S JARDÍN BOTÁNICO SOLEDAD AND VICINITY
PLAYA RANCHO LUNA AND VICINITY
FORTALEZA DE NUESTRA SEÑORA DE JAGUA
SANTA ISABEL DE LAS LAJAS AND VICINITY
Villa Clara and Cienfuegos Provinces lie due east of Matanzas Province, with Villa Clara north of Cienfuegos. Together they share some of the prettiest scenery in Cuba.
The southern and eastern portions of Villa Clara Province are dominated by rolling uplands called the Alturas de Santa Clara, which rise gradually to the steep, pine-clad Sierra Escambray. Cool forests tantalize bird-watchers and hikers, with artificial lakes good for fishing, a famous health spa, and an invigorating climate. The mountains extend south and west into Cienfuegos Province.
Industry is centered on the city of Cienfuegos, a major port town that also boasts some splendid colonial architecture and, nearby, a fine botanical garden, while the city of Santa Clara (also an important industrial and university city) should be on every traveler’s itinerary for the fascinating Museo de Che (Guevara).
Villa Clara is second only to Pinar del Río as a center of tobacco production, centered on the scenic Vuelta Arriba region, east of the provincial capital. Here, the historic town of Remedios is caught in a delightful time-warp. Remedios and neighboring villages are renowned for their parrandas, unique carnival-style revelries that border on mayhem. Nearby, gorgeous beaches lie at hand in the Cayos de Villa Clara.
All the main highways merge into (or radiate out from) the city of Santa Clara, which boasts the must-see Complejo Escultórico Memorial Comandante Ernesto Che Guevara. A full day is sufficient for this city.
Northwest of Santa Clara, the Circuito Norte linking Villa Clara with Matanzas Province skirts the north coast and offers little of visual appeal. You can enjoy a massage and steep in mud at Hotel Elguea & Spa. Northeast of Santa Clara, the route passes through Vuelta Arriba and is superbly scenic. I recommend overnighting in the town of Remedios to savor its historic charm. If possible, time your visit for Christmas week, when the entire town explodes in revelry; accommodation is in short supply at year’s end. When the dust settles, head out to Cayos de Villa Clara for sunning, swimming, and to reel in some game fish from the placid jade waters.
Look for S to find recommended sights, activities, dining, and lodging.
S Parque Martí: Cienfuegos’s expansive plaza is surrounded by impressive neoclassical structures and a cathedral (click here).
S Jardín Botánico Soledad: This vast arboretum on the outskirts of Cienfuegos has a huge collection of tropical trees and shrubs (click here).
S El Nicho: The placid Sierra Escambray features beautiful waterfalls and hiking at this recreational site (click here).
S Complejo Escultórico Memorial Comandante Ernesto Che Guevara: A splendid museum sits beneath the imposing Che Guevara monument in Santa Clara. A mausoleum contains the revolutionary hero’s remains (click here).
S Remedios: Time your visit to this beautiful colonial town for year’s end to catch the parranda—a fireworks battle like no other (click here).
S Cayos de Villa Clara: A 50-kilometer-long land bridge provides access to stunning white-sand beaches and jade waters on remote cays with fishing, scuba diving, and resorts (click here).
The Carretera Central through central Villa Clara will take you through aged provincial towns, although there are no sites of significance. The Autopista (freeway) runs through northern Cienfuegos and southern Villa Clara Province. East of Santa Clara city, the scenery takes a dramatic turn as the Autopista cuts through the beautiful hills of the Alturas de Santa Clara and passes into Sancti Spíritus Province. The main turnoff for the city of Cienfuegos is at Aguada de los Pasajeros.
The city of Cienfuegos is a popular destination with an intriguing historic city core. Nearby, the ho-hum beach at Playa Rancho Luna has a Delfinario with dolphin shows, and anyone with a love of flora will find fascination in the Jardín Botánico Soledad. By following the scenic southern coast road, you can use Cienfuegos as a gateway for exploring the Sierra Escambray.
You’ll need at least a week to see all the highlights, with two days for Cienfuegos, a day in the Sierra Escambray, one night in Santa Clara, at least one night in Remedios, and one or two days in the Cayos de Villa Clara.
Santa Clara and Cienfuegos are served by Víazul buses, and Santa Clara is a stop for Havana-Santiago de Cuba trains.
Cienfuegos (pop. 105,000), 340 kilometers east of Havana and 69 kilometers southwest of Santa Clara, lies on the east side of the Bahía de Cienfuegos, a deep, 88-square-kilometer bay with an umbilical entrance. It’s Cuba’s third-largest port.
Cienfuegos means “100 fires” and is sometimes written “100 fuegos.” Citizens call their town La Perla del Sur (The Pearl of the South). The city’s appeal lies partly in the French flavor of its colonial hub, with a wide Parisian-style boulevard and elegant colonnades and an ambience that inspired Benny Moré, the celebrated Cuban sonoro, to sing, “Cienfuegos is the city I like best.” Not least, it has a swinging nightlife and tremendous casas particulares.
Approaching from the Autopista, the highway enters the city from the north and becomes a broad boulevard, the Paseo del Prado (Calle 37), the city’s main thoroughfare leading to the historic core, called Pueblo Nuevo. Parque Martí, the main plaza, is four blocks west of the Prado and reached via Avenidas 54 and 56. Avenida 54 (El Bulevar), the principal shopping street, is pedestrian-only.
At Avenida 46, the Prado becomes the Malecón, a wide seafront boulevard stretching south one kilometer along a narrow peninsula ending at Punta Gorda, a once-exclusive residential district that recalls 1950s North American suburbia, with Detroit classics still parked in the driveways of mid-20th-century homes. Beyond Punta Gorda is a short, slender isthmus lined with old wooden homes.
The city is laid out in a grid: Even-numbered calles run north-south, crossing odd-numbered avenidas running east-west. A six-lane highway, the circunvalación, bypasses the city.
Columbus supposedly discovered the bay in 1494. Shortly after the Spanish settled Cuba and established their trade restrictions, the bay developed a thriving smuggling trade. Sir Francis Drake and Henry Morgan were among privateers who called for plunder. Construction of a fortress—Castillo de Jagua—was begun in 1738 to protect the bay and to police smuggling. It wasn’t until 1817 that Louis D’Clouet, a French émigré from Louisiana, devised a settlement scheme that he presented to Don José Cienfuegos, the Spanish captain-general. The Spanish government would pay for the transportation of white colonists from Europe. The Spanish Parliament approved. By April 1819, the first 137 French settlers arrived. Cienfuegos grew rapidly to wealth thanks to the deep-water harbor, and merchants and plantation owners graced the city with a surfeit of stucco.
Castillo de Jagua
The city continued to prosper during the early 20th century and had an unremarkable history until September 5, 1957, when young naval officers and sailors (supported by the CIA) at the Cienfuegos Naval Base rebelled against the Batista regime and took control of the city’s military installations. Members of Castro’s revolutionary 26th of July Movement and students joined them. Batista’s troops managed to recapture the city by nightfall.
Since the Revolution, the city’s hinterland has grown significantly, mostly to the west, where a port and industrial complex includes Cuba’s main oil refinery.
Most of Cienfuegos’s buildings of note surround Parque Martí, on the ground where the founding of the first settlement was proclaimed on April 22, 1819. The city’s most prominent and illustrious sons are commemorated in bronze or stone, including a statue to José Martí, guarded by two marble lions. Note the triumphal arch on the west side, unveiled in 1902 on the day the Cuban Republic was constituted.
The Catedral de la Purísima Concepción (tel. 043/52-5297, daily 7am-noon), on the east side of the square, dates from 1870. It has a splendid interior, with marble floors and a pristine gilt Corinthian altar beneath a Gothic vaulted ceiling. The stained-glass windows of the 12 apostles were brought from France following the revolution of 1789.
On the north side is the deteriorated Colegio San Lorenzo, a handsome neoclassical building. Adjoining it is Teatro Tomás Terry (tel. 043/51-3361, daily 9am-6pm, CUC2 including guide, CUC5 camera), completed in 1895 and named for a local sugar baron, a Venezuelan who had arrived penniless in Cuba in the mid-1800s. The proscenium is sumptuously decorated and has a bas-relief centerpiece of Dionysius. The auditorium, with its three-tiered balconies, is made entirely of Cuban hardwoods and can accommodate 900 people in old-fashioned, fold-down wooden seats. Enrico Caruso, Sarah Bernhardt, and the Bolshoi Ballet performed here. The Ballet Nacional and Ópera de Cuba still perform, bringing the bats from their hiding places to swoop over the heads of the audience.
Parque Martí
On the west side, the Casa de la Cultura (Calle 25 #5403, tel. 043/51-6584, daily 8:30am-midnight, free) occupies the much-dilapidated Palacio Ferrer, an eclectically styled former mansion of sugar baron José Ferrer Sirés.
The former Spanish Club (the initials CE, inset in the pavement, stand for Club Español), on the south side, dates from 1898 and now houses the Museo Histórico Provincial (Av. 54 #2702, esq. Calle 27, tel. 043/51-9722, Tues.-Sat. 10am-5pm, Sun. 9am-1pm, CUC2). It displays a modest assortment of antiques, plus an archaeological room honoring the indigenous people of the Americas. Fifty meters east is the Primer Palacio, now the Poder Popular, the local government headquarters.
Catercorner to the Poder Popular is the Casa del Fundador (Av. 54, esq. 29, tel. 043/55-2144, Mon.-Sat. 9am-5:30pm, Sun. 9am-12:30pm, CUC1), where lived city founder Don Luis D’Clouet.
Calle 37—the Prado—is lined with a central median with plaques and busts honoring illustrious citizens, including a life-size bronze figure of Benny Moré (esq. Av. 54). Note the Casa de los Leones (e/ 58 y 60), an old mansion guarded by two life-size bronze lions.
