©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd Isla de la Juventud (Special Municipality) % 46 (45 ON CAYO LARGO DEL SUR) / POP 86,420 Includes ¨ Why Go? Isla de la A historic refuge from the law for everyone from 16th- Juventud . 160 century pirates to 20th-century gangsters, La Isla is Nueva Gerona . 160 perhaps the quirkiest castaway destination you ever East of Nueva will see. Dumped like a crumpled apostrophe 100km off Gerona . 166 mainland Cuba, this pine-tree-clad island is the Caribbe- South of Nueva an’s sixth-largest. But the Cayman Islands this isn’t. Other Gerona . 167 tourists? Uh-uh. And if you thought mainland Cuba’s towns The Southern were time-warped, try blowing the dust off island capital Military Zone . 168 Nueva Gerona, where the main street doubles as a baseball Cayo Largo diamond, and the food ‘scene’ is stuck in the Special Peri- del Sur . 168 od. Yet, if you make it here, you’re in for a true adventure. The main lure is diving some of the Caribbean’s most pris- tine reefs, but otherwise get used to being becalmed with the coral, the odd crocodile and a colorful history that reads Best Places to Eat like an excerpt from Treasure Island. Further east, Cayo Largo del Sur is La Isla’s polar oppo- ¨ Restaurante Tu Isla (p163) site, a manufactured tourist enclave renowned for its wide, ¨ Restaurante Toti (p163) white-sand beaches. ¨ Ranchón Playa Sirena (p171) ¨ Restaurante El Abra (p164) When to Go ¨ The beach life, diving and snorkeling are highlights of La Isla, Cayo Largo or any of the other mini-paradises in the Best Places to Archipiélago de los Canarreos. The hottest times are the best: July to August along with the cooler-but-balmy high Sleep season in December to April. ¨ Tu Isla (p163) ¨ Always-spirited Nueva Gerona ups the ante for its biggest ¨ Sol Cayo Largo (p170) party, Carnaval, in March. ¨ Villa Choli (p163) ¨ The best time for diving in the waters off the Isla de la ¨ Hotel Pelícano (p171) Juventud is January to May when water clarity is good and the seas are generally calm. o r ó e n d i a g b r a u t a S B 5 o E Punta de Punta El T e L d C los Barcos 5 E Lindero Playa Presidio 44Cayo Largo N Cayos de los D I 6 Paraíso # V Ensenada de Modelo del Sur R Inglesitos O #Ù Cayo del A los Barcos Nueva Gerona Ba tab an ó Playa R Playa A Golfo de Go lfo de N #Ù r Rosario I P S #^1 Bibijagua c Playa ier # h Batabanó Tortuga P ra 3 #æ i Cayo #7 O la de # 5 5 p Í s C 2 Cementerio Cayo i 4444S4irena 44 as # é Rico R as la Sie5rra de 5 Triángulo g Playa Colombia o La Caballos d Buenavista Las 5 5 e #\ \# Cayos #Ù Demajagua #– \#Júcaro Cayo Guayabo lo Nuevas 5 5 s los C 0 20 km a 4444444 Rafael Cabrera Indios Mina de Sierra de las Cayo Balandras n 0 10 miles a Mustelier Airport r r Punta Oro Casas Cayo San e \# o Buenavista \# Juan s La Melvis \#La Fe Cayos See Inset #æ Boca de La Victoria\# La Jungla Alonso de Jones Isla de la Argelia La Reforma \# Juventud \# Punta Ensenada Libre de la Hotel Julio Punta Francés #ÿ Piedras Siguanea Colony International Antonio \# #5 #Ý Diving Center Mella Criadero Punta Cayo del #p \# #æ Rancho Rosario Cueva Azul Dársena Cocodrilo Viejo 4444 #p Cayo Punta Cayo \# Matías Pared Piedra del Este #\ Bajo de Cayo de Coral Cueva de Cayos los #p Cantiles Negro Military #4 Cayuelos Cayo Zambo 4Punta de4l Este 4444Campos 4444444 #z\#Cocodrilo Demarcation Line Sea Turtle Ciénaga de Lanier Breeding #ÙPlaya Larga Center 444444444 4444 4 Punta del Guanal e# 0 20 km 4CARIBBE4AN SEA44 0 10 miles Isla de la Juventud (Special Municipality) Highlights 1 Nueva Gerona (p160) the city (and island) splayed 4 Cueva de Punta del Este coral gardens and caves at, 7 Playa Sirena (p169) Getting the lowdown on local out below . (p168) Seeing ancient cave arguably, the best dive sites Trekking along the wide, white life in the petite, sleepy island 3 Presidio Modelo (p166) paintings in the rarely visited in Cuba . (sometimes nudist) beaches capital . Exploring the ominous prison militarized zone on the Isla de 6 Playa Tortuga (p169) to Cayo Largo del Sur’s finest 2 Sierra de las Casas where Fidel Castro was once la Juventud . Watching turtles nesting on stretch of sand . ISLA DE LA JUVENTUD ( JUVENTUD LA DE ISLA AL MUN AL I PEC S TY) TY) I PAL I C I ISLA DE LA JUVENTUD ( ( ( ( ( JUVENTUD JUVENTUD JUVENTUD LA LA LA JUVENTUD JUVENTUD DE DE DE LA LA DE DE ISLA ISLA ISLA ISLA ISLA TY) TY) TY) I I PAL PAL I I C C I I MUN MUN AL AL I I PEC PEC S S AL MUN MUN MUN AL AL AL I I I PEC PEC PEC S S S TY) TY) TY) TY) I I I PAL PAL PAL I I I C C C I I I ighlights ighlights H H Y) Y) lit lit PA PA nici nici MU MU L L A A eci eci (SP (SP UD UD ent ent JUV JUV A A L L E E D D A A sl sl I I (p161) Climbing the steep hills incarcerated . 5 Punta Francés (p167) the moonlit beaches of Cayo 159 above Nueva Gerona to see Diving amid wrecks, walls, Largo del Sur ..