Activities & Sports  Being a beach resort, Varadero specializes in water sports. Absolutely everything is available here: sailing, kayaking, windsurfing, yachting, water skiing, jet skiing... you name it, Varadero has it. You can even go high-sea fishing or go horseback riding.
With 25 dive sites, Varadero is sure to please diving and snorkeling fanatics. One great site is the Cayo Piedra Underwater Park, located to the northeast, it features several shipwrecks where schools of colourful, tropical fish and crustaceans gather.
El Varadero Golf Club is a magnificent 18-hole course on the peninsula, marked by an intricate system of lagoons.
For those with a taste for the extreme, you can go parachuting at the Varadero International Parachute Center.
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Archaeology Ambrosio Cave
It was used as a ceremonial spot by the area's primitive inhabitants and later by runaway slaves. Here you can view about 70 well preserved pictographs.
Other archaeological caves include the Musulmanes Caves used as dwellings, the Calero Funeral Cave, the Santa Catalina Cave and the Bellamar Caves (see the Specialties & Characteristics section) |
Attractions & Sights  The Varadero Municipal Museum displays archaeological artefacts and objects related to Cuban sports. The house dates back to the 1920s and is filled with old furniture. The Centre Plaza America is a well appointed international convention centre that incorporates shopping malls, restaurants and amusement centres. The Santa Elvira Church dates back to 1938 and is known for it peculiar structure consisting of stones and wood. Josone's Oasis, near the beach, has typical tropical vegetation in its gardens and groves, as well as lagoons.
Cardenas
Across the bay from Varadero is Cardenas, where the Cuban flag was first flown. The town's story is told through its architecture and museums. Make a stop at Jose Antonio Echevarria's birthplace and the Polyvalent Museum. It is noted for three unusual monuments: replicas of a bicycle, a horse-drawn carriage and a crab cast in concrete that represents the abundant crustaceans in the area.
Matanzas City
The Vigia Square has the Junco Palace Historical Museum, the 19th century Sauto Theatre and an exhibition of ancient fire-fighting equipment in the former military headquarters. Visit the Le Triolet French pharmacy, built in 1882, is still stocked with ancient drugs, utensils and porcelain medicine flasks, all preserved under glass on the store's original shelves of hand-finished Cuban wood. At the mouth of the river you will find El Morrillo where the bodies of two revolutionaries rest in a mausoleum. The castle also has an archaeological museum from where you can see the Canimar woods.
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Nightlife La Casa de la Cultura presents all sorts of cultural events like poetry readings, folk groups, troubadors concerts, Rumba nights and Afro-Cuban ritual dances.
Varadero's plentiful Cabarets feature Cuban and international drinks and rhythms. Resorts, theatres and the Amphitheatre host variety shows.
This city has a count of nearly 100 clubs and discotheques for you to dance the night away. |
Side Trips  Havana
Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, Old Havana is a colonial marvel unlike any other in the world. Visit the La Real Fuerza Castle, Arms Square, Obispo Street, Cathedral Square and other points of note. Walk in Hemingway's footsteps by visiting his haunts such as the fishing village of Cojimar; his former home and Finca Vigia, which is now the Hemingway Museum. Finally you can enjoy a cabaret show at the famous Tropicana.
Pinar del Rio
The world's finest tobacco grows here in the spectacular Vinales Valley. You can visit the provincial capital and then go to a tobacco farm, the Indian Cave and the Archaeological Mural. This region counts two biosphere reserves recognized by UNESCO: the Sierra del Rosario and the Guanahacabibes Peninsula. Bathe in the mineral and medicinal hot springs of San Diego de los Banos spa, admire the unique cork palm and discover the waterfalls in Soroa that are surrounded by an orchid garden with 700 species. Make sure to buy a bottle of the Guayabia del Pinar liqueur, made exclusively in this region.
Guama
In the heart of the Zapata Peninsula, Guama resort is home to a reconstructed Indian village on Treasure Lake. Life-sized sculptures of Taino Indians tell their story, while a nearby crocodile breeding farm lets you get up close and personal with those unique reptiles. This excursion combines past and present. At the Bay of Pigs, a museum displays mementos of the unsuccessful mercenary invasion there. If you would like to go for a swim, head to Playa Giron or Playa Larga, the other beach on the Bay of Pigs.
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