Top 10 Highlights of my Cuban Adventure Part I

10. Glorious Seafood

The seafood in Cuba was fresh, plentiful and cheap. I think I ate seafood at least once a day, often twice.  Lobster was under $10 US. I also had shrimp, swordfish, barracuda, clams and turtle. I suggest eating it prepared in your casa. I found it to be cheaper and better than a restaurant every time.

9. The all inclusive beach in Playa Girón

There are all inclusive resorts all around Cuba.  Lots of these resorts also offer day rates.  There are also beaches that do not have hotels attached to them which offer all inclusive day deals like the one I enjoyed for two days in Playa Girón. They are a great bargain and a great way to spend a lazy day.  The all inclusive rate includes all you can eat and drink. There is usually a lunch buffet spread of typical Cuban food.  The rate may also include various water sports equipment, like snorkeling gear and floats.  Chairs and shades are also provided. 

8. Ernest Hemingway

As I writer, I was thrilled to follow in the footsteps of such a great American author.  Throughout my trip I read, The Sun Also Rises, as well as a collection of his short stories.  There is something exciting about being in a place a writer was and reading his books there. In Havana there are several places to visit and be reminded of the great author.  Ambos Mundos is the hotel Hemingway would stay at while he wrote two of his novels. You can pay $2 CUC to tour the room he stayed in, complete with the typewriter he used along with various newspaper articles about his Nobel prize.  La Floridita is the bar he would frequent and also where he made the white daiquiri famous. It is a bit of a tourist trap now, but still worth the visit. The daiquiris are out of this world.

7. Playa Blanca

Overall I was not impressed by the beaches in Cuba. It was quite disappointing. I do not know if it is because all of the good beaches are taken up by all the resorts which I did not visit, or if there just aren’t that many good beaches, perhaps due to the fact that 70% of the country island is limestone.

The one beach that stands out was the one I really had to work hard to get to. Playa Blanca in Baracoa was quite hidden and for this reason I saw no tourists the entire day I spent there. Always a bonus. I had to hike for about an hour along the more public beach which was littered and unappealing. I then crossed a rather questionable bridge and walked through a tiny little town I wasn’t sure I belonged in until I finally reached the very small beach that is Playa Blanca.

I was the only one there besides a small family who was cleaning the fish they’d just caught. I befriended the young girl who kept showing me the various sea creatures she’d found.

Beyond the beach a ways you can hire a guide to take you up into the caves and up to the highest point so that you can look out at the ocean and city below.  They were the first caves I saw, and even these had a small swimming hole within them. Playa Blanca was one of the best full days I spent in Cuba.

6. Casas in general and Dimitri and Hostel Moya in particular

Casas Particulares are where you stay when you’re a traveler in Cuba.  You stay with families who have an extra room or two.  Every room I stayed in had a private bathroom and usually two beds.  The rates were ridiculously cheap and you could often get breakfast and dinner for much cheaper and better than any restaurant. The average I paid, including a meal or two was about $20 CUC. 

The other and more important benefit to staying in casas is that you get to meet and interact with the family. You aren’t just served your meal and then left alone. Often, you eat with the family and get to know them. They might tell you secrets about where to go and what to see and where to avoid.  It was also awesome for practicing my Spanish.  (A possible downside for those who do not speak the language, as very few Cubans speak English or anything other than Spanish) I cannot say enough good things about these places and wish they were all over the world instead of hostels. 

My favorite casa was Hostel Moya (don’t be fooled by the name, it is most certainly NOT a hostel.)  Dimitri is the patriarch of this family casa. He was the most welcoming, kind host I’ve even had the pleasure of getting to know. It was he who got me to stay a few days longer than planned in Playa Girón. He was eager and willing to help with any excursion we might have wanted, including snorkeling, night fishing and various car trips. He drove us to Havana when we left.  He is also an excellent cook, cooking us the fresh fish he and his soon caught that day. I also had the privilege of meeting his adorable 1 ½ year old grandson Jonathan, and we became great buddies.