The Club Cienfuegos (Calle 37, e/ Av. 8 y 12, tel. 043/52-6510, free), a baroque building erected in 1920, served for decades as the yacht club. The lobby exhibits antique silver trophies and other yachting memorabilia. One block south, at the tip of the peninsula, a cultural park exhibits avant-garde sculptures.
Cienfuegos’s architectural pride and joy is Palacio del Valle (Calle 37, esq. Av. 2, tel. 043/51-1003 ext. 812, daily 10am-11pm) at the tip of Punta Gorda. This architectural stunner—now a restaurant of the Hotel Jagua—originated as a modest home for a trader, Celestino Caceres. It passed out of his hands and was given as a wedding present to a member of the local Valle family, who added to it in virile Mogul style, with carved floral motifs, cupped arches, bulbous cupolas, and delicate arabesques in alabaster. Note the mural of the Magi on the Carrara marble staircase. A spiral staircase deposits you at a rooftop mirador (free after 5pm).
This cemetery (Av. 5 de Septiembre, tel. 043/52-5257, daily 9am-5pm, free, CUC1 guide), two kilometers east of town on the road to Rancho Luna, has impressive neoclassical structures and tombs. It is entered via a gate supported by 64 Doric columns.
Anyone with a morbid fascination for graveyards, or a love of baroque architecture, might find this evocative and derelict Carrara marble cemetery (Av. 50 y Calle 7, daily 7am-7pm, free) appealing. The walls contain tombs of soldiers from the War of Independence. Most tombs are caved in, with the skeletons open to view. Take Avenida 48 west, then turn right.
Four antique steam trains are preserved at the Parque de los Locomotoras on Calle 19 (esq. Av. 54).
Formerly a motley affair, the Museo Histórico Naval (Calle 21, e/ 60 y 62, tel. 043/51-9143, Tues.-Sat. 10am-5pm, Sat.-Sun. 9am-1pm, CUC1 including guide, CUC1 camera), in the former navy headquarters, is worth a visit for its model ships, colonial armory, and nautical miscellany. It was here in 1957 that naval officers rebelled against the Batista regime.
Cienfuegos hosts the week-long Festival Náutica in mid-July, featuring a parade, water sports, and regattas. The Festival Internacional de Música Benny Moré is held each alternate August.
The local band plays for free on Thursday (3pm) in Parque Martí and on Sunday (3pm) on the Prado.
The Teatro Tomás Terry (tel. 043/51-3361, box office 9am-6pm and 90 minutes prior to performances, CUC1-10), on Parque Martí, hosts performances ranging from classical symphony to live salsa music. The Cantores de Cienfuegos (tel. 5343-6214, cantoesdecienfuegos@yahoo.es) choral group is not to be missed, if they’re performing here or at other venues. So, too, the Orquesta Cámara Concierto Sur (tel. 5270-3533, enmeerl@yahoo.es). Check with the Paradiso Cultural Agency (tel. 5287-5336, paradise@sccfg.artex.cu) for a schedule. And be sure to attend any performance of the children’s theatrical group La Colmenita (Calle 41 #1803, e/ 18 y 20, Punta Gorda, tel. 043/52-6984).
Palacio del Valle
For bowling or billiards, head to La Bolera (Calle 37, esq. 48, tel. 043/55-1379, daily 11am-2am, CUC2 per hour).
The Palatino (tel. 043/55-1244, daily 9am-10pm), on the west side of Parque Martí, is a pleasant spot to savor a drink while being serenaded. Lovers congregate at Centro Recreativo La Punta (no tel., daily 10am-6pm and 8pm-1am) at the tip of the peninsula.
For elegance, the terrace bar of Club Cienfuegos (Calle 37, e/ Av. 8 y 12, tel. 043/52-6510, nightly 10pm-2am) has views across the bay; a dress code applies. The club also has an English pub downstairs.
The Casa de la Cultura (Calle 37 #5615, esq. Av. 58, tel. 043/51-6584, daily 8:30am-midnight, free) hosts traditional music and dance and other cultural events. UNEAC (Calle 25 #5425, tel. 043/51-6117), on the west side of Parque Martí, also has cultural events in an open-air patio, ranging from Afro-Cuban folkloric events to bolero. Nearby, the Café Teatro Terry hosts live entertainment nightly.
Flamenco? Head to Sal Teatro Cuestas (Av. 54, e/ 29 y 31), a Spanish-focused performance space.
Club Benny Moré (Av. 54 #2907, e/ 29 y 31, tel. 043/55-1105, Thurs.-Sun. 10pm-3am, CUC1-2) is a cabaret theater with live music, comedians, etc. followed by disco. You need ID to enter; it has a dress code.
Centro Nocturno Tropisur (Calle 37, esq. 48, Fri.-Sun. 9:30pm-2am, CUC1) offers Tropicana-style titillation three nights weekly, followed by a disco. Go on Thursday for Mexican karaoke.
Artex’s lively, open-air Centro Cultural El Cubanismo (Calle 35, e/ 16 y 18, tel. 043/55-1255, daily 9pm-2am) offers a live music medley that draws local youth.
Marina Marlin Cienfuegos (Calle 35, e/ 6 y 8, tel. 043/55-1699, operativo@nautica.cfg.tur.cu) offers scuba diving (CUC30 one dive) from Hotel Rancho Luna. Marina Marlin also offers two-hour bay excursions aboard the Flipper catamaran (9am, 11am, 2pm, and 5pm, CUC10 pp).
Germany-based Plattensail (www.platten-sailing.de) offers long-term yacht charters at the marina, and you can rent catamarans (one-day to one-month rentals) with Bluesail (tel. 043/55-6119 or 07/204-4400, www.aldoran-bluesail.com) and Dream Yacht Cuba (tel. 5391-4274, www.dreamyachtcharters.com) at Club Cienfuegos (Calle 37, e/ Av. 8 y 12, tel. 043/52-6510, daily 10pm-2am). However, you have to book the excursions prior to arriving in Cuba. The club grounds also have a beautiful new public swimming pool (daily 11am-6pm, CUC3, or CUC10 with drinks), plus crazy cars (carros locos, CUC0.50), go-karts (CUC1), and tennis.
the swimming pool at Club Cienfuegos
The gym at the Hotel La Unión (Av. 54 y Calle 31, tel. 043/55-1020) is open to the public.
Estadio 5 de Septiembre (Av. 20, e/ 45 y 55, tel. 043/51-3644) hosts baseball games October-May.
An excellent downtown option in Pueblo Nuevo, Casa La Amistad (Av. 56 #2927, e/ 29 y 31, tel. 043/51-6143, casamistad@correodecuba.com, CUC20), one block east of Parque Martí, is upstairs in a creaky colonial home. The two simple rooms share a bathroom. The welcoming hosts, Armando and Leonor, are dedicated socialists. Leonora welcomes you with her “Gato Negro” and gets rave reviews for her special chicken dish.
Book early to snag a room at Omar and Diana’s remarkable S Hostal Bahía (Av. 20 #3502 altos, esq. 35, tel. 043/52-6598, hostalbahia@yahoo.es, CUC35) in Punta Gorda. Sure, it’s expensive, but here you get a shaded bay-view balcony and a 40-inch plasma TV in the cross-ventilated lounge. Modern art adorns the walls. The owners run the Fiesta del Mar paladar, adjacent.
Otherwise, my favorite is S Casa de Juan Sánchez (Av. 8 #3703, e/ 37 y 39, tel. 043/51-7986, CUC25 including breakfast), a striking modernist home built in 1959, with original furnishings and heaps of stained glass. The lounge connects to a garden with shade trees. Its single, spacious room is well-lit and cross-ventilated, with a large handsome bathroom. A worthy neighbor is the lovely Casa de Carlos y Ana María (Av. 8 #3901, tel. 043/51-6624, illyanet2006@yahoo.es, CUC20-25), where I’ve also enjoyed a stay.
I’ve always enjoyed staying with Alina, a wonderful lady who has relocated from Santa Clara. Her new digs, S Hostal D’Carmen Alina (Av. 54 #4923, e/ 49 y 51, tel. 043/51-9056 or 5337-8499, alieli1996@hayoo.es, CUC25), has three rooms with private bathrooms and private entrance. One has a kitchen. Filling meals can be enjoyed.
All hotels have satellite TV, safes, and modern bathrooms. A shortage of hotel space means rates are exorbitant relative to standards.
Gran Caribe’s Hostal E Palacio Azul (Calle 37 #1201, e/ 12 y 14, tel. 043/55-5829, reserva@union.cfg.tur.cu, CUC71 s, CUC106 low season, CUC81 s, CUC135 d high season, including breakfast) offers seven huge rooms with high ceilings and colonial tile floors in a restored mansion on the Malecón. It has a charming little bar and restaurant.
S Hotel La Unión (Av. 54 y Calle 31, tel. 043/55-1020, reserva@union.cfg.tur.cu, CUC68 s, CUC110 d low season, CUC88 s, CUC143 d high season), one block east of Parque Martí, is a beautifully restored neoclassical re-creation of a 19th-century hotel. It has 49 rooms (11 are junior suites, two are suites, one is a signature suite) arrayed around a courtyard. The open-air pool has a Romanesque setting, and you get a sauna, whirlpool tub, gym, business center, and commendable restaurant.
