Camaguey Province

Capital city: Camaguey City

Lots of sugar- and some rice fields but most is the farming of animals in this Province, you will meet the Vaqueros (Cuban cowboys) who are riding their horse.
Camaguey is the largest provider of beef in Cuba.
Most tourism goes to the Cayos and around Playa Santa Lucia, which has lots of hotels. Although you may not like tourism, Playa Santa Lucia IS a great area for scuba diving because of the spectacular coral reefs.

Santa Lucia beach and Cayo Sabinal

Santa Lucia has 13 miles (21 km) of wide, white-golden sandy beaches bathed by warm turquoise water that is always calm, thanks to an extensive coral reef just a mile and a quarter (2 km) from the coast. This reef is the longest one of its kind in the western hemisphere. The hollows and branches of these coral formations from the habitat of a surprising diversity of marine life.

In one area which has 35 scuba-diving sites, you can see ridges nearly 33 feet (10 m) high, and the wealth of underwater flora and fauna is complemented with many sunken ships-some of them dating from the 19th century.

Inland, the El Real Lake is an excellent place for seeing flocks of Roseate Flamingos and other water birds. Santa Lucia is a tourist resort with enormous potential which is being developed in harmony with its gorgeous natural surroundings.

Cayo Sabinal is another jewel. Once a refuge of pