 Beaches of Holguin
There are five beaches in the north-eastern province of Holguin plus Playa Covarrubias located in the neighboring province of Las Tunas. Playa Covarrubias is about 160 km west from the Holguin airport (HOG). There is only one hotel on the beach of Covarrubias, the Brisas Covarrubias (twenty kilometers from the charming village of Puerto Padre).
The oldest hotel in the area is the Club Amigo Guardalavaca. It has opened its doors in 1976 (renovated in 2002) on Playa Guardalavaca beach. There is a small village or « Pueblo » in Guardalavaca with several buildings to house employees of the hotels. There is also a small artcraft market.
Several years later, the Brisas Guardalavaca (2002) was added. The beach of Guardalavaca is not continuous but divided into two sections.
Guardalavaca in English means « keep the cow ». There are two legends concerning the origin of the name. First, the Spanish word « vaca » meaning cow, pirates designated « vacas » as their burial site for their treasure chests. The second is the expression « guardalavaca » which meant the peasants an alarm about pirates approaching ... hide cows!
Playa Guardalavaca
Playa Guardalavaca is three kilometers long beach divided into three sectors: Hotel Club Amigo Guardalavaca (560 m), the Brisas Guardalavaca (440 m) and the public beach to the east.
Playa Esmeralda
This length is approximately 750 meters continuously. Known as the emerald beach due to the color of water, deep green. You will find the hotels of the Sol Meliá hotel group, the Sol Rio Luna y Mares and Paradisus Rio de Oro.
Playa Esmeralda is located five kilometers from Guardalavaca, 72 kilometers from the international airport and 56 kilometers from Holguín, capital of the province. A good spot for snorkelers with nice coral reefs. The beach is surrounded by cliffs and lush vegetation.
Playa Esmeralda is located near the Bahía de Naranjo, a nature reserve. In this bay, you find the main attraction of the region, swimming with dolphins.
Playa Yuraguanal
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Hotel's sector: Sirenis Playa Turquesa (sorry! no satellite image, bad resolution) |
Playa Yuraguanal is an artificial beach about 500 meters length with white sand and crystalline water. This beach has unfortunately a big problem, seaweed! As it is an artificial beach, alga tend to regain territory. Cubans have to remove manually the algae.
Playa Pesquero
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Hotels sector : Blau Costa Verde, Playa Costa Verde and Playa Pesquero |
Here are some pictures taken from the north to the extreme south of Playa Pesquero (click thumbnails) ...
Playa Pesquero is a long beach of about 900 meters of fine white sand. You need about ten minutes to reach by foot the Playa Pesquero from the Blau Costa Verde. There is a tide of 1-1 ½ feet in this section of the beach.
The beach is protected by a coral reef with cliffs and lush vegetation for lovers of natural shade on the beach. This area of Cuba has suffered during Hurricane Ike in September 2008. Many of the trees on the beach were damaged or uprooted by the wind.
On the seabed there are large amount of debris (branches). Nevertheless, the thriving marine life and we saw many species of fish, coral and other specimens.
 The lovers of the colorful underwater world will appreciate a visit to our website and see hundreds of photos and few videos. Visit neptune.destilino.com . For those who wish to be informed of our updates, we have a mailing list you might join in our index site destilino.com. Lately, we have also added a section of the « coup de coeur. » photos. You will find some beautiful specimens and many from our trip to Holguin in 2009.
Playa Blanca
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Hotel's sector: Don Lino (sorry! no satellite image, bad resolution) |
This beach is not crowded of tourists. There is only one hotel with 36 rooms. For people interested to see this beach, you may rent a scooter and visit the area. The Cuban countryside is always pleasant to visit.
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