Gran Caribe’s high-rise Hotel Jagua (Calle 37, e/ 0 y 2, tel. 043/55-1003, reservas@jagua.co.cu, CUC68 s, CUC110 d low season, CUC88 s, CUC143 d high season) boasts 149 large rooms plus 13 poolside cabinas. You get more facilities than at the other hotels, including a swimming pool. The buffet restaurant, however, fails miserably.
bay view from Hotel Jagua
The green 1930s-era mansion opposite the Hotel Jagua is today the eight-room Hotel E Casa Verde (c/o Hotel Jagua, CUC65 s, CUC80 d). An extension of the Jagua, it’s up to European standards with its gracious furnishings, plasma TVs, and mobile phones. Two rooms have king beds. It has a pool with snack bar, and buffet lunch and dinner are served.
The nicest hotel in town by a mile is S Hotel Perla del Mar (c/o Hotel Jagua, CUC76 s, CUC118 d low season, CUC90 s, CUC150 d high season). This 1950s modernist waterfront mansion has been restored with finesse as a nine-room boutique hotel furnished with chic contemporary style in an olive and cream color scheme, plus silent air-conditioning and flat-screen TVs. A bargain!
A last resort, east of town, is Hotel Islazul Punta La Cueva (Carretera a Rancho Luna, Km 3.5 y Circunlavación, tel. 043/57-3952, www.islazul.cu, CUC13 s, CUC16 d low season, CUC16 s, CUC22 d high season). None of its 67 rooms even have windows.
Paladares abound. The best is S El Lagarto (Calle 35 #4B e/ Av. 0 y Litoral, tel. 043/51-9966), at the tip of Punta Gorda. Go for the fixed price dinner (CUC18) with bruschetta with garlic tomato, plus salad and soup, fruit plate, and a choice of lobster, shrimp, chicken, pork, etc. A lesser, but still good, alternative, is Aché (Av. 38 #4106 e/ 41 y 43, tel. 043/52-6173, Mon.-Sat. noon-10:30pm), serving filling criolla dishes under thatch.
In Pueblo Nuevo, the Bouyón 1825 paladar (Calle 25 #5605 e/ 56 y 58, tel. 043/51-7376, noon-10pm) specializes in grilled dishes and has a delightful ambience; walls are adorned with historic potos.
The most stylish option is S Fiesta del Mar (Calle 35 e/ 18 y 20, tel. 043/52-6598, adjoining Hostal Bahía, with dramatic coralstone walls, colonial columns, and a fountain floodlit with changing colors. Choose alfresco or air-conditioned dining. I enjoyed fried garbanzo (CUC6), seafood carpaccio with olive oil and basil (CUC6), and lamb with herbs and olive oil (CUC14.50). It even serves curried chicken (CUC13.50). It’s overpriced, however, as rice and veggies are charged extra.
For colonial atmosphere, opt for Restaurante La Verja (Av. 54, e/ 33 y 35, tel. 043/51-6311, daily noon-3pm and 6pm-10pm), which serves criolla staples (lobster CUC10) in a colonial home full of antiques.
Hotel Jagua’s Palacio de Valle (Calle 37, e/ 0 y 2, tel. 043/55-1003 ext. 812, daily 10am-10pm) is a must if only for the remarkable ambience. It has a large seafood menu, including lobster (CUC15), though dishes are average. Far better, however, is the restaurant’s Los Laureles, where a superb suckling pig roast buffet is offered in the garden beneath a giant fig tree.
Coppelia (Calle 37, esq. 52, Tues.-Sun. 11am-11pm) is good for ice cream (pesos only). For an espresso or cappuccino head to the Café Teatro Terry (daily 9am-10pm) on Parque Martí. Delicious fresh fruit batidos (shakes) will help you beat the heat at La Casa del Batido (Av. 37, e/ 52 y 54, daily 9am-10pm).
Galería Maroya (Av. 54 #2506, tel. 043/55-1208, Mon.-Sat. 9am-6pm, Sun. 9am-1pm), on the west side of Parque Martí, has a splendid collection of arts and crafts.
Infotur (daily 8am-5pm) has a tour bureau at the Casa del Fundador, on the east side of Parque Martí. These companies sell guided excursions, including a city tour (CUC10): Cubanacán (Av. 54, e/ 29 y 31, tel. 043/55-1680), Cubatur (Calle 37 e/ 54 y 56, tel. 043/55-1242), and Havanatur (Av. 54 #2906, e/ 29 y 31, tel. 043/51-1639).
The post office is at Avenida 54 and Calle 35, but the telecorreo (Av. 54 #3514, tel. 043/55-6102) has DHL service. Etecsa (Av. 54, e/ 35 y 37, daily 8am-7:30pm) has international phone and Internet service.
Banks include Banco Financiero Internacional (Av. 54 y Calle 29, Mon.-Fri. 8am-3pm), on the southeast corner of Parque Martí, and Bandec (Av. 56 y Calle 31). Cadeca (Av. 56, e/ 33 y 35) also converts foreign currency for pesos.
The Clínica Internacional (Av. 7, e/ 37 y 39, tel. 043/55-1622) has a pharmacy, as does the Hotel 242.
The Consultoría Jurídica Internacional (Calle 54 #2904, e/ 29 y 31, tel. 043/55-1572) provides legal services.
Dirty laundry? Head to Autoservicio Lavandería El Lavatin (56, e/ 41 y 43, Mon.-Sat. 8am-7pm and Sun. 8am-noon), a self-service Laundromat.
Aeropuerto Internacional Jaime González (tel. 043/55-2047) is three kilometers east of downtown.
The bus terminal (Calle 49, e/ Av. 56 y 58) is six blocks east of the Prado. Víazul (tel. 043/51-5720, www.viazul.com) buses link Cienfuegos to Havana, Trinidad, Varadero (via Bay of Pigs), and Santa Clara.
The train station (Calle 49, e/ Av. 58 y 60, tel. 043/52-5495) is one block north of the bus station. At last visit, trains departed Cienfuegos for Havana at 7am (CUC11), for Santa Clara at 4am (CUC2.10, second-class only), and for Sancti Spíritus at 2pm. You can also catch an especial from Havana to Santa Clara and then connect to Cienfuegos, which lies at the end of a branch line off the main Havana-Santiago railroad. Trains depart Havana for Cienfuegos at 7:15am, from Santa Clara at 5:40pm, and from Sancti Spíritus at 3:53pm.
Marina Marlin Cienfuegos (Calle 35, e/ 6 y 8, tel. 043/55-1699) has moorings for 30 yachts.
Bus #9 runs the length of Calle 37 (10 centavos).
Cubataxi (Av. 50 #3508, esq. 37, tel. 043/51-9145) charges CUC3 between the Hotel Jagua and downtown.
Rent cars from Cubacar, which has three locations (Hotel La Unión, tel. 043/55-1700; Calle 37 y Av. 18, tel. 043/55-1211; and Hotel Jagua, tel. 043/55-2166).
There are gas stations at Calle 37 (e/ Av. 18), about 10 kilometers east of town on the road to Rancho Luna, and at the north end of Calle 37, at the entrance to town.
This splendid garden (tel. 043/54-5115, Mon.-Thurs. 8am-5pm, Fri.-Sun. 8am-4:30pm, CUC2.50) is about 10 kilometers east of Cienfuegos, on the road to Trinidad. It was begun in 1899 by a New Englander, Edward Atkins, who owned sugar estates in the area and brought in Harvard botanists to develop more productive sugarcane strains. Later, Harvard University assumed control under a 99-year lease, and a general collection making up one of the tropical world’s finest botanical gardens was amassed. Since the Revolution, the garden has been maintained by the Cuban Academy of Science’s Institute of Botany.
A guide shows a flower at Jardín Botánico Soledad.
Pathways lead through the 94-hectare garden, reached along an avenue of royal palms. It harbors some 1,490 species, 70 percent of which are exotics. A bamboo collection has 23 species. Of rubber trees, there are 89 species; of cactus, 400. The prize collection is the 245 varieties of palms. It has a basic café, and well-versed bilingual guides give informative tours.
The avenue of royal palms extends south to the former sugar-processing community of Pepito Tey. A stroll around this friendly village, still lived in, is a fascinating study in how the Communist state has attempted to employ unemployed former sugarcane workers.
The bus from Cienfuegos to Cumanayagua passes the garden. A taxi will cost about CUC40 round-trip. Tour agencies in Cienfuegos offer tours (CUC10).
About 15 kilometers southeast of Cienfuegos, the pleasant beach of Playa Rancho Luna hosts some small resort hotels used by package tour groups. The coast road swings west past the Faro Luna lighthouse and follows the rocky coast eight kilometers to Pasacaballo, facing the Castillo de Jagua across the 400-meter-wide mouth of Cienfuegos Bay, 22 kilometers from Cienfuegos.
There are better beaches in Cuba than Playa Rancho Luna. The main draw is the Delfinario (tel. 043/54-8120, Thurs.-Tues. 8:30am-4pm, CUC10 adults, CUC6 children), an enclosed lagoon offering dolphin shows at 10am and 2pm. You can kiss the dolphins (CUC10) and swim with them (CUC50 adults, CUC33 children).
Scuba diving is offered at the Club Amigo Rancho Luna (Km 18, tel. 043/54-8087, operative@nautica.cfg.tur.cu). At least eight ships lie amid the coral reefs.
You can rent catamarans and pedal-boats at the beach by Villa Rancho Luna (tel. 045/54-8189), a simple beachfront restaurant (daily 9am-9pm).
Refugio Guanaroca Punta Gavilan (Carretera Cienfuegos-Rancho Luna, Km 12, tel. 043/54-8019 or 043/54-8117), 12 kilometers from Cienfuegos, opened in 2013 to protect a flock of about 50 young flamingos that migrate from Zapata and the Río Máximo zone off the north coast of Camagüey province. The refuge offers birding (CUC10) at 8am and 11:30am by boat on Laguna Guanaroca, reached by hiking a 1.5-kilometer trail. It has a café.
