Sights in Baracoa
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Cueva del Aguas
Cueva del Aguas is a cave with a sparkling, freshwater swimming hole inside. To get there, head past the Fuerte Matachín, hike southeast past the baseball stadium and along the beach for about 20 minutes to a rickety wooden bridge over the Río Miel.
From April to June, you'll have to take a skiff across the flooded river mouth before reaching the bridge, which costs a peso to cross and is open from sunrise to sunset. After the bridge, turn left until you come to a Gaviota hut, where you have to pay around to proceed further. Going right at the Gaviota hut and following the dirt road through coconut groves and past clapboard houses for 45 minutes, you'll come to the blue…
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Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción
Crying out for a major renovation, the rapidly disintegrating Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción was built in 1833 on the site of a much older church. Its most famous artifact is the priceless Cruz de La Parra, a wooden cross said to have been erected by Columbus near Baracoa in 1492. Carbon dating has authenticated the cross’ age (it dates from the late 1400s), but has indicated that it was originally made out of indigenous Cuban wood, thus disproving the legend that Columbus brought the cross from Europe. The church was closed at the time of writing and the cross was being displayed in the last house on Calle Antonio Maceo, behind the church to the right.
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Playa Blanca
Playa Blanca is an idyllic spot for a picnic or sunset cocktails, and makes a nice day trip. Passing the Fuerte Matachín, hike southeast past the baseball stadium and along the beach for about 20 minutes to a rickety wooden bridge over the Río Miel. From April to June, you'll have to take a skiff across the flooded river mouth before reaching the bridge, which costs a peso to cross and is open from sunrise to sunset. After the bridge, turn left until you come to a Gaviota hut, where you have to pay to proceed further. If you continue left for 15 minutes you come to the beach.
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Museo Arqueológico
Baracoa’s newest and most impressive museum is the Museo Arqueológico, situated in Las Cuevas del Paraíso 800m southeast of the Hotel El Castillo. The exhibits here are showcased in a series of caves that once acted as Taíno burial chambers. Among nearly 2000 authentic Taíno pieces are unearthed skeletons, ceramics, 3000-year-old petroglyphs and a replica of the Ídolo de Tabaco, a sculpture found in Maisí in 1903 that is considered to be one of the most important Taíno finds in the Caribbean. One of the staff will enthusiastically show you around.
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Museo Municipal
The Fuerte Matachín (1802) at the southern entrance to town, now houses the Museo Municipal. Though small, this museum showcases an engaging chronology of Cuba’s oldest settlement including polymita snail shells, the story of Che Guevara and the chocolate factory, and exhibits relating to pouty Magdalena Menasse (née Rovieskuya, ‘La Rusa’) after whom Alejo Carpentier based his famous book, La Consagración de la Primavera (The Rite of Spring).
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Playa Duaba
Playa Duaba is where Antonio Maceo and Flor Crombet landed in 1895. It's a beautiful band of dark beach backed by mountains. Heading northwest out of town toward Moa, take the one lane road for 2km beyond the airport where a break in the low-lying scrub leads to the beach. The water gets better further from the river mouth. The jejenes (sand fleas) are ferocious in the late afternoon. Fifty meters further along the road is the tranquil monument to the rebel landing.
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El Castillo de Seboruco
Baracoa's third fort, El Castillo de Seboruco, begun by the Spanish in 1739 and finished by the Americans in 1900, is now Hotel El Castillo. There's an excellent view of El Yunque's flat top from the swimming pool. A stairway at the southwest end of Frank País climbs directly to the castle.
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Fuerte de la Punta
The Spanish Fuerte de la Punta has watched over the harbor entrance at the northern end of town since 1803. Today it's a restaurant serving ice-cold beers and killer views.
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Centro de Veteranos
The Centro de Veteranos displays photos of those who perished in the 1959 Revolution and in the barely talked-about conflict in Angola.
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Fábrica de Tabacos Manuel Fuente
To see a couple of dozen torcedores (cigar rollers) rolling cigars, visit the Fábrica de Tabacos Manuel Fuente.
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Poder Popular
The neoclassical Poder Popular is a municipal government building which you can admire from the outside.
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