CubaPLUS Magazine

Vacationing to Cuba today is primarily about getting to know the beaches of this island that extend throughout the archipelago and each year stand out in terms of beauty and conservation.

This opinion is supported by the authorities of the Ministry of Tourism (Mintur) and the guides who accompany visitors who come from many parts of the world. On several occasions, travel websites such as TripAdvisor have recognized the benefits of such resorts with selections, for example, of the beaches of Cayo Santa María and Varadero, placed in favorable positions on the world list (two and 12 of the 25 best).

Cuba throughout the archipelago has more than 200 beaches and to be more precise, of the 588 kilometers of these, 256 are part of 12 main regions of tourist development. Cayo Santa María, in the central-northern region of Cuba, is one of the most outstanding recreational spots in this nation, and before Covid-19, it reported many repeat travelers, especially Europeans.

These are islets of white sand and extremely clean waters, a characteristic that accompanies other, no less famous, keys around it, such as Ensenachos and Las Brujas. To get to Cayo Santa María, the ideal way is through a road over the waters, known by Cubans as a 48-kilometer causeway, which starts from the town of Caibarién, in the north of the central province of Villa Clara.

In addition to the enjoyment of the sun and the beach there, they are ideal places for diving, snorkeling, yacht rides and other excursions. In particular, Cayo Santa María is 13 kilometers long and two wide (18 square kilometers). Its beaches stretch for 11 kilometers, with significant names such as Perla Blanca, Las Caletas, Cañón and Cuatro Punta.

Varadero, on the other hand, is much more than just a beach. Officially founded on December 5, 1887 by the communal merger named Los Decembrinos, several wooden houses with Spanish tiles were built there, and later became known through the boom in rowing regattas. The geological formation of the place comes from the Quaternary era and the name of the peninsula where it is located, Hicacos, responds to a green tree with thorny leaves, a typical cactus that once covered this 22-kilometer-long portion (its widest part is 700 meters).

The name Varadero comes from being a sandy coast with little draft, where boats carried by the tide ran aground. The Spanish navigator Sebastián de Ocampo discovered it in 1508 during his voyage around the island and the first mention appeared in 1540 on a map by Alonso de Santa Cruz.

Varadero has, in addition to its beaches, 15 archaeological sites, such as caves and caverns, which served as refuges, the most visited vestige of which today is the Ambrosio cave, where the largest pictograph in the Caribbean is found (five galleries and 250 meters long).

In 1950, the first large hotel on the beach was built, the Internacional, now renovated with a modern environmentally friendly facility. By 1959 there were only three hotels in Varadero, and at present there are 40 with more than 10,500 rooms and a development still in perspective, becoming the recreational hub of the entire nation.

For this reason, these two destinations within Cuba can be mentioned as highlights for the purposes of referring to this country as a Sun and Beach destination, and especially on this day, declared by UN Tourism as World Tourism Resilience Day.

(Taken from Prensa Latina)