cuba
Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean Sea. It is located between Florida, USA and the Dominican Republic. Cuba is almost in a "swimming" distance from the Florida Keys (just over 100 km). Cuba is a popular place for inexpensive all-inclusive beach vacations with beautiful white powder beaches. Varadero, the oldest resort area is a former dry dock and a salt mining area. It became a vacation spot after people started building vacation houses in the late 1800's. It grew into a resort town and, after the revolution in 1959 Varadero was first to be used for tourist income. Initially, the pre-revolutionary hotels were opened, but the government struggled to maintain them with the limited resources. The island of Liberty had to open doors to foreign investors. Large resort chain companies started further development and many 4 and 5-star resorts were built in the 1990's. Now the entire peninsula is developed. Hotels vary in quality, to a degree, where star assignment for older hotels can be a bit inaccurate. Some newer hotels offer separate higher class areas which are very good deals in terms of inexpensive luxury. The main natural attraction of the area is nearly continuous white powdery beach stretching over 20 kilometres. The beach is similar to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, in terms of sand quality. The seas are mostly calm and the water is turquoise-clear. It is hard to beat in terms of what you get for the money, provided you pick right resort. Another advantage is that Cuba is heavily reliant on tourism and they value visitors. There is very low crime and no annoying beach vendors. Everything is either government operated or controlled. You are safe and there is a sense of law and order, unlike some other places in the Caribbean. You still need to exercise general common sense and caution though, especially in Havana, as the country is poor and petty crime still exist. Varadero is in a driving distance from Havana. It is a very interesting day trip to the capital if you stay ata resort in Varadero. So, if you have not been to Havana and would like to visit Cuba, Varadero is probably the best choice. Cuba stands out from all other places in the Caribbean and pretty much all of Americas as it is a living socialistic country. However, unlike other socialistic regimes, Cuba is very friendly to the outside visitors. Tourism saved Cuba in the embargo situation.
.
- Beach vacation is the main reason to come to Cuba. he resorts provide continuous schedules of organized activities during daytime and entertainment shows after dinner. Some resorts also have a disco. In addition to regular relaxation "activities" at the resort and on the beach, there are non-motorized water sports, such as pedal boats, catamarans and wind surfing. We also saw sky diving and horse riding, which are probably offered by external providers.
-
Havana sightseeing can be done as either a short stay or a day trip from Varadero. You will see different sides of a city that went through its ups and downs. You will see colonial architecture, decaying building needing repairs and examples of new post-revolutionary architecture. You will also visit places where Ernest Hemingway spent time. The tour guides will not skip cigar factory store. We also visited a cemetery which appeared better maintained than some parts of the city. However, Cuban cars may impress you more than any sightseeing.
- Ride in an old car. You probably want to have a ride in an old beauty, car from the 50's. An easy way is to book a guided tour in the car, at sites like Get Your Guide.
- Old Havana, Cuba, a UNESCO World Heritage site reflects the colonial past of the country. This area is a must and is always included in organized tours. However, organized tours may take you only to one or two sites. Places worth visiting are: Plaza de la Catedral, Plaza Vieja and Plaza de Armas. Plaza de la Catedral is probably most photographed site in old Havana.
- Plaza de la Revolución is a square used for political rallies and other mass gatherings. There are several structures around the plaza. José Martí Memorial features a 109 m tower and a statue. There are also National Library, government ministries, and the Palace of the Revolution. The latter buuliding is for the Cuban government and Communist Party. Two most photographed buildings on the plaza have portraits of Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos.
- El Capitolio which was built in 1929 but architecturally looks older. It resembles the US Capitol but is a bit bigger. The building was built during the peak of Cuban prosperity and is quite elaborate. You may be able to see inside if it opens to the public after a restoration. If not, taking pictures from the outside may suffice. You can also walk the Paseo del Prado (Prado Avenue) which stretches from El Capitolio. Paseo del Prado is the most scenic boulevard in Cuba.
- Colon Cemetery is quite unusual cemetery if you are not from a Spanish speaking country. The cemetery appeared to be much better maintained than the city. It is an architectural wonder, with elaborate marble tombs. It is also a regular site for the organized tours.
- Cigar Factory will be a guaranteed stop if you are on an organized tour. However, there are several factories and some are not open to the public. You may have to do extra research for the time of your travel. We do not smoke and cannot say if prices at the factory were we were taken were lower than in other places, but we enjoyed visiting it. Cuban cigars are the apex of tobacco products in the world.
