista in favor of the Circuito Norte coast road. You'll need a good map to avoid missing the turn-off for Las Terrazas, worth a visit to see this experimental rural community with artists studios and nature trails. Your goal is Viñales, a sleepy and delightful village surrounded by mogotes - fantastic limestone formations. Touristy it may be, but a boat ride through the Cuevas del Indio is worthwhile. Overnight at Hotel Las Jazmines, perched atop a mogote, with fantastic views (room in the original structure are best) and the best food in town. To explore the tobacco fields, take an excursion to Finca Pinar San Luis, near San Juan de Mártinez (the town of Pinar del Río can be skipped); here living legend Alejandro Robaina gives tours of his famous finca.
Cayo Levisa 1 night
From Vinales it is an hour's drive to the lovely Cayo Levisa. This is a great location for water-sports and the obligatory boat crossing is a delight. There is only one place to stay on the island which has low rise up market wooden cabins. Food is a disappointment.
Alternatively if you wish to dive keep heading West. The first hour's drive from Pinar del Rio will test your nerves with the incessant slow moving traffic but it is worth it once you arrive at the Nature Park which contains Maria La Gorda. Accommodation and food is pretty basic and watch out for mosquitoes but the diving is fabulous.
From Viñales, follow the main highway south to Pinar del Río, where Avenida Martí (the main east-west street) becomes the Autopista. The journey to Havana takes approximately two hours. Unfortunately, the freeway system is poorly conceived and linking with the Autopista that leads east from the city is like trying to find one's way through the Minotaur's maze (more so, trying to bypass the freeway system by cutting across Havana province, where you are sure to waste several hours getting lost)! The easiest option is to take the Pinar del Río-Havana autopista to its end, then turn east for the Circunvalación; follow the Circunvalación east to the Autopista Nacional.
It's a two-hour, lonesome drive to Jagüey Grande, where there's a rest stop, gas station, and simple café. Turn right here. The ruler-straight road (one lane in each direction) shoots south to Playa Larga. It is lined its entire length with sedge and wetlands and with memorials to Cubans who died in the Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961. The only services are at Boca de Guamá, with a small gas station, an excellent restaurant, and the crocodile farm. The village of Playa Larga, at the head of Bahía Cochinos (Bay of Pigs) has simple casas particulares plus the main office and ranger station for the Parque Nacional Zapata. From here, the badly eroded coast
to impoverished Latin Americans). The paved road turns inland at Girón. You'll pass rustic villages eking a subsistence from charcoal burning. The road is badly deteriorated.. At Bermejas, turn right for Yaguaramas (if you continue straight for Covadonga, you'll regret it - this dirt road is a Swiss cheese of giant wallows and potholes. Beyond Yaguaramas, you'll link with Highway 3-1-2. Turn east for Cienfuegos, another hour-
road hugs the shore, passing a few simple beach restaurants. In springtime, the route is made hazardous by legions of crabs crossing the road - snapping claws and razor-sharp shards of crushed shells cause many a puncture!
The village of Playa Girón has casas particulares and there's a modest villa hotel at Playa Larga, but the hotel and restaurant at Playa Girón are currently being used exclusively for Operación Milagros (providing free medical treatment
