Activities in Cuba
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Centro Internacional de Paracaidismo
For those with a head for heights, Varadero’s greatest thrill has to be skydiving with the Centro Internacional de Paracaidismo, based at the old airport just west of Varadero. The terminal is 1km up a dirt road, opposite Marina Acua. Skydivers take off in an Antonov AN-2 biplane of WWII design (don’t worry, it’s a replica) and jump from 3000m using a two-harness parachute with an instructor strapped in tandem on your back. After 35 seconds of free fall the parachute opens and you float tranquilly for 10 minutes down onto Varadero’s white sandy beach. The center also offers less spectacular (but equally thrilling) ultralight flights at various points on the beach. Price…
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A
Cubatur
Baracoa’s rite of passage is the 8km (up and down) hike to El Yunque. At 575m it’s not Kilimanjaro, but the views from the summit and the flora and birdlife along the way are stupendous. Cubatur offers this tour almost daily (CUC$18 per person, minimum two people). The fee covers admission, guide, transport and a sandwich. The hike is hot (bring sufficient water) and usually muddy. It starts from a campismo 3km past the Finca Duaba (4km from the Baracoa–Moa road). Bank on seeing tocororo (Cuba’s national bird), zunzún (the world’s smallest bird), butterflies and polymitas.
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Universidad de Cienfuegos
The Universidad de Cienfuegos offers Spanish courses for beginners to advanced. The courses last one month and incorporate 64 hours of study (CUC$340). It also offers courses in ‘Cuban Culture’ (CUC$340). Language courses run monthly, culture courses every other month. Check out its website for more details.
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Aquaworld Marina Chapelín
Varadero’s nautical highlight in the popularity stakes is the Seafari Cayo Blanco, a seven-hour sojourn (CUC$75) from Marina Chapelín to nearby Cayo Blanco and its idyllic beach. The trip includes an open bar, lobster lunch, two snorkeling stops, live music and hotel transfers. There’s also a shorter CUC$45 catamaran tour with snorkeling, open bar and a chicken lunch. The Fiesta en el Cayo is a sunset cruise (CUC$39) to Cayo Blanco with dinner, music and more free-flowing rum at the key. The two-hour guided Boat Adventure is another perennial favorite. Leaving from the Marina Chapelín, it’s a speedy sortie through the adjacent mangroves on two-person jet skis or moto…
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Seafari Cayo Blanco
One of Varadero's most popular cruises is the Seafari Cayo Blanco to - you've guessed it - Cayo Blanco. This trip includes the dolphin show at the Delfinario, open bar, lunch on Cayo Blanco, two snorkeling stops, live music and hotel transfers. This trip comes with a free sunset cruise that can be carried over to the following day if desired. Several readers have reported that these trips were the highlight of their stay.
There are cheaper catamaran tours that are less heavily promoted, but still great fun, with the same excellent snorkeling. Try the stripped-down tour that has no music and dancing, and a chicken, rather than seafood lunch. There's also a two-hour guided …
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Club de Golf La Habana
- Havana, Cuba
- Activities › Golf
The Club de Golf La Habana lies between Vedado and the airport. Poor signposting makes it hard to find and most taxi drivers get lost looking: ask locals for directions to the golfito or Dilpo Golf Club. Originally titled the Rover’s Athletic Club, it was established by a group of British diplomats in the 1920s and the diplomatic corps is largely the clientele today. There are nine holes with 18 tees to allow 18-hole rounds. Green fees start at CUC$20 for nine holes and CUC$30 for 18 holes, with extra for clubs, cart and caddie. In addition, the club has five tennis courts and a bowling alley (open noon to 11pm). Fidel and Che Guevara played a round here once as a publici…
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Barracuda Diving Center
Varadero’s top scuba facility is the mega-friendly, multilingual Barracuda Diving Center. Diving costs CUC$40 per dive with equipment, cave diving is CUC$60 and night diving costs CUC$50. Packages of multiple dives work out cheaper. Snorkelers can join the divers for CUC$25. Barracuda conducts introductory resort courses for CUC$70 and ACUC (American Canadian Underwater Certifications) courses for CUC$365, plus many advanced courses. A brand new recompression facility is installed on site and there’s also a training pool, resident doctor and popular seafood restaurant on the premises. Barracuda has a daily capacity for 70 divers in three 12m boats.
