Cuba, a tourist destination par excellence, promotes a wide spectrum of recreational and leisure options that go beyond the main island thanks to its diversity.
Natural reserves, biosphere reserves, natural landscapes, national parks and protected areas make up an extensive network of offers characterized by its richness, excellent conservation and unique features of the region.
Cuba has about 200 bays, 2,000 keys and islets and 588 kilometers of beaches classified as per their tourist relevance.
There are many keys of special interest, like the ones in the Coloradas archipelago, the Sabana-Camagüey archipelago or Jardines del Rey (King’s Gardens); likewise, in the southern area, the Jardines de la Reina (Queen’s Gardens) and the Canarreos stand out.
The options of highest interest are located in Cayo Coco (Jardines del Rey), Cayo Largo del Sur and other smaller keys like Santa María, Las Brujas, Ensenachos, Saitía and those near Punta de Hicacos.
The keys Coco and Guillermo are the ones being used for tourism in Jardines del Rey and there are plans to increase tourist conditions to Providencia, Caoba, Sabinal, Guayaba, Paredón Grande and Antón Chico.
The tourist expansion strategy is also aimed at including territories made up by keys in the northern area of the island which have several kilometers of excellent beaches in an environment barely touched by men.
A causeway that extends 48 kilometers into the sea joins the main island of the archipelago to the keys Santa María, Las Brujas, Ensenachos, Cobos, Majá, Fragoso, Francés, Las Picúas and Español de Adentro, among others.
Another attraction of the region is the ship San Pascual which ran aground near key Francés almost 70 years ago and has become a naval rarity since it was built of reinforced concrete and launched in 1920, at the San Francisco shipyards in California.
El Pontón is another key, regarded by many as just another islet, but it currently offers to vacationers the facilities of ten cabins and a privileged position to enjoy and appreciate the attractions of the region.
The leisure portfolio includes cities with abundant samples of colonial architecture –perfectly preserved– hotels related to plastic arts, places of cultural and historical heritage and a broad agenda of celebrations and festivities that make up the tourist offer in the country.
One of the most outstanding places in the Cuban tourist industry is the complex system of fortresses located in Havana, which includes nine big military constructions that represent one of the most relevant examples of its kind in the Spanish Americas.
The main historical attractions in the center of the island are located in the province of Sancti Spíritus, the only province which has two of the first villages founded at the turn of the 16th century by the Spanish Governor Diego Velázquez who named the villages Espíritu Santo (Holy Spirit) and Santísima Trinidad (Holy Trinity).