There are several private rentals to choose at Rancho Luna, including Casa La China (tel. 043/54-8103, villalachinacienfuegos@yahoo.com, CUC20-25), with four simply appointed rooms with modern bathrooms; the room in the garden patio is larger and nicer.
Farther west, and doubling as a paladar, the Finca los Colorados B&B (Carretera de Pasacaballo, Km 18, Playa Rancho Luna, tel. 043/54-8044, www.casapineiro.com, CUC30) enjoys a breeze-swept position on the cliffs 100 meters east of the lighthouse. English-speaking owner José Piñeiro prepares Cuban cuisine served beneath an arbor. The home abounds in antiques and modern furnishings. Five modestly furnished, cross-ventilated rooms include a two-bedroom apartment; some rooms have metal-frame antique beds.
Gran Caribe’s all-inclusive Hola Club Rancho Luna (Carretera de Rancho Luna, Km 18, tel. 043/54-8012, www.hotelescubanacan.com, CUC55 s, CUC80 d low season, CUC80 s, CUC120 d high season) is a staple of Canadian and European tour groups. Boasting lively tropical pastels and rattan furnishings, it’s a pleasant option with 222 nicely furnished rooms, two restaurants, water sports, game room, and a swimming pool.
The 46-room Hotel Faro Luna (tel. 043/54-8030, reservas@ranluna.cfg.tur.cu, CUC52 s, CUC74 d), run by Gran Caribe, was recently refurbished and offers spacious modern rooms with cable TV. There’s no beach here, alas.
The Soviet-style Hotel Pasacaballo (Carretera de Rancho Luna, Km 22, tel. 043/59-2100, www.islazul.cu, CUC22 s, CUC30 d low season, CUC24 s, CUC38 d high season, including meals) is out on a limb atop cliffs on the east side of the bay. I like its modernist interior stylish, despite its ugly exterior and mish-mash furnishings; some rooms have king beds. It has a cybercafé. Check out the tiny museum to Benny Moré—Salón Alma Mía—on the ground floor. Watch the dangerous step on the lobby staircase!
The road past Hotel Pasacaballo ends at La Milpa, a hamlet where local fishers make seafood meals. Also nearby is Paladar Playa Las Dunas (tel. 5220-3264, daily noon-10pm), serving seafood meals for CUC8 on a bayfront patio.
A taxi from Cienfuegos costs about CUC12. Ferries leave Cienfuegos for Pasacaballo on a regular basis from the terminal on Avenida 46 and Calle 25 (CUC1).
Across the bay from Pasacaballo, a restored 17th-century Spanish fort, the Fortaleza de Nuestra Señora de Jagua (tel. 043/96-5402, Tues.-Sat. 9am-5pm, Sun. 9am-1pm, CUC1 entrance, CUC1 camera) guards the entrance to the Bahía de Cienfuegos. The original fortress was expanded in the 18th century to defend against the English Royal Navy. Two Ordoñez cannons guard the entrance. At midnight, a ghost—the Blue Lady—is said to haunt the small fortress that overlooks a fishing village perched above the water.
Up on the hill behind Jagua is Ciudad Nuclear (Nuclear City), a modern city built in the 1980s to house workers constructing Cuba’s first nuclear power station nearby at Juragua. The half-completed reactor, about two kilometers west of town, stands idle. Construction began in 1983, when Soviet aid flowed freely. Construction was mothballed in 1992.
Passenger ferries depart Cienfuegos (Av. 46 and Calle 25) at 8am, 1pm, and 5pm (30 minutes, CUC1). Ferries also link Jagua and Pasacaballo six times daily.
To get there by road, exit Cienfuegos on Calle 37 past the industrial complexes.
Famed musician Benny Moré (1919-1963) was born in the village of Santa Isabel de las Lasas, eight kilometers north of the town of Cruces (30 kilometers northeast of Cienfuegos). The Museo Municipal (Calle Dr. Machín #99, e/ Martí y Calixto García, lajaz@azurina.cult.cu, Tues.-Sat. 10am-6pm, Sun. 9am-1pm) pays homage to the crooner considered Cuba’s most influential musician of his era, who is buried in the town cemetery. The Festival Internacional de Música Benny Moré is held here every other December.
Serious railroad buffs might call in at Central Maltiempo, five kilometers southeast of Cruces. The central (sugar mill) is now derelict, but an antique Baldwin steam locomotive is preserved (barely).
Palmira, midway between Cienfuegos and Cruce, has deep Afro-Cuban roots and is a center for Santería, as told in its Museo Municipal (Villuendas #41, e/ Cisneros y Agramonte, tel. 043/54-4533, Tues.-Sat. 10am-6pm, Sun. 9am-1pm, CUC1).
The Circuito Sur coast road dips and rises east of Cienfuegos, with the Sierra Escambray to the north. Beaches lie hidden at the mouths of rivers that wash down from the hills, as at Yaguanabo, 53 kilometers from Cienfuegos.
Hacienda La Vega (tel. 043/55-1126, daily 9am-6pm), about three kilometers west of Playa Inglés, is a cattle farm (vaquería) where horseback riding is offered (CUC4 per hour) and demonstrations of traditional farm life are given. A roadside restaurant serves snacks and criolla fare. Lather up with insect repellent!
Passing over the Río Yaguanabo, you pass into Sancti Spíritus Province. Immediately beyond the river, a giant shrimp stands over the road, marking the Camaronera Yaguanabo shrimp farm.
You can follow a rugged dirt track seven kilometers inland to Finca Protegida Yaguanabo-Arriba, also with horseback riding and guided birding in the foothills of the Escambray mountains. The highlight is the Cueva Martín Infierno, a stupendous cavern that boasts the world’s largest stalagmite (68 meters tall) as well as gypsum flowers (flores de yeso).
Wow! Who knew Cubamar had what it takes to produce such a lovely hotel? S Villa Guajimico (Carretera Cienfuegos-Trinidad, Km 42, tel. 042/54-0946, CUC22 s, CUC38 d low season, CUC25 s, CUC44 d high season) sits over the mouth of the Río La Jutía. Some of the 51 air-conditioned brick cabins line a tiny white-sand beach in the river estuary. Others stair-step a hill where a swimming pool and restaurant offer spectacular views. It has scuba diving daily at 9am and 1:30pm, plus Hobie Cats.
Similarly pleasing, the Villa Yaguanabo (Carretera a Trinidad, Km 55, tel. 042/54-1905, www.islazul.cu, CUC22 s, CUC30 d low season, CUC25 s, CUC35 d high season) has 34 rooms at the rivermouth, with a pleasant restaurant and bar.
The Sierra Escambray, Cuba’s second-highest mountain range, lies mostly within Cienfuegos Province, descending gradually into Villa Clara Province to the north, edging into Sancti Spíritus Province to the east, and dropping steeply to the southern coast. The Escambray’s peaks (which reach 1,140 meters atop Pico San Juan) and forests are protected in Gran Parque Natural Topes de Collantes, in the chain’s southeast corner.
In the late 1950s, these mountains were the site of a revolutionary front against Fulgencio Batista, led by Che Guevara. After the revolutionaries triumphed in 1959, the Escambray hid counterrevolutionaries who opposed Castro. The CIA helped finance and arm these resistance fighters, whom the Castro regime tagged “bandits.” Castro formed counterinsurgency units called Battalions of Struggle Against Bandits, and forcibly evacuated campesinos to deny the anti-Castroites local support. The bandidos weren’t eradicated until 1966.
Access from Cienfuegos is via the Circuito Sur and the community of La Sierrita, about 30 kilometers east of Cienfuegos (the road continues to Topes de Collantes but was badly washed out at last visit). It’s a stupendously scenic route that rises past sheer-walled, cave-riddled limestone mogotes, at their most impressive near the town of San Blas, eight kilometers east of La Sierrita. San Blas sits in the lee of great cliffs where huge stalactites and stalagmites are exposed in an open cave high atop the mountains.
El Nicho (tel. 043/43-3351, daily 8am-6pm, CUC9), a recreational site at Camanayagua, seven kilometers north of La Sierrita and 48 kilometers east of Cienfuegos, is popular for its spectacular waterfalls and turquoise pools good for swimming. Simple meals are served at thatched Restaurante El Helechón.
If driving, you can reach the falls (14 km south from the Cumanayagua-Manicaragua road) by ordinary sedan; the turn-off is at Entronque Minas. You’ll pass through the community of El Jovero, known for its Grupo Teatro de los Elementos theatrical group.
You can take a bus to Cumanayagua from either Cienfuegos or Santa Clara; a colectivo runs from Cumanayagua at 5am and 5pm. Excursions are offered from Santa Clara, Topes de Collantes, and Trinidad.
Santa Clara (pop. 175,000), 300 kilometers east of Havana, is the provincial capital of Villa Clara. Straddling the Carretera Central and within five minutes of the Autopista, it is strategically located at the center of Cuba. The city was established within the confluence of the Ríos Bélico and Cubanicay in 1689, when residents of Remedios grew tired of constant pirate raids and moved inland. Later it functioned as a plum in Cuba’s wars of independence. On December 28, 1958, Che Guevara’s rebel army attacked the town and derailed a troop train carrying reinforcements and U.S. armaments bound for Oriente. Two days later, the rebel army captured the city, which became known as el último reducto de la tiranía batistiana (the last fortress of Batista’s tyranny). Within 24 hours, the dictator fled the island.
Today Santa Clara is an industrial town and home to the Universidad Central de las Villas (www.uclv.edu.cu/en), where a small botanical garden is of modest interest.
Santa Clara is laid out roughly in a rectilinear grid of one-way streets and encircled by a ring road (circunvalación). The Carretera Central enters from the west and arcs south around the town center, accessed from the west by Rafael Tristá and from the south by Calle Colón, which runs to Parque Vidal, the main square. Calle Marta Abreu runs west from the square and connects with the Carretera Central, which continues east to Placetas.