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UniversiTUR Sa
The largest organization offering study visits for foreigners is UniversiTUR SA. UniversiTUR arranges regular study and working holidays at any of Cuba’s universities and at many higher education or research institutes. Its most popular programs are intensive courses in Spanish language and Cuban culture at Universidad de La Habana. UniversiTUR has 17 branch offices at various universities throughout Cuba, all providing the same services, though prices vary. While US students can study anywhere in the country, they must arrange study programs for the provinces (except Havana or Matanzas) through Havanatur.
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Varadero Golf Club
While it’s no Pebble Beach, golfers can have a swinging session at the uncrowded and well-landscaped Varadero Golf Club. The original nine holes created by the Duponts are between Hotel Bella Costa and the Dupont Mansion, and in 1998 the course was extended to 18 holes (par 72) by adding another nine holes along the southern side of the three Meliá resorts. Bookings are made through the Pro shop next to the Dupont Mansion (now a cozy B&B with free, unlimited tee time). Green fees go for CUC$48/77 nine/18 holes. A 50-minute lesson costs CUC$30.
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Ermita de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de la Popa
For a bird's-eye view of Trinidad, walk straight up Simón Bolívar, the street between the Iglesia Parroquial and the Museo Romántico, to the destroyed 18th-century Ermita de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de la Popa, part of a former Spanish military hospital. It's on a hill to the north of the old town, a favorite sunset-watching spot (use insect repellant).
From here it's a 30-minute hike up the hill to the radio transmitter atop 180m-high Cerro de la Vigía, which delivers broad vistas of Trinidad, Playa Ancón and the entire littoral.
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Marlin Náutica
There are many water activities available at Marina Hemingway in Barlovento, 20km west of central Havana. Fishing trips can be arranged at Marlin Náutica from CUC$150 for four anglers and four hours of bottom fishing, and CUC$280 for four anglers and four hours of deep-sea fishing. Included are a captain, sailor, open bar and tackle. Marlin season is June to October. Scuba packages for CUC$35 per dive and tours of Havana’s littoral (CUC$60 in a catamaran) can also be arranged. Hotel tour desks should also be able to arrange these things.
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Escuela Internacional de Cine, Televisión y Video
The Escuela Internacional de Cine, Televisión y Video educates broadcasting professionals from all over the world (especially developing countries). Under the patronage of novelist Gabriel García Márquez, it’s run by the foundation that also organizes the annual film festival in Havana. The campus is at Finca San Tranquilino, Carretera de Vereda Nueva, 5km northwest of San Antonio de los Baños. Prospective filmmaking students should apply in writing in advance (personal inquiries at the gate are not welcome).
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Laguna de Maya
The Laguna de Maya is a Flora and Fauna Reserve where professional Ecotur guides can rent you snorkeling gear and guide you out to the reef for a bargain CUC$5. There are a reported 300 species of fish here and visibility is a decent 15m to 20m. The Laguna de Maya also incorporates a snack bar, a ranchón-style restaurant overlooking a small lake with boat rental and opportunities for horseback riding. A package including all the activities is offered for CUC$25. You can hike 2.5km to the Cueva Saturno from here.
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Gaviota
Gaviota has a variety of helicopter tours in Russian M1-8 choppers; the Trinidad trip (CUC$229) is popular. The Tour de Azúcar (sugarcane tour) visits a disused sugar mill and takes a steam train ride to Cárdenas station. Prices are CUC$39/30 per adult/child. It also organizes jeep safaris to the scenic Valle del Yumurí. The excursion (adult/child CUC$45/34) includes a visit to a campesino family and a huge, delicious meal at Ranchón Gaviota.
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Club Hípico Iberoamericano
In the northwestern corner of Parque Lenin is the Club Hípico Iberoamericano. Horseback riding through the park on a steed rented from the club costs CUC$12 an hour, but horses rented from boys at the nearby amusement park (undergoing major renovations at the time of writing) or at the entrance to Parque Lenin proper (you’ll be besieged) costs CUC$3 per hour, guide included. Watch out for undernourished or maltreated horses.