- Malecon is the waterfront of Havana. Stretching over several kilometres it is a place for a stroll. It is unlikely that you will be taken there on organized tour, but it can be a nice sunset walk if you stay in Havana overnight.
- El Morro and La Cabana Hill (Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro) is a part of the the Parque Historico Militar. El Morro is an old fort that guarded the entrance to Havana. Also, nearby is the Castillo de San Carlos de la Cabana, located on the La Cabana hill. It was used as a military prison during the Batista times and later became the headquarters for Che Guevara. Presently, there are several museums in the fort. The most interesting is the Museo de Comandancia del Che where the office of Che Guevara preserved as it was during the revolution. You may or may not be taken to the forts on an organized tour because it can take a good part of the day.
- Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes is a museum of arts. We have not visited the museum. From the descriptions, it may not be as extensive as Hermitage or Louvre, but still is worth visiting if you have an extended stay in Havana. The collection has works of Ancient Art (Egyptian and Roman) and paintings, representing several centuries of art.
- Museo Napoleonico is a quite unexpected museum in Cuba. It used to be the private collection of Julio Lobo, who was a collector. He hired people to find and purchase Napoleonic mementos. There are personal items belonging to Napoleon, including a tooth and a lock of hair. There is also Napoleon's death mask.
- Delphinarium and Cayo Blanca are local trips from Varadero. Both were worth visiting. It may be done as a single day-trip.
-
SCUBA diving in Cuba is a popular activity. Diving around Varadero and other resorts is easy and suitable for complete novices. There are no currents, dive sites are shallow and water is warm. Do not expect coral like in Raja Ampat or marine life of the Pacific, but for the Caribbean sea diving was good. Our favorite spot was a huge Russian navy ship wreck. The monster apparently was burning more diesel than the country could afford and it ended up as an underwater tourist attraction. There are many preserved large guns on the ship. We were also told that now there is an aircraft wreck, a large Russian cargo plane. We also did a shore dive at a coral garden which had decent coral and interesting swim-throughs. Check our video at the page top. Our only critique is that equipment can be old, at least we encountered some which needed replacement. Bring your own equipment if you have it.
When to go
Climate in Cuba is similar to other places in the Caribbean and Florida. It is warm all year round, but December through March gets chillier. It can get a bit cold in the pool in January-February. Summer months, May through October bring rains and risks of hurricanes. March is month of spring break in the schools. So, March - April are probably best months, March for family and April for couples/singles. You can check for more information here
There are direct flights from larger flight hubs (except US) to Havana, Varadero, and other resort areas. The airport in Havana is José Martí International Airport (HAV). It takes 10 hours from London, Madrid, or Paris. If you plan to visit several sites in Cuba we recommend to buy an all-inclusive package that includes all transfers. Moving within Cuba may be a bit complicated for tourists, especially if you do not speak Spanish. The international airport near Varadero is VRA. Most sun vacation airlines, and some regular airlines have direct flights. These are usually booked as a package as Varadero is a spot for inexpensive all-inclusive vacations. At the time of writing, US residents have restrictions to travel to Cuba, but the spot is popular among European, Canadian, and South American tourists. The flight takes about 3.5 hours from Toronto. If there is no direct flight from your city you will likely have a stop in Havana or in a hub with direct flights. If you fly to Havana, it makes sense to stay there for 2-3 days for sightseeing.
If you are flying direct or have a flight connection in Havana before getting to your resort it makes sense to spend a couple of days in Havana. For a short stay in Havana you may choose Hotel Ambos Mundos where Ernest Hemingway lived for some time. Room # 511 is a small museum now. There is also an old luxury Hotel Nacional de Cuba. Reportedly, it's guests included Churchill, the Mafia, Sinatra and Naomi Campbell. There are also decent hotels in the center of Havana. One is Saratoga. In Varadero and other resort areas our recommendation would be to target the high-class newer resorts of the international chains. Cheaper resorts may disappoint as their star ratings may not reflect the reality. Our choice would be a separated high-class section in a larger resort, like the Royal Service at Paradisus Varadero. Generally, food in Cuban resorts is not something to write home about, but we found that they made most of their effort in this part of the resort. Drinks were also of better quality. We found another advantage of that part of the resort - secluded shoreline. As the beach is rocky at that end of the resort, it was deserted. We spent every evening watching sunset with a bottle of sparking wine, with nobody else around us. The main common beach was excellent and we would go there to swim during daytime.
