The Cuban archipelago, a tourist destination par excellence, due to the wide range of options available for vacationers, offers a unique natural wealth that is complemented by historic and cultural assets.

Hundreds of kilometers of excellent beaches are among Cuba's traditional tourist options, in addition to its flora, fauna and caverns.

Tourists' access to unique natural sites is an additional element in Cuban authorities' efforts to develop the tourism sector.

In eastern Holguín province is Cayo Saetía, which is located in the mouth of the Bay of Nipe and is considered the largest hunting preserve in Cuba.

Cayo Saetía covers an area of 42 square kilometers, and more than 50 percent of it is covered by thick vegetation, which is a safe haven for several species, including whitetail deer, zebras and antelopes.

Under the conception of a Natural Park, Cayo Saetía remains a pristine key where the original flora and fauna are intact.

Experts say that there are more than 10,000 caves in Cuba, many of which are 25 million years old.

One of the most famous caves is that of Santo Tomás, in Sierra de Quemados, in the western part of the country, which is 45 kilometers long, and Cueva del Indio, which is crossed by the San Juan River.

Another famous cavern that is visited by thousands of Cubans and foreigners every year is the Bellamar Cave, in Matanzas. The cave is 23 kilometers long and 300,000 years old. It is made up of three caverns that used to be a single cave a long time ago: Bellamar, El Jarrito and Soto Jíbaro.

The list of beautiful underground sites also includes the caves of Cuyaguateje, Cable, Simón, Paredones, Los Tomates, Quintanal, Aston, Caguanes, Palmarito, La Patana, Solapas de Jauco and Caleta del Rosario, among others.

Isla de la Juventud (Isle of Youth), south of Havana, holds the underwater cave of Punta Francés, one of the most beautiful landscapes in the region and an excellent place for cave diving.

In addition, the Cuban archipelago, which is in an enviable geographic location, has more than 70,000 kilometer of marine platform and some 5,000 kilometers of coastline bathed by the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

Nearly 6,500 varieties of fish, crustaceans, sponges and mollusks, as well as many species of corals, turn the Caribbean Island into one of the region's best-preserved marine ecosystems.