About Varadero

At Hicacos Peninsula, in Matanzas province, 140 km. from Havana, Varadero, Cuba´s well-known seaside resort is located. Varadero Beach is the most popular beach in the island.

Having more than 20 km. of beaches, the chief Cuban seaside resort and one of the best known worldwide, has exceptional natural features for the visitors’ enjoyment. Varadero beaches shallowness allows swimmers to go several meters into the sea and have a good time at the wide sandbanks.

The seabed can be sharply seen through its warm crystal-clear waters. Varadero also stands out for its fine white sand of calcareous origin covering the length of the shore. Being a peninsula it has varied and luxuriant flora and fauna spread out among nearly 10 virgin islets, sea bottoms with more than 40 species of coral, a wide range of fish, lobsters, shrimps, crabs, 70 kinds of mollusks and charming dolphins that can sometimes be seen from the shore or riding a catamaran.

That’s why Varadero is also home to 28 diving spots linked to Scuba Cuba “Barracuda” diving center, from which underwater caves, channels and passages within the coral reefs can be reached. This facility gives the visitor a chance to dive in caves like La Cueva de Saturno, a cavern flooded with a mixture of inland and sea water having beautiful stalagmites and stalactites, a lake and two galleries inhabited by blind fish and shrimps.

Among the chief attractions of Varadero also rank the ecologic beach, a natural reserve a little farther away from the main beaches. Here the visitor can enjoy a practically virgin beach which has one of the oldest trees in Cuba: El Patriarca, a treelike cactus dated by the specialists as previous to the Spanish conquest, and the very first saltern in Cuba and Latin America, built little after the Spanish arrival. A visitor walking along the beach can see Cayo Piedra, one of the small virgin islets, typical of this peninsula’s geography.

Varadero also has a fair choice of fun activities. In its beaches sailboards, aquabikes, rowboats and horses are available for rent. Catamaran rides, parachutes, winged boats are some other options. Visitors can rent cars, bikes and motorbikes. It houses a karting track, an amusement park, several golf courses, a marina offering yacht cruises and visits to important landmarks like Laguna del Tesoro, and a dolphinarium where the visitor can enjoy a superb dolphin show as well as swim with dolphins.

Some enjoyable nighttime options include live concerts by salsa orchestras and more than 10 discos housed in over 30 hotels operated by distinguished chains. Varadero’s hotels much varied in architectural design, fit to perfection into this natural paradise favored by tourists and Cubans alike.