Cuba Guide
Pinar del Río
Baños de San Juan
Address: South of Las Terrazas village
Opening time: For El Bambú restaurant, daily 9am–7pm
From the south side of Las Terrazas, at the junction where the road to the hotel begins, another road leads off in the opposite direction for the Baños de San Juan, a delightful spot featuring natural pools, riverside picnic tables, a simple restaurant and some even simpler cabins providing rudimentary accommodation. If you have a receipt from the tollgate at the entrance to the reserve, you'll need to show it at the car park at the end of the road, about three kilometres from the village, to avoid another charge. From here it's a hop and a skip down to the river where a footbridge takes you over the water to the paths zigzagging both ways along the river's edge, mingling with tiny tributaries branching off from the main river, creating a network of walkways. There are several hundred metres of tree-covered paths, punctuated by paved clearings where you can stop and sit under matted roofs. Following the route downstream leads to the focal point here, a small set of clear, natural pools fed by dinky waterfalls and ideal for a bit of midday bathing. On the riverbank looking over them is El Bambú a rustic restaurant-caféteria serving simple Cuban food. Set back from the river, at the foot of some grassy slopes breaking up the woodlands here, are five rooms (known as cabañas rusticas) for rent. They're no more than roof-covered platforms on stilts, aimed squarely at the backpacker set, with no furniture and about enough space to lay a couple of sleeping bags down. Rooms cost $10CUC a night and can be booked through Hotel Moka.