LIVE24SEVEN // Travel


Make your next stop Cayo Santa Maria


With all the charm of Cuban culture and only 90-minutes away from the hustle and bustle of the mainland, Cayo Santa Maria is the place to go.


Drive across the 30-mile causeway that separates Cayo Santa Maria from the Cuban mainland and you enter a region of this island nation unlike any other. It still boasts all the cultural symbols that make Cuba so special: the 1950s American cars, the Spanish colonial architecture, the Latin music, the rum cocktails, and of course the white sandy beaches, but, because it’s separated from the main island, it has a certain individuality and charm you won’t find elsewhere.


Just ten miles long and 1.2 miles wide, Cayo Santa Maria lies off the middle of the northern coast of Cuba, forming part of the Jardines del Rey archipelago. Historically the island had always been uninhabited, visited only by local fishermen and, before that, pirates. Then in 1989 construction began on the causeway, finishing ten years later when the first hotel opened and the tourism development started. Today there are over a dozen hotels in all – some ideal for families, others reserved for adults. By the end of 2018 there will be close to 10,000 rooms available.


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It’s along the northern coast that the majority of the hotels, as well as the eight miles of sandy beaches are located, while on the southern coast you’ll find a wilder area of undeveloped forests, salt marshes and mangrove swamps.


As with much of the Caribbean, the majority of visitors come for the beaches. Among all the water sports you’d expect from this part of the world, there’s superb scuba diving and snorkelling. Boat trips will allow you to explore coral reefs, shipwrecks and caves along the shoreline. The underwater wildlife here is so exceptional that UNESCO has designated the area a marine nature reserve.


Away from the beaches there are plenty of attractions, too. The focal point of the island is a central square, or pueblo, with souvenir shops, a bank, a nightclub, a bowling alley and, perhaps rather surprisingly, a Japanese restaurant. Linking this pueblo to all the hotels on the island is a convenient bus service.


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