CAYO COCO
Area: Cuba
Country: Cuba


Location:
At midpoint of Cuba's N coast. 65 mls N of provincial capital of Ciego de Avila and its international airport. 270 mls E of Havana.

Telephone code from UK:
53 33

Website:
http://www.dtcuba.com

Position:
Westernmost of large "cays" (keys or islands) which extend from Santa Lucia in SE and form Sabana Camaguey Archipelago (also known as Jardines del Rey). Reached via narrow causeway toll road, some 16 mls long, across shallow Bahia de Perros (Bay of Dogs). Linked by bridge to large but uninhabited Cayo Romano to E.

Description:
Although Cayo Coco island covers around 230 sq mls in total, the resort area is concentrated midway along the NE coast and, unless possessing a special interest, there is little to tempt the tourist away from the superb beach and hotel amenities. Barring pockets of development, the terrain is flat and sandy with lagoons and mangrove swamps. The island does have the largest flamingo colony in Cuba as well as lots of other migrating and resident birds and, if you look really hard, you may see an iguana; but cattle, goats and horses are commoner, often wandering in the road. CAYO GUILLERMO is much smaller _ just 8 sq mls _ and deserted apart from several hotels which line the only road linking Guillermo to Coco; all the hotels are on the beach front along the NE coast. The coral reef offshore is part of the second longest in the world, stretching the whole length of the archipelago.

Suitability:
Real escapists seeking tropical-island solitude, bird-watchers, those with committed eco-interests and scuba-divers.

Accommodation:
Self-contained all-inclusive hotel complexes, all of similar category. Check tour-operator's brochure carefully with regard to "all-inclusive" promises as "luxury" items like motorised water sports and imported drinks are often excluded.

Shopping:
None outside what is on offer in hotels themselves. For important information on Cuban currency regulations, see under Currency section in Cuban country report.

Beach:
17 mls of archetypal Caribbean beaches with near-white, fine coral sand sloping very gently into warm, clear water. 2»-ml-long Playa Pilar on Guillermo boasts highest dunes in Caribbean.

Entertainments:
Daytime: almost exclusively beach-based activities with virtually every water sport imaginable; scuba-diving, with dozen or more diving sites on reef offshore; bird-watching. Nightlife: nothing outside hotels, which offer full entertainment programmes.

Eating:
A few options, including 1 local restaurant in cave which caters for tourist parties and handful of barbecue/bar options. Otherwise it's the hotels again. Locally caught shellfish are well worth trying. Food everywhere in Cuba is restricted in choice and often of comparatively poor quality, so definitely not a destination for gourmets.

Public-transport:
None.

Local-excursions:
Half day: jeep safari; horse riding; glass-bottomed boat trips; visit to nearest town of Moron; cave restaurant with show (evening); La Guira (recreation of life of local charcoal workers in early 1900s). Full day: boat/catamaran trips for coral-reef snorkelling; yacht trip in footsteps of Ernest Hemingway; deep-sea fishing; hiking around Loma del Puerto and Las Dolinas; Ciego de Avila city visit; Trinidad (colonial city). One/two days: Havana.