Independencia, one block north of Parque Vidal, runs parallel to Marta Abreu, crosses the Río Cubanicay (eastward), and (as Avenida de Liberación) leads to Remedios. Independencia between Zayas and Maceo is a pedestrian precinct known as El Bulevar—The Boulevard.
Máximo Gómez (Cuba) and Luis Estévez (Colón) run perpendicular to Abreu, on the west and east side of the park. Maceo (one block east of Estévez) runs north seven blocks to the railway station and becomes Avenida Sagua, which leads to Sagua la Grande and the north coast. Enrique Villanueva (one block west of Máximo Gómez) runs south to Manicaragua.
This large paved square is named for the revolutionary hero Leoncio Vidal. A curiosity of the square is its double-wide sidewalk. In colonial days, this was divided by an iron fence: whites perambulated on the inner half while blacks kept to the outside. The bandstand hosts concerts on weekends.
Parque Vidal at night
Keeping her eye on things is a bronze Monumento Marta Abreu de Estévez. Abreu (1845-1904) was a local heroine and philanthropist who funded construction of the Teatro la Caridad (Marta Abreu, e/ Máximo Gómez y Lorda, tel. 042/20-5548, Mon.-Sat. 9am-4pm, CUC1 including guide), built in 1885 on the north side of the square. Albeit tragically deteriorated due to water damage, the four-story, horseshoe-shaped theater boasts its original cast-iron seats plus stunning murals representing the works of Shakespeare and Spanish writers.
East of the theater is the Museo de Artes Decorativos (e/ Luis Estévez y Lorda, tel. 042/20-5368, Mon., Wed., and Thurs. 9am-6pm, Fri.-Sat. 1pm-10pm, Sun. 6pm-10pm, CUC2 entrance, CUC1 guide, CUC5 camera), featuring stunning colonial antiques and furniture.
On the square’s east side, the old Palacio Provincial houses the city library; its neoclassical frontage is supported by Ionic columns.
The Galería de Arte (Máximo Gómez #3, tel. 042/20-7715, Tues.-Thurs. 9am-5pm, Fri.-Sat. 2pm-10pm, Sun. 6pm-10pm), immediately northwest of the square, has revolving art exhibitions.
Looming over the hilltop Plaza de la Revolución, at the west end of Rafael Tristá, this complex is dominated by the Monumento de Che, a massive plinth with bas-reliefs and a 6.8-meter-tall bronze statue of Che bearing his rifle, by sculptor José Delarra. Beneath the monument, on the north side, is the Museo de Che (tel. 042/20-5878, Tues.-Sun. 9:30am-5pm, free, no photos allowed), which worships the Argentinian revolutionary and has a detailed account of the capture of Santa Clara in December 1958. Che Guevara’s history is traced from childhood. Exhibits include his pistol from the Sierra Maestra and many personal effects.
Che’s remains (discovered in Bolivia) were laid to rest in October 1997 in an adjacent mausoleum that has empty space for the 37 other guerrillas who lost their lives in Guevara’s last campaign. Walls of granite are inset with the 3-D motifs of the revolutionaries, including Che’s, with a small five-point star illumined top-right from a light beam inset in the ceiling.
On the north side is the “Garden of Tombs.” Framed by symbolic palms, it has tiered rows of 220 marble tombs, one for each of Che’s combatientes (soldiers), arcing around an eternal flame.
Housed in the Escuela Abel Santamaría, the Museo Provincial Abel Santamaría (Calle Esquerra, tel. 042/20-3041, Mon.-Fri. 8:30am-5pm, Sat. 9am-noon, CUC1 entrance, CUC1 camera), at the north end of Calle Esquerra in the Reparto Osvaldo Herrera neighborhood, is full of colonial furniture but is dedicated to the province’s role in the independence wars and the fight against Batista. It features weaponry plus natural-history exhibits. The school was formerly a military barracks, fulfilling Castro’s dictum to turn all Batista’s barracks into centers of learning.
From here, walk west 300 meters to Naturarte (Abel Santamaría, esq. Calle Sub Planta, tel. 042/20-8354, daily 8am-11:30pm, donation requested), founded by Ermes Ramírez Criado and Idania Moreno to turn a garbage-strewn site into a multidimensional art and ecological project. Gardens studded with eclectic sculptures host events. It also breeds and displays exotic birds and offers environmental education, plus work projects for community members at risk.
This exquisite little plaza, at the north end of Máximo Gómez, five blocks north of Parque Vidal, is dominated by the Iglesia Nuestra Señora del Carmen, a national monument dating to 1748. It is fronted by a granite monument where the first mass was held to celebrate the founding of Santa Clara on July 15, 1689. The church is riddled with bullet holes fired from the police station—now named El Vaquerito—across the street during the battle of December 29, 1958. On the north side of the church is a life-size figure of revolutionary hero Roberto Rodríquez Fernández—el vaquerito—of whose death Che Guevara said, “We have lost one hundred men.”
Two blocks east, the Fábrica de Tabaco (Maceo #181, e/ Julyo Jover and Berenguer, tel. 042/20-2211) has 30-minute guided tours of the tobacco factory (9am-10:30am, CUC4). You need to buy your ticket in advance from Cubatur, Cubanacán, or Havanatur. No photos or children are permitted.
bust of Che Guevara by Argelio Perera Montesinos, at Naturarte
This small plaza, on Calle Cuba, five blocks south of Parque Vidal, has at its heart the Iglesia de la Santísima de Buen Pastora (tel. 042/20-6554, daily 10am-4pm). It features a beautiful stained-glass window. On its northeast corner is Monumento a Miguel Gerónimo Gutiérrez, honoring a local patriot. Two blocks south, the Monumento General Máximo Gómez stands in front of the neoclassical Palacio de Justicia, the courthouse.
This site (tel. 042/20-2758, Mon.-Sat. 9am-5pm, CUC1 entrance, CUC1 guide, CUC1 camera), at the east end of Independencia beyond the railway crossing, was where, on December 29, 1958, rebel troops led by Che Guevara derailed one of Batista’s troop trains, setting in rapid motion the chain of events that toppled Batista. Four rust-colored carriages are preserved higgledy-piggledy as they came to rest after the train was run off the rails. There is an exhibit inside carriage #4.
Continue east 300 meters along Carretera de Camaguán to the Communist Party headquarters; in the forecourt stands the bronze Estatua al Che showing Che holding a boy in his arms, with a ram on his shoulders.
Troubadours play most evenings and weekend afternoons at the Casa de la Cultura (tel. 042/20-7181), on the west side of Parque Vidal. Don’t miss Piquete Melodías Antillana if the group is performing. They play late-18th-century danzón while old-timers of the Club Alegría de Vivir dance. Call Paradiso Cultural Agency rep Nancy Lugo Valdés (tel. 042/20-1374, paradisovc@artex.cu) to check out the cultural calendar.
The no-frills, overly air-conditioned Piano Bar (Luis Estévez #13, e/ Independencia y Parque Vidal, tel. 042/21-5215, daily 9pm-1am) hosts boleros, instrumental music, and trova.
Everything from comedy to live music is featured at Bar Club Bulevar (Independencia #225, e/ Unión y Maceo, tel. 042/21-6236, daily 10pm-2:30am, CUC2), a hip space where performances are followed by disco. Get the ball rolling with a shot of rum at Bar Marquesina (tel. 043/22-4848, daily 9am-midnight), on the northwest corner of Plaza Vidal; it has live music at 9pm.
The in-spot in town is El Mejunje (Marta Abreu #107, e/ Zayas y Alemán, Tues.-Fri. 10pm-4am, Sat. 5pm-4am, Sun. 10am-4pm), an open-air space amid brick ruins that hosts a varying program, from rap to traditional trova (some of the best in Cuba). It’s famous nationwide for its LGBTQ (lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender/queer) Saturday night parties with diva drag show (10pm). Saturday morning it hosts Afro-Cuban music and dance (10am), then bolero and jazz at 5pm. Sala Teatro Margarita Casalles, 50 meters west of El Mejunje, is a bohemian bar and cultural space with an eclectic menu.
A small cabaret is hosted at La Casa del Gobernador (Independencia, esq. Zayas, tel. 042/20-2273, Tues.-Sat. 11am-5pm and 7pm-11:30pm, CUC5). Artex El Bosque (Carretera Central, tel. 042/20-4444, Wed.-Sun. 9pm-2am, CUC6), overhanging the Río Cubanicay, also has a varied-themed open-air cabaret at 10:30pm. And outside town, Cubanacán Villa La Granjita (Carretera Malezas, Km 2.5, tel. 042/22-8190) has a nightly “Fiesta Campesina” show poolside at 9:30pm.
Classical and other performances are hosted at Teatro la Caridad (Tues., Wed., Sat., and Sun. at 9pm, 5 pesos).
Baseball is played October-May at Estadio Sandino (Av. 9 de Abril), about one mile east of Parque Vidal.
I always enjoy staying at Hostal La Caridad (Calle San Pablo #19, e/ Carolina y Máximo Gómez, tel. 042/22-7704, lacaridad8@gmail.com, CUC25), on the north side of Plaza del Carmen. The delightful hosts, Lidia and Santiago, have a spacious lounge with color TV, nicely decorated in 1950s style. The spacious air-conditioned bedroom has a private bathroom and five beds. Filling meals can be enjoyed in a shady garden patio. The couple also runs Hostal Oshún (Calle Bonifacio Martínez #58, e/ Sindico y Caridad, tel. 042/22-7704, hostaloshun@gmail.com), with two rooms, a shared bathroom, kitchen, and a lovely patio garden.
Casa de José Ramón (Máximo Gómez #208 altos, e/ Berenguer y Yanes, tel. 042/20-7239, josetur2009@gmail.com, CUC15-20) has an independent upstairs apartment with full kitchen and stairs to a rooftop terrace.
