CIEGO DE AVILA - Cayo Coco / Cayo Guillermo / Ciego de Avila City / Moron
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Ciego de Avila Province (Includes Cayo Coco & Cayo Guillermo)
Ciego de Avila is the flattest in province Cuba, never rising more than 50m above sea level. Most tourists are attracted by the sublime Northern coast. Officially called the Archipelago de Sabana–Camagüey, but known to all Cubans as the Jardines del Rey (King's Garden), this sea–girt wilderness of coral reefs, cays, islands and sheltered seas extends for some 470km in a great line parallel to the coast, between 10 and 18km offshore. Tourist development is progressing at a steady pace, concentrated on Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo - there is no better beach experience to be had in all Cuba.
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The otherwise uninhabited islands are mostly covered with low scrub, which forms a perfect habitat for wild pigs and iguanas and birds such as mockingbirds, nightingdales and woodpeckers. The briny lagoons are favored by pelicans, ibis, various duck species and as many as 20,000 flamingoes. Running along the northern edge of the cays are endless miles of coral reefs. Cayo Guillermo boasts Cuba's finest beach, Playa Pilar.
Although there are relatively few rivers running through the province, there is a good system of underground irrigation which makes the area fertile and productive; sugar cane and pineapple plantations make up the bulk of local crops. The province was once home to a large Indian population and there are several semi–preserved sites which are worth looking up. There are also remnants of the fortifications, built during the late 19th century, which were used to divide up the island during the War of Independence.
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Cayo Coco
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Cayo Coco is the forth island in term of size forming the Cuban archipelago; with 364 square kilometers, it is located to the Atlantic cost of Cuba, close to the Canal Viejo de Bahamas. It is linked to the main land by a stone road, 17 km long.
The visually stunning cay has 21 kilometers of superlative beaches divided into 5 sections, westwards; Playa Colorada, Playa Larga, Playa Prohibida, Playa Los Flamencos, and most importantly, Playa Palma Real (Royal Palm Beach). |
Cayo Coco, which is named for a bird - the roseate ibis, or coco, was immortalized by Ernest Hemmingway. In Islands in the Stream, his protagonist, Thomas Hudson, sets foot on the beach at Puerto Coco seeking traces of Nazi soldiers. Further inland, he discovers the lagoon where flamingos come to feed at high tide.
Cayo Coco has one of Cuba's largest flamingo colonies, concentrated between Puenta Almacigo and Punta del Perro. Every day they fly over the north end of the tombolo shortly after sunrise and again at dusk. Flamingoes are one of over 158 bird species here including the miniature hummingbird.
A 10–30 Mt. coral reef, over 10 Km long, adds more attraction to the place; the diversity and abundance of marine species make divers feel in a real aquarium.
Very few places in the world can compete with such beauty; one may find the Mega lops atlantica, the Trachinotus, as well as big snappers, meros, sharks and barracudas, adding more attractive to diving at the places "Coco Diving Center" may offer. |
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Cayo Guillermo |
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Just west of Cayo Coco is Cayo Guillermo, a much smaller coral key connected to Cayo Coco by a pedraplen, elevated over the iridescent waters. Egrets and herons pick in the shallows which are also favoured by flamingos. |
The star attraction is chalky 5km long Playa El Paso. There are other beaches including Playa del Medio, Playa Larg and the spectacular Playa Pilar (named after Hemmingway's boat) at the western end, where sand dunes pile up 15m high. At low tide you can wade out for 400m or more on sandbars.
The inshore fishing is excellent; snapper, grouper, mackerel, and bonefish are the species of choice. Farther out, beaked marlin and swordfish run through the Old Bahamas Channel - Hemmingway's 'great blue river'.
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Ciego de Avila City
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The provincial capital city (pop 85,000) 460km east of Havana and 110km west of Camagüey, is the least inspirational of Cuba's provincial capitals. It is located 460km east of Havana and 110km west of Camagüey, has developed as something of an historical halfway house; travellers used it as an overnight watering hole before continuing on to the islands of Trinidad and Santo Domingo in the 19th century. |
Local lore says that one of the earliest hacienda owners was names Jacome de Avila. His property, established in 1538, occupied a large clearing, or ciego, and was used as a way station for travellers. A small settlement grew around it, known locally as Ciego de Avila.
An interesting place to visit is Parque Marti and a few blocks from there it is the Teatro Principal, a 500–seater theatre which is due to undergo further restoration works. This was built by a rich socialite, Angela Hernandez Viuda de Jimenez, who battled to create a cultural Mecca in her home town.
The Museo Provincial on Calle Jose Antonio Eschevarria is worth a visit if you are interested in the area's role in the struggle to overthrow Batista while the Centro Provincial de Arte building on Calle Independencia may appeal to some. The Casa de la Trova on Libertad No 130 can occasionally deliver a raucous night out.
Traffic in the town is almost all horse–driven, and the longest possible journey should only cost a few pesos by pony trap. |
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Moron |
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Moron (pop 50,000) 37km due north of Ciego de Avila is the main gateway to Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo and is perfectly positioned for day excursions if you do not want to pay full hotel rates on the cays themselves. It is known as the City of the Rooster, a name bequeathed in the 18th Century by settlers from Moron de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain. |
Close to the city on the northern coast is a strange lagoon called Laguna de la Leche, which is home to a variety of wildlife, most notably several thousand flamingos, it is a prime fishing lake and consequently is very popular with anglers, It is Cuba's largest natural reservoir and it was strategically important during Cuba's 1895 War of Independence. It is a lagoon milky–white from sodium carbonate deposits that seem to nourish snook and tarpon.
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