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Ateneo
Spanish courses, dancing classes and various other specialist activities can be organized at Ateneo, a cultural organization set up in the late 19th century by lawyer Antonio Bravo Correoso. Bank on CUC$5 for two-hour lessons on salsa dancing, percussion or guitar/ tres (a guitar with seven strings and an integral part of son of Carlos Bourbon of Ballet Folklórico Cutumba fame. There are 11 or so teac).
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Ranchón El Cubano
A pleasant spot 5km from Trinidad with a ranchón- style restaurant that specializes in pez gato (catfish), a fish farm, and a 2km trail to a refreshing waterfall. There are also stables here and opportunities to partake in horseback riding. If you hike to El Cubano from Trinidad, you’ll clock up a total of approximately 16km. With a stop for lunch in the ranchón, it can make an excellent day trip.
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Cueva Saturno
Cueva Saturno is promoted as a snorkeling spot and Varadero companies include it on many tours, but don’t believe the hype: it’s really just a ho-hum cave with limited access, unless you’re an experienced cave diver with all the relevant equipment. Beware the odd hustler or three and the screaming crowds clamoring to get into the water. There’s a snack bar here that sells good coffee.
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Acua Diving Center
The Acua Diving Center is in western Varadero near the Hotel Kawama. It charges much the same prices as Barracuda, Varadero's top scuba facility, but doesn’t have quite the facilities, or volume. When a north wind is blowing and diving isn’t possible in the Atlantic, you can be transferred to the Caribbean coast in a minibus (90-minute drive); this costs a total of CUC$55/75 for one/two dives.
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Varasub
The 48-passenger Varasub offers 90-minute underwater viewing possibilities six times a day, including unlimited soda or rum drinks and transfers. You sit on benches at the bottom of the air-con vessel and peer out through glass windows, though the boat itself doesn't actually submerge. Trips on Varasub can be arranged at any Havanatur office. The boat leaves from the Super Clubs Puntarenas in west Varadero.
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Cayo Piedras del Norte
Cayo Piedras del Norte, one hour by boat, has been made into a 'marine park' by the deliberate sinking of an assortment of military equipment in 15m to 30m of water. The yacht Coral Negro was sunk here in 1997, followed by frigate 383 in 1998. Also scuttled for the benefit of divers and glass-bottom boat passengers are a towboat, a missile launching gunboat (with missiles intact) and an AN-24 aircraft.
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Marlin Marina Cienfuegos
The Marlin Marina Cienfuegos is a 36-berth marina. You can organize deep-sea fishing trips here for CUC$200 for four people for four hours. Multiday trips cost CUC$400/680 for one/two nights (gear and crew included). A classic bay cruise costs CUC$16 for the day or CUC$10 for a two-hour sunset cruise (stopping briefly at Castillo de Jagua). Book through Cubatur or Cubanacán.
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Playa Coral
The old coastal road to Varadero is great on a moped, providing better scenery and a mellower pace than the Autopista. There are some OK swimming spots en route and Playa Coral has 2km of offshore reef with the best snorkeling in the area. The airport access road is just beyond Playa Coral at the small crossroads town of Carbonera (a fresh fish lunch can be arranged here; ask around).
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Río Canímar Boat Trips
Boat trips 12km up the jungle-clad Río Canímar depart from Bar Cubamar, below the bridge on the inland side. Varadero tour companies offer this excursion with lunch, horseback riding, fishing and snorkeling, but you can work out a similar deal for approximately around 25 by showing up at the landing before noon. Rowboats are for rent (around 2 per hour) at the bar any time.
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Marlin Marina Chapelín
Varadero has three marinas, all of which offer a variety of nautical activities and facilities. Situated close to the Delfinario and the entrance to Hotel Riu Turquesa is the Marlin Marina Chapelín where five hours of deep-sea fishing costs CUC$290 for four people (price includes hotel transfers, open bar and licenses; non-fishing companions pay CUC$30).
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