Off the beaten-path. There’s more than one way to see the different sides of Cuba. Why not take part in an off-road adventure tour?Cuban Tourism Ministry
Some people come to Cuba for the sun, white sand beaches and pristine waters. Others come for the culture, history and the incredible welcome from the Cuban people.
And some savvy visitors arrive for nature, from shark encounters to exotic bird watching. Because one of the unsung attractions of Cuba is the rich biodiversity and the beauty of their national parks and marine preserves – it extends out into the water and far inland from those perfect sandy water’s edge.
Cuba has more than 4,000 islands all intertwined with coral reefs which offer few strong currents, good visibility and good depths up to 40 metres, with historic wreck diving, cenotes or caves, wall dives and, of course, swim-throughs and canyons of coral full of marine life in every shape, colour and size.
The reefs are nationally protected marine reserves and so are the creatures which inhabit them.
Let’s travel some 450 kilometres east of Havana to Cayo Coco, in the Jardines del Rey – King’s Gardens – part of an archipelago along the north shore.
The remarkable reef there runs about 200 kilometres out and other destinations along the archipelago include Cayo Guillermo, Cayo Romano, Cayo Guajaba, Cayo Santa Maria, Cayo Cruz and Cayo Sabinal all of which offer a little something for everyone, from nightlight to beaches to luxurious resorts.
Look under and look above.
Cayo Coco offers 360 degrees of natural wonders.
For those happy to stand on solid ground, birdwatching with a local guide is a must. Cuba has around 370 fine feathered exotic species, some very rare and some endangered.
What you’ll spot depends on the season and where you are.
But for many experienced birdwatchers, Cayo Coco is considered a prime location. Especially if you’ve ever dreamed, even as a child, of standing next to one of the largest colonies of pink flamingos in the world.
The sight and sound of these birds are something no brochure, or even tourism video, can ever really capture. It’s vibrant magic. And only scratches the surface of birdwatching.
It’s where many of the resorts were originally built so it’s very accessible.
— Canadian tour operator Norbert Pietkiewicz on the ease of getting to Cayo Coco.
One of the best locations is right across the causeway on the mainland at the Caguanes National Park, full of ancient mangroves and marsh areas. In the Tres Dolinas cave, you’ll find mariposa bats and murals in other locations left by ancient cave dwellers.
These are sides to Cuba many tourists don’t know exist.
They’re hidden worlds – and history - that are just beyond the famous beaches most people flock to Cuba in search of.
Between heaven and earth. There are few things better than being under the Cuban sun. Though it always helps if you’re sailing along with locals and some great fellow travelers.CUBAN TOURISM MINISTRY
Other options for day trips include swimming with dolphins, rock wall climbing, board surfing, and wind and kite surfing. Maybe a day at the Acuavida Spa Talaso or Acuavida Spa or the Heiwa Spa. There’s a minivan shuttle and you’ll enjoy three hours of complete relaxation, massages, heated pools and steam baths.
A spa is a great way to end a long hike over land or morning spend below the surface.
For divers, however, Cuba presents a veritable smorgasbord of choices.
Cayo Coco alone offers some 30 dive sites along 32 kilometres of coastline, ranging from easy snorkel depth at five metres down to beyond recreational diving capacity at 40 metres deep. It’s perfect for novice divers or those who want to get more beach time in or someone travelling with non-divers.
“It’s where many of the resorts were originally built so it’s very accessible,” says
Toronto-area tour operator Norbert Pietkiewicz, who runs about 15 trips a year to Cuba and has been going there for more than a decade. However, many divers now come for the shark encounters which are now a bucket list item. Once you’ve been mask to snout with a three-metre long Caribbean reef shark – one of the more docile species - you see the majesty of nature’s greatest predator in a wholly different way.
They are magnificent creatures, sleek, graceful and curious and the waters of many popular dive sites off Cuba’s coastlines are teeming with them.
For shark encounters on the north coast, Mr. Pietkiewicz says, head east past the resorts around Cayo Coco where Santa Lucia is a popular spot.
“There are shipwrecks and they feed the bull sharks there,” he says.
After a morning of epic birdwatching around Cayo Coco, you may also decide to take flight. There are lots of options of outdoor activities, even above the waves.Cuban Tourism Ministry
For more advanced and adventurous divers, the south coast and western and eastern tips are fantastic.
“It can be a quite a few degrees warmer on the south coast depending on the time of year because the mountains shelter it from the Atlantic to the north and the water there is the Caribbean Sea which is much warmer too,” Mr. Pietkiewicz says.
When it comes to the hidden jewels of scuba spots, however, he says, his first choice is Marea del Portillo on the south-west tip of Cuba, set in the Sierra Maestra National Park.
“The hotel is set in the valley overlooking the Caribbean - it’s beautiful,” he says. “And it’s very quiet. Mostly it’s long-term residents who are retired and it’s a lovely community. The beaches are volcanic sand rather than the white sand of the north and are no spring breakers or anything like that. It’s not known really for diving, so it’s a secret, but there are some great dives.”
Dives leave from the dock and there are also historical shipwrecks such as the Cristóbal Colón, an armoured cruiser which sank in 1898. It sits 45 kilometers west of Santiago de Cuba and nature is turning it into a massive reef.
While there is rental gear available, Mr. Pietkiewicz recommends bringing your own equipment.
Harder to get to but worth the effort is the Canarreos Archipelago, pretty much due south from Havana. It consists of about 350 cays, the largest of which is Isla de la Juventud - also known as the Isle of Youth or Treasure Island, made famous by Robert Louis Stevenson who focused his seminal work there,
They are sparsely populated and the perfect escape from life’s normal hectic pace
Like Cayo Coco, they prove the adage that to really experience Cuba, sometimes you have to look beyond the beach and just go deeper..
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