English-speaking gay owner Angel Rodríguez runs a remarkable rental at S Hostal Florida Center (Maestra Nicolasa #56, e/ Colón y Maceo, tel. 042/20-8161, angel.floridacenter@yahoo.com, CUC20 s, CUC25 d). Teeming with antiques, including Baccarat chandeliers, this colonial home opens to a lush patio with aviary. One bedroom is colonial-themed and has bronze and wrought-iron beds; the other features art deco. Angel’s boyfriend also has a rental with similarly impressive furnishings at Hostal Alba (Machado #7, e/ Cuba y Colón, tel. 042/29-4108, albahostal@yahoo.com, CUC20 s, CUC25 d).
Casa de Ernesto y Mireya (Calle Cuba #227 altos, e/ Sindico y Pastora, tel. 042/27-3501, www.rentasantaclara.com, CUC15) is a bargain for its independent upstairs apartment with handsome lounge overlooking Plaza la Pastora. The spacious, simply appointed air-conditioned bedroom has an attractive bathroom. There’s parking. Ernesto and Mireya also have a lovely 1950s home—you’ll love the ’50s features—with three rooms around the corner. Together, the units are perfect for a family or group.
Islazul’s lackluster high-rise Hotel Santa Clara Libre (Parque Vidal #6, e/ Trista y Padre Chao, tel. 042/20-7548, CUC17 s, CUC24 d year-round), overlooking Parque Vidal, is a last resort.
Cubanacán Los Caneyes (Av. de los Eucaliptos y Circunvalación de Santa Clara, tel./fax 042/21-8140, comercial@caneyes.hor.tur.cu, CUC47 s, CUC72 d low season, CUC58 s, CUC86 d high season), two kilometers west of town, is favored by tour groups. It has 96 appealing air-conditioned rooms in thatched, wooden octagonal cabinas spread amid landscaped grounds. Facilities include an excellent restaurant and a swimming pool. Its similarly priced sibling, Cubanacán Villa La Granjita (Carretera Malezas, Km 2.5, Santa Clara, tel. 042/22-8190, reserva@granjita.vcl.tur.cu) also has 71 thatched cabins around a handsome pool and sundeck. It has a tennis court, restaurant, and shop.
In 2012 the quality, contemporary Hotel América (Mujica e/ Maceo y Colón, tel. 042/20-1585, recepcion@americavc.co.cu, from CUC55 s, CUC84 d) opened, with 27 delightful rooms in a pistachio color scheme and modern mahogany furnishings. Facilities include a cybercafé, swimming pool, and restaurant.
The simple Paladar Sabor Tropical (Esquerra #157, e/ Julio Jover y Berenguer, tel. 042/22-4279, lafaraonallatina@yahoo.es, daily 24 hours) serves criolla dishes and seafood. For a budget bargain, head to Restaurant El Sol (Maceo #52, e/ Prado y Vidal, tel. 042/27-1463, daily noon-10pm), a no-frills place that packs in Cubans for filling criolla dishes charged in moneda nacional. It’s on three levels; try the third-floor rooftop terrace.
The nicest of the new breed of paladares is S La Bodeguita del Medio (Marta Abreu #128, e/ Zayas y Alemán, tel. 5289-5915, daily 24 hours). The restored colonial building has a lofty ceiling and bare stone walls adorned with sepia photos of famous musicians. It’s overpriced, but the menu includes grilled lobster and paella. Live musicians entertain.
Owner Ángel and Chef Willie at S Restaurante Florida Center (Maestra Nicolasa #56, e/ Colón y Maceo, tel. 042/20-8161, angel.floridacenter@yahoo.com) serve a divine ropa vieja, sublime lobster with prawns in a zesty tomato sauce, and huge seafood platters on the candlelit patio of this casa particular.
The state’s elegant Restaurante 1878 (Máximo Gómez, e/ Independencia y Abreu, tel. 042/20-2428, daily noon-4pm and 7pm-11pm), in a colonial mansion, serves criolla fare. Even more elegant is Restaurante Santa Rosalia (Máximo Gómez, e/ Independencia y Abreu, tel. 042/20-1439, daily 11am-11pm). It serves the likes of chickpea soup (CUC3.40) and roasted veal with olives (CUC5), and a house dish of beef with onion (CUC6.40). It hosts fashion shows Wednesday and Thurday nights, and has a cabaret on Fridays and Saturdays.
The Bulevar has several snack bars facing Plaza de las Arcadas, including Café Europa (tel. 042/21-6350, daily 9am-1:30am). It’s a hangout for tourists, not least for its draft Cristal beer.
For Chinese, head to the clean, air-conditioned Dichin (9 Abril, esq. 1ra, tel. 042/20-1375, daily 10am-10pm). A stone’s throw away, peso food stalls surround the mercado agropecuario (1ra, e/ Morales y General Roloff, Mon.-Sat. 8am-5pm, Sun. 8am-noon), which sells fresh produce.
Bakeries include Panadería Doña Neli (Maceo Sur, esq. Av. 9 de Abril, 6:30am-6pm), selling in CUC. Café Colao (Calle Céspedes e/ Maceo y Placido) is a tiny private coffee shop serving cappuccinos, iced coffees, mochas, and the like. Nice!
Coppelia (Calle Colón, esq. Mujica, tel. 0422/20-6426, Wed.-Fri. noon-10pm, Sat. 10am-4:30pm, and Sun. 10am-4:30pm and 5pm-11:30pm), one block south of the main square, sells ice cream for pesos. Dulce Crema Sodería (Independencia, esq. Luis Estéves, daily 11am-11pm) charges in CUC.
Infotur (Cuba e/ Machado y Maestro Nicolás, tel. 042/20-1352, director@infotur.vcl.tur.cu) offers tourist information and assistance.
The post office (tel. 042/20-3862, Mon.-Fri. 9am-6pm, Sat. 8:30am-noon) is at Colón #10 (e/ Parque Vidal y Machado). DHL (Cuba #7, e/ Tristá y San Cristóbal, tel. 042/21-4069) is one block west.
Etecsa (Marta Abreu, esq. Villuendas, daily 8am-7:30pm) has international telephone and Internet service.
Bandec (Marta Abreu y Luis Estéves, and Máximo Gómez y Rafael Tristá) and Banco Financiero Internacional (Cuba #6, e/ Triste y Machado) have branches on Parque Vidal. You can change foreign currency at Cadeca (Máximo Gómez, esq. Rafael Tristá, Mon.-Sat. 8:30am-8pm, Sun. 9am-6pm).
Eye issues? Go to Opticas Miramar (Colón e/ Maestro Nicolás y 9 Abril, Mon.-Fri. 9am-4:30pm and Sat. 9am-noon).
The Bufete Internacional (Luis Estévez #119, e/ San Miguel y 9 de Abril, tel. 0422/20-8458) and Consultoría Jurídica Internacional (Trista #5, e/ Villuendas y Cuba, tel./fax 042/21-8114) offer legal assistance.
Flights arrive at Aeropuerto Internacional Abel Santamaría (tel. 042/21-4402), 10 kilometers northeast of the city.
The Terminal de Ómnibus Nacionales (Av. Cincuentenario, Independencia y Oquendo, tel. 042/29-2214) is on the Carretera Central, 2.5 kilometers west of the city center. Víazul (tel. 042/22-2523, www.viazul.com) buses between Havana and Santiago stop in Santa Clara.
Most trains traveling between Havana and Santiago de Cuba stop in Santa Clara. The Estación de Ferrocarriles (tel. 042/20-0893) is at the northern end of Luis Estévez, seven blocks from Parque Vidal. Seats on the regular are sold up to 24 hours in advance; seats on the especial can be bought only one hour in advance of departure.
The local train ticket office is 50 meters south of the national train office. Local trains run to Cienfuegos Sunday-Friday at 5:30pm and to Morón every second day at 5:30am.
Local buses depart the Terminal de Ómnibus Intermunicipal (Marta Abreu, tel. 042/20-3470), 10 blocks west of Parque Vidal. Bus #11 runs between Parque Vidal and Hotel Los Caneyes.
Cubataxi (tel. 0422/22-2691) taxis can be hailed from hotels.
You can rent cars from Cubacar (tel. 042/20-9118) and Rex (tel. 042/22-2244, irl@rexz.com). Palmares (tel. 042/22-7595) rents scooters for CUC24 one day, CUC126 weekly. All three offices are at Marta Abreu #130.
There are gas stations on the Carretera Central at the corner of General Roloff and two blocks north at Carretera Central and the corner of Avenida 9 de Abril.
Tour agencies include Cubanacán (Colón, e/ Candelaria y San Cristóbal, tel. 042/20-5189), Cubatur (Marta Abreu #10, e/ Máximo Gómez y Villuendas, tel. 042/20-8980, cubaturvc@enet.cu), and Havanatur (Máximo Gómez #13, e/ Independencia y Barreras, tel. 042/20-4001).
The Alturas de Santa Clara rise south and east of the city and merge into the Sierra Escambray. The valleys are pocked with timeworn villages and quilted by tobacco fields.
The Autopista and Carretera Central pass through the region. One of the most scenic drives in Cuba is Route 4-474 south from Santa Clara to Manicaragua and Topes de Collantes.
This huge (32-square-kilometer) artificial lake beautifies the northern foothills of the Escambray, below a backdrop of pine-studded mountains. It is stocked with trout and bass. The Hotel Hanabanilla (tel. 042/20-8461) offers fishing trips (CUC25 pp), guided hikes (CUC5), and excursions to El Nicho (CUC12) and the Casa del Campesino (CUC3), a small working farm where you can get a taste for the campesino lifestyle.
