Isla de la Juventud
Unless you’re keen on bird-watching or diving, or are an aficionado of revolutionary history, you can safely skip Isla de la Juventud. Two days is sufficient, although scuba divers will want to pack in a few more days for exploring the waters off Punta Francés, where the diving rivals anywhere in the Caribbean.Nueva Gerona, the capital city, can be explored in mere hours. Outside town, be sure to visit the Presidio Modelo, formerly Cuba’s main prison, where Fidel Castro and other participants of the attack on the Moncada barracks were held, and El Abra, a farmstead where national hero José Martí once labored under sentence for sedition.
An entire day is needed for a visit to the Área Protegida Sur de la Isla de la Juventud, a swampy wilderness area offering fabulous bird-watching and wildlife-viewing. Guided excursions are compulsory, including to the glorious white-sand beach of Playa Punta del Este, where the Cueva del Punta del Este is adorned with pre-Columbian paintings; to the Criadero de Cocodrilos, where you can learn the ecology of the Cuban crocodile; and to the Refugio Ecológico Los Indios, where Cuba’s endemic crane and parrots can be seen.
Playa Paraiso in Cayo Largo. Photo © Cristian Santinon/123rf.
Cayo Largo
For now, tourism development is limited to Cayo Largo, the easternmost island. Cayo Largo is popular with package tour vacationers, including European nudists. Its beaches shelving into warm turquoise waters are superb. It can be visited on day-long and overnight excursions from Havana and is the only island accessible from the mainland.In fact, traveling between Isla de la Juventud and Cayo Largo is impossible. You will need to backtrack to Havana to catch a cruise or flight directly to Cayo Largo.
Excerpted from the Sixth Edition of Moon Cuba.
