The community of Cajobabo, 45 kilometers east of Guantánamo, is hallowed ground. Here, at Playitas, two kilometers further east, José Martí, Máximo Gómez, and four other prominent patriots put ashore in a small rowboat on April 11, 1895, after years of exile.

The tiny beachfront Museo Municipal 11 de Abril (no tel., daily 8:30 a.m.–noon and 1–5:30 p.m., CUC1) honors Martí. A replica of the boat sits outside the museum and is used each April 11, when the landing is reenacted and cultural activities are hosted. A guide will lead you along a three-kilometer trail via Playitas (CUC1), reached via a steep headland. Beyond the rocks at the far east end of the beach hides a tiny cove with a marble monument inset into the cliff face, laid in 1947 with a base resembling the prow of a boat.

The shorefront road continues east to Punta Maisí at the eastern tip of Cuba. One of the most dramatic drives in all Cuba ia, alas, it is off-limits to foreigners: A military checkpoint bars the way.