Islazul’s Soviet-style Hotel Hanabanilla (tel. 042/20-8461, recepcion@hanabanilla.co.cu, CUC19 s, CUC30 d low season including breakfast, CUC24 s, CUC38 d all-inclusive), perched on the lake’s western shore, offers great views. The 125 air-conditioned rooms are pleasantly furnished and have modern bathrooms, plus French doors opening to balconies. It has Internet.
The turnoff for Embalse Hanabanilla is midway between Cumanayagua and Manicuragua, on Route 4-206, at La Macagua, just west of Ciro Redondo.
There is little to recommend along the coast northwest of Santa Clara. The Circuito Norte (Route 4-13) parallels the shore.
Encrucijada, 25 kilometers due north of Santa Clara, was the birthplace of revolutionary heroes Abel Santamaría and Jesús Menéndez. Their houses are now museums. East of Encrucijada, Route 4-13 runs through San Antonio de las Vueltas, a sleepy town that wakes up for a parranda, usually held in late January or early February. The highway then merges with Route 4-321, which runs west to Santa Clara and east to Caibarién.
Beach-fringed cays lie scattered offshore. The cays’ landward shores are fringed by mangroves—havens for herons, flamingos, roseate spoonbills, and other stilt-legged waders, as well as manatees, while marine turtles come ashore to lay eggs. The Área Protegida Las Picuas-Cayo del Cristo (tel. 042/69-0141) has no facilities for tourists (not even tours), although flamingos can sometimes be seen in lagoons by the office in the fishing community of Carahatas, 14 kilometers north of the Circuito Norte. It has a small jutía breeding facility.
Islazul’s now-all-inclusive Hotel Elguea & Spa (tel. 042/68-6298, carpeta@elguea.vcl.tur.cu, CUC27 s, CUC50 d year-round), about five kilometers northwest of Corralillo and 135 kilometers northwest of Santa Clara, is promoted as a spa resort and is supplied by hypothermal springs (up to 50°C). It has swimming pools, a marching tank, mud baths, gym, solarium, massage rooms, and more. It has 49 simply furnished air-conditioned rooms with satellite TVs and modern bathrooms. One room serves travelers with disabilities. The restaurant is the only eatery for miles.
East of Santa Clara, the Carretera Central and Route 4-321 run through the Vuelta Arriba region, one of Cuba’s premier tobacco-growing regions. The scenery is marvelous as you pass fields tilled by ox-drawn plows and stir up the dust in small agricultural towns lent a Wild West feel by horses tethered to sagging arcades.
The district is unique for parrandas, festivals in which rockets whiz through the streets and hand-held fireworks and “mortars” explode as the townsfolk of each community divide into two historic camps and vie to see who can produce the best parade float and the loudest din. In all, 14 local communities hold parrandas, most notably Camajuani (March), Placetas, Remedios (late December), Zulueta, and San Antonio de las Vueltas (January or February).
This time-warp town (pop. 18,000), 45 kilometers northeast of Santa Clara, is full of colonial charm. The entire city is a national monument. The historic core has been restored with funding and expertise from the World Monument Fund (www.wmf.org).
Remedios was founded in 1514 when a land grant was given to conquistador Vasco Porcallo de Figueroa. A city hall wasn’t built, however, and supposedly for that reason the town was never acknowledged as one of the first seven cities. It was originally situated closer to the shore. In 1544, it was moved a short distance inland to escape pirates. The town continued to come under constant attack, and in 1578, the townsfolk uprooted again and founded a new settlement. In 1682, a group of citizens uprooted and founded Santa Clara, which in time grew to become the provincial capital. Apparently, in 1691 the clique returned to Remedios, determined to raze it to the ground. They were rebuffed in a pitched battle.
The town’s main square is shaded by tall royal palms, beneath which you can sit on marble and wrought-iron benches. Dominating the square is the venerable Parroquia de San Juan Batista (Camilo Cienfuegos #20, Mon.-Sat. 9am-11am), dating from 1692. Its pious exterior belies the splendor within, not least a carved cedar altar that glimmers with 24-carat gold leaf, and its Moorish-style ceiling of carved mahogany is gabled and fluted. The church was badly damaged by an earthquake in 1939 and restored over the ensuing 15 years at the behest of a local benefactor, who also donated European paintings.
the altar in Parroquia de San Juan Bautista
Museo de la Música Alejandro García Caturla (Camilo Cienfuegos #5, tel. 042/39-6851, Tues.-Sat. 9am-noon and 1pm-5pm, Sun. 9am-noon, CUC1 entrance, CUC5 camera), on the north side, honors one of Cuba’s foremost avant-garde composers. The house features period furniture and Caturla’s original manuscripts. The musical prodigy began writing music in 1920, when he was only 14. The iconoclastic composer was an incorruptible lawyer who rose to become judge for the city. He was assassinated in 1940.
On the park’s northwest corner stands the Iglesia Buen Viaje (Alejandro del Río #66), a prim little church with a three-tiered bell-tower with a life-size figure of the Virgin Mary and Jesus in the “dove-hole.” It is fronted by a marble statue of Cuba’s indigenous maiden of liberty.
One block west of the plaza, the Museo de las Parrandas (Calle Máximo Gómez #71, tel. 042/39-5677, dmcre@cenit.cult.cu, Tues.-Sat. 9am-noon and 1pm-6pm, Sun. 9am-1pm, CUC1 entrance, CUC1 cameras) celebrates the festivals unique to the region. Given the ostentation of the actual parrandas, the museum is anticlimactic.
If possible time your visit for Christmas week for the annual parranda, which culminates on December 24. The wild and racket-filled event is a dangerous business, as rockets whiz into the crowd and every year several people are injured. Don’t wear flammable nylon clothing. Be sure to check out the midnight mass in the cathedral. Next day the streets are littered with spent drunks and fireworks. On December 26 those citizens who have recovered celebrate the city’s “liberation” by Che Guevara’s rebel army.
There’s a good reason that El Louvre (tel. 042/39-5639, daily 8am-2am), on the plaza’s south side, gets packed: It serves draft Cristal beer. Next door, Las Leyendas (tel. 042/39-6131, daily 8am-2am) hosts a cabaret espectáculo (Fri.-Sun. at 10pm, CUC1).
Traditional music and dance is performed at the Casa de la Cultura (Gómez, esq. José de Pena, tel. 042/39-5581, Tues.-Sun. 9am-11pm), one block east of the main square.
The Teatro Rubén Martínez (Cienfuegos #30, tel. 042/39-5364, Mon.-Fri. 8am-noon and 1pm-5pm, Sat. 8am-noon), built in the late 19th century with a triple-tiered horseshoe-shaped auditorium, hosts classical and other performances.
Dozens of homes are licensed as casas particulares.
For colonial ambience, check into S Casona Cueto (Alejandro del Río #72, e/ Enrique Malaret, tel. 042/39-5350, luisenrique@capiro.vcl.sld.cu, CUC20-25), a delightful 18th-century home full of antiques. The owners rent five air-conditioned rooms with fans and modern bathrooms. One is a loft bedroom reached via a spiral church pulpit staircase. Two more are in a cottage in the courtyard with caged birds and a landscaped rooftop terrace.
S Hostal El Chalet (Brigadier González #29, tel. 042/39-6538 or 5809-7315, toeva@capiro.ucl.sld.cu, CUC15-25), two blocks south of the plaza, has two rooms in a well-furnished 1950s-style home with a gracious lounge. One room (with an independent entrance) is reached via spiral stairs and has its own sunny lounge and patio, fridge, spacious cross-lit bedroom, and modern bathroom. The second (entered via the house) has fans. There’s a rooftop patio for sunbathing. Parking is secure.
Cubanacán’s Hotel E Mascotte (Calle Máximo Gómez, tel. 042/39-5341, reservas@mascotte.vcl.tur.cu, CUC60 s/d year-round including breakfast) is an upgraded 19th-century hotel. It has 14 pleasantly furnished air-conditioned rooms with satellite TV. The bathrooms have marble. A plaque on the outside wall records that here on February 1, 1899, Máximo Gómez met with Robert P. Porter, the special commissioner of U.S. President William McKinley, to negotiate the Mambí fighters’ discharge at the end of the Spanish-Cuban-American War.
New in 2012, the boutique S Hotel E Barcelona (Calle José Peña #67, e/ La Pastora y Antonio Maceo, tel. 042/39-5144, www.hotelescubanacan.com, from CUC35 s, CUC50 d), on the southeast corner of Plaza Martí, offers a lovely ambience behind an original colonial facade. Exposed brick walls add to the charm of its lounge with leather sofas and board games. It has 24 rooms, including five junior suites, around a three-story atrium with creeping ivy. Most rooms are interiors with one tiny window, but they have gracious furnishings and bathrooms.
El Louvre (south side of the plaza, tel. 042/39-5639, daily 7:30am-midnight) serves omelets, sandwiches, and burgers.
The Restaurante La Arcada (daily noon-3pm and 7pm-10pm), in the Hotel E Mascotte (Calle Máximo Gómez, tel. 042/39-5341), has spiced up its menu with beef carpaccio (CUC7) and such entrées as pork mignon with creole sauce (CUC8) and grilled fish with parsley, lemon, and butter sauce (CUC8.50).
Car buffs might enjoy the auto-themed decor at the clean, airy, modern 24-hour Driver’s Bar, serving criolla and international dishes.
A delightful rustic alternative is Restaurante El Curujey (Calle José A. Peña 61, daily 10am-5pm), one kilometer east of town. Dishes include a fried banana with beef hash appetizer (CUC2), and rabbit in red wine sauce (CUC19). This rustic and amateurish re-creation of a peasant farmstead has horseback rides, a mini-zoo, and a cow-milking demo.
Beat the heat with ice cream at Cremería América (Jesús Crespo, esq. Andres del Río, no tel., daily 9am-9:45pm), to the northwest side of the plaza.
There’s an Infotur office (tel. 042/39-7227, Mon.-Fri. 8:30am-noon and 1pm-5pm) at the corner of Calle Margalis and Brigadier González.
The bus station (tel. 042/39-5185) is on the road to Santa Clara.
Cubacar (tel. 042/39-5555) has a car rental office at the Oro Negro gas station on the north side of town.
Cubanacán in Santa Clara has excursions to the parranda (CUC25).
This sprawling down-at-the-heels coastal town (pop. 39,000), eight kilometers east of Remedios, has some intriguing, albeit much-deteriorated, colonial structures. There’s a 19th-century trocha (fort) at the southern entrance to town, where a huge stone crab raises its claws defiantly in the road divide.
The main street—Máximo Gómez—leads to Parque de la Libertad, surrounded by period edifices and with a bandstand at its heart (impressive band performances are given free on Thursday at 3pm and Sunday at 10:30am). On its east side, the Museo María Escobar Laredo (no. tel., Mon.-Fri. 8am-5pm, CUC1), upstairs next to the Havanatur office, has simple exhibits relating to local geology and history. It’s named for a local heroine of the independence wars. Most impressive is the old linotype print shop—La Imprenta Villagraf—on the park’s northeast corner.
Avenida 5, one block west of Máximo Gómez, is a broad boulevard pinned by the Monumento José Martí. On the east side of town, a palm-lined shorefront Malecón leads east to a funky fishing fleet.
Interested in community projects? Check out the bayside Proyecto de Arte por la Costa (Calle 39 esq. Malecón); crude artworks are made from recycled garbage. Inland one block, you can buy intriguing art at the Estudio Galería Noa, in the quaint clapboard home of artist and project leader Madelin Pérez Noa.
Caibarién has a year-end parranda.
The defunct Central Marcelo Salado sugar-processing factory, at La Reforma, three kilometers west of town, is today the Museo de Agroindustria Azucarera (tel. 042/36-3586, Mon.-Fri. 9am-4:30pm, CUC3). It does a great job. First up is an informative video (an English version is offered) on the history of sugar production in Cuba. Then you tour the old mills (molinos), with fascinating exhibits. Twenty-one antique locomotives are on display (the oldest dates from 1904). You can hop aboard a steam train for an excursion from the museum to Remedios (CUC10).
Three blocks from the bayfront, Pensión Villa Virginia (Casa #73, Ciudad Pesquera, tel. 042/36-3303, virginiaspension@aol.com, CUC20-25) is a tremendous casa particular in a prefab home in a quiet residential area on the east side of town. Take your pick of three nicely furnished rooms. Virginia offers free Internet and serves meals in a shaded garden patio.
Islazul runs the 17-room Hotel Brisas del Mar (Rept. Mar Azul, tel. 042/35-4699, recepcion@brisas.co.cu, CUC20 s, CUC25 d year-round), at the tip of a breeze-swept peninsula at the east side of town. The rates are a bargain for this simple, yet charming modern option with a swimming pool.
Caibarién is a culinary desert. Your best bet is Dino’s Pizza (Av. 9, esq. Calle 10), on the southeast corner of the plaza.
Banks include Banco Financiero Internacional (Av. 7, esq. Calle 6, Mon.-Fri. 8am-3:30pm, Sat. 8am-1pm). Etecsa (Av. 11, esq. Calle 10, tel. 042/36-3131, 8:30am-7:30pm), one block east of the plaza, has Internet and international phone service.
About five kilometers east of Caibarién, a 50-kilometer-long causeway departs the coast road—you need your passport for a toll booth checkpoint (CUC2 each way)—and leaps from cay to cay, ending at Cayo Las Brujas and Cayo Santa María, 45 kilometers from the mainland. Miles of beaches run along its north shore, shelving into turquoise waters with a coral reef beyond. The cay is in the midst of major development that calls for 10,000 hotel rooms. Most of the beaches front hotels; day visitors can buy a day pass (CUC20).
beach on Cayo Santa María
Beyond the hotel zone, you can drive a dirt road to reach Reserva Cayo Santa María, a nature reserve with a trail. The easternmost part of the cay is a military zone with a lighthouse (faro) that’s off-limits.
The impressive Acuario-Delfinario (tel. 042/35-0013, CUC3 adults, CUC2 kids entrance), with six large dolphin pools, offers twice-daily shows (10am and 3pm, CUC5 adults, CUC3 children) plus a swim “interaction” with dolphins (10am and 3pm, CUC75 adults, CUC40 children 7-12). It includes an aquarium, sea lions, and a lobster breeding farm (to feed all the hungry hotel guests). It has a bar and restaurant specializing in lobster.
training dolphins at Acuario-Delfinario
Marina Gaviota (tel. 042/35-0013, comercial@marina.lasbrujas.co.cu, daily 9am-5pm), adjoining Villa Las Brujas, offers a one-hour visit to dolphin training tanks, including snorkeling (CUC35); excursions by catamaran (CUC42 half day, CUC72 full day, CUC57 sunset cruise with dinner); and fishing for tarpon (CUC260/350 half/full day). Fishing here is top-notch. And scuba diving is spectacular (CUC45 one dive).
You can book excursions, including a speedboat trip (CUC32 including snorkeling) through Gaviotatours (tel. 042/35-0085, comercial@gaviotatoursvc.co.cu), which has tour desks in all the hotels.
All hotels are operated by Cuba’s Gaviota chain and along one single road. All but Villas Las Brujas are all-inclusive resorts, most under foreign management. More are in construction.
Villas Las Brujas (tel. 042/35-0025, reserva@villa.lasbrujas.co.cu, from CUC68 s, CUC89 d low season, CUC73 s, CUC95 d high season, including breakfast) has 24 spacious cabinas atop Punta Periquillo, on Cayo Las Brujas. Nicely appointed, each has two double beds, satellite TV, and modern bathrooms. The resort has sailcraft on the beach. The Restaurante El Farallón (daily 7am-10am, noon-3pm, and 7pm-10pm) overlooks the beach but the food wins no prizes.
Sol Cayo Santa María (tel. 042/35-1500, www.meliacuba.com) is a deluxe 300-room all-inclusive property run by the Spanish Sol Meliá chain. Its cabinas, done up in Meliá’s lively trademark pastels, are built on piles and separated by small bridges. It has heaps of facilities, including tennis and a kids’ club. The hotel has a deluxe extension, the two-bedroom Villa Zaida del Río, with its own swimming pool and gardens.
S Meliá Cayo Santa María (tel. 042/35-0200, fax 042/35-0550, www.meliacuba.com) has 360 beautifully decorated rooms and a classy elegance to the public areas, which include three swimming pools. It offers all the water sports you could wish for. The near-identical 925-room Meliá Las Dunas (tel. 042/35-0100, www.meliacuba.com) is an alternative.
Like company? The mammoth four-star Husa Cayo Santa María (tel. 042/35-0400, www.husa.es/en), with 1,308 rooms in beach and “colonial” sections, guarantees you’ll never be lonely. With 21 restaurants, 28 bars, and a mega-spa, it’s managed by Spain’s Husa hotel group.
For top-of-the-line luxe, check into the gorgeous Iberostar Ensenachos (Cayo Ensenachos, tel. 042/350-301, www.iberostar.com), an all-inclusive with three separate sections in English-colonial style, with marble floors throughout. It has 400 rooms, including 10 bungalows, 50 honeymoon rooms, and 10 suites, most a considerable distance from the beach. Every room comes with concierge service. The “Royal Suites” are three kilometers away—a resort within a resort. Kids will love this hotel for its water theme park.
For more intimacy, your best bets are the sumptuous all-suite Meliá Buenavista (tel. 042/35-0700, www.meliacuba.com), with 104 junior suites and suites and a chic contemporary aesthetic, and the similarly hip, adults-only Royalton Santa María (tel. 042/35-0900, www.royaltonresorts.com), with just 122 junior suites and suites. The Royalton opened in December 2012 and offers butler service.
The 769-room Hotel Playa Cayo Santa María (tel. 042/35-0800, jefe.ventas@playacayosantamaria.com) lacks foreign management (the Sirenis group pulled out of Cuba just as the hotel was about to open in 2011). Hence, expect lesser service for lower room rates.
The 720-room Memories Paraíso Beach Resort and adjoining Memories Azul Beach Resort (tel. 042/35-0600, www.memoriesresorts.com) offers yet more options on a theme.
Pueblo La Estrella (tel. 042/35-0400), between the Husa Cayo Santa María and the Memories Paraíso Beach Resort, has more than one dozen restaurants (including Italian and Japanese), a jazz bar and piano bar, a disco (11pm-3am, CUC5 including one drink), and a small gym.
The Pueblo Las Dunas (tel. 042/35-0205), between Meliá Cayo Santa María and Meliá Las Dunas, also has restaurants, plus a bowling alley and nightclub.
The police and immigration and a Clínica Internacional (tel. 042/35-0310, director@clinicacsm.co.cu, daily 24 hours) are on the south side of the highway, opposite the Hotel Playa Cayo Santa María.
In early 2010, AeroGaviota was the only airline serving the airport on Cayo Las Brujas.
Gaviota operates a Panoramic Bus Tour (daily 8am-5pm, CUC1) aboard an open-top double-decker bus. It runs the length of the cays, with stops at all the hotels, the aquarium, and Puebla Las Dunas and Pueblo La Estrella.
Taxis are available 24/7 (CUC3-5 between any points on the cays; about CUC35 to Caibarién).
There’s a gas station adjacent to the airport, where Vía Rent-a-Car (tel. 042/39-5398) has an office. Scooters can be rented at most hotels.