Varadero is perhaps the largest and most popular Cuban resort, which has been known since 1872. It is located on the narrow and long Cape of Icacos, it is an almost 20-kilometer strip of a magnificent beach, along which a series of hotels stretch. Varadero is a closed resort area, entry here is carried out by passes: it is perfectly calm, safe, and there are no crowds of people.
The climate in Cuba is tropical, very even, and allows you to relax here all year round. Spring is considered the best time to relax - in January it can be cool for swimming, and in autumn it is too humid and rainy. But in any case, the air temperature rarely drops below 25 and rises above 30, and the water is almost always warm.
Varadero Monthly Weather Forecast
Cuba is not a rich country, so there are some peculiarities of the holiday here. The local hotels were built for the most part in the last century: with rare exceptions, there are neither design beauties nor supernova technology. Basically, they work on an "all inclusive" system. There are also apartments in Varadero, but here you need to take into account the peculiarity: there are very few grocery stores in the resort, the assortment in them is not rich. Another feature: there is no free wi-fi in Cuba, even in five-star hotels you will have to pay for using it.
The beaches are clean, wide and beautiful everywhere, sun loungers are free. But the toilets, as a rule, are only in coastal restaurants and the hotels themselves on the shore. Sandy areas can be interspersed with areas with corals - when choosing a hotel, it is worth clarifying what interests you most - snorkeling and the underwater world, or just swimming and surfing. There are strong waves here, but not always and everywhere - it depends on the weather and on the specific section of the beach.
Tourist buses run throughout the resort. A ticket for such a bus is valid all day. As a taxi in Varadero, there are colorful retro cars, the filling of which is modern, but the buildings are old.
Varadero districts
Varadero is a single zone that occupies the entire peninsula, its beaches are not divided in any way and do not have separate names, except for the two main ones. Still, there is a difference between the districts of the resort, so Varadero can be roughly divided into the following districts:
- Playa Caleta;
- Varadero village;
- San Bernardino;
- Bako Icakos;
- East beach.
Playa Caleta
This is a beach located at the very beginning of the cape, at the point where the mainland turns into a long sandy spit. The main attraction here is Laguna de Paso Malo, from the pier of which usually all excursions on ships-bathyscaphes go to coral reefs, which are located nearby, but slightly to the north. There is also a kiting school - there are strong waves on this section of the beach. Several hotels are built on a narrow strip of land between the ocean and this lagoon and offer fantastic views.
It is worth noting the very first hotel behind the checkpoint - Oasis. It is quite modest, but it is interesting primarily because it is one of the oldest hotels in the resort. Its history begins in 1956 - it was built as a holiday home, which was personally opened by Fidel Castro.
And at the Gran Caribe Club Puntarenas, the popular La Salsa nightclub is open until 4 am.
Varadero village
At the very beginning of the peninsula is the village of Varadero. Life in the village has both advantages and disadvantages, and sometimes it is difficult to tell one from the other. The hotels here are mostly budget, the hotel base is quite old: the resort started from here. Here you can also rent quite inexpensive housing, apartments from the local population (this is impossible in other parts of the peninsula). That is why there are most people here, both on the streets and on the beaches, it is noisy, not everywhere perfectly clean.
But here it is more fun and interesting. Only here in Varadero can you do at least some kind of shopping: there is the Street Market, there are two small shopping centers. Hicacos is located opposite the central park, and a little further there is the Plaza America center. Plaza America is home to the peninsula's largest supermarket - a must for those looking for budget accommodation. It makes sense to bring rum and cigars from Varadero - that is what Cuba is famous for. There are no expensive boutiques of well-known companies, there are no high-quality clothing and jewelry, but there are many handmade souvenirs.
The village of Varadero is the only place in the resort where there are really many interesting restaurants. A local specialty is the almost obligatory live incendiary music. Check out the iconic rock café The Beatles. But besides him, there are many discos here, evening and night concerts are often held, that is, something to do. Pay attention to the club that is located right on the beach - El Kastillito.
There are also city attractions, such as the small church of De Santa Elvira, built in 1938. There is a municipal museum, although not all local residents know about its existence. It is located very close to the beach in a nice blue and white house from the 30s. last century. This is a typical local history museum: with stuffed animals, a small archaeological collection, household items from the late 19th and early 20th centuries and photographs dedicated to the history of the resort.
There are several parks in the city. The central park is very small and of no interest, but it is worth taking a walk in Hosone Park. It is a large green garden with a lake for boat trips and many rare plants along its banks. There are picnic areas, restaurants, several attractions like archery.
San Bernardino
An area roughly in the middle of the peninsula, which is a narrow spit between the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of Cardenas. There is no longer any urban development: only hotels, beaches and endless golf courses. The main local attraction is Villa Dupont. It is believed that Varadero, as a resort, began from here. In 1929, the industrialist Irene Dupont de Nemours began building a villa for himself. The construction cost him more than a million dollars. He called her Xanadu - after the palace of the famous Kubla Khan. After the revolution, the villa was converted into a Las Americas restaurant. And now it is the territory of the Xanadu Mansion Golf Course Club House, the main golf club of the resort. The old premises of the villa have been converted into a museum and are available for inspection.
This "middle" section of the spit is very convenient for settlement - it is not far from the center of Varadero, and the dolphinarium, and the hotels here, although built in the middle of the last century, are well renovated and are ready to provide quality service.
Bako Icacos
The next part of the beach is the area around the small lagoon of Bako Icakos. The lagoon has reefs where fish are specially fed; you can ride there on a catamaran for excellent snorkeling. The main advantage, in addition to the beautiful beach and five-star hotels with huge territories, is the proximity to the Dolphinarium and Varadero National Park.
The dolphinarium is combined with a small zoo, pelicans roam the territory, and you can swim with dolphins for a fee, or you can just play for free without going into the water. The dolphinarium itself is located in a lagoon on the southern coast of the peninsula, and there is a national park around the lagoon, it includes mangroves, a rainforest, and most interestingly, several caves. The most famous cave is Ambrosio, where Indian drawings have been preserved. It is believed that they were created in pre-Columbian times. The grotto of the cave is 250 m long, and numerous bats live on its ceiling. The second cave is the Saturn Cave. It is much smaller, but in its depths there is a crystal clear underground lake, the water of which is considered to be healing.
There is no nightlife and entertainment outside the hotels. But it is worth noting the following feature: in principle, gambling and casinos are officially prohibited in Cuba. But some large hotels have "play centers", only they are not advertised. Here is one of these hotels - Blau Varadero Hotel, which has slot machines and roulette.
East beach
The very end of the peninsula. Here, as at the beginning of the spit, there are not only expensive five-star hotels, but also simpler accommodation, including apartments. But with shops and restaurants it is much worse than in the village itself. There is very little life outside of hotels, almost nothing can be reached on foot. But if you stay in a good hotel and get out of it only by transport, then this can be a very good option.
At the very end of the peninsula is the Varadero yacht club marina, which is very picturesque. And where the peninsula "turns" to the east, there is another interesting natural attraction - the patriarch cactus over 500 years old. Now a hotel complex has grown up around the cactus, and they began to charge a fee for entering it. Someone admires the antiquity of the plant, someone does not see anything special in it, but it is worth noting it: in Russia, such cacti often grow on windowsills like indoor plants, but here it is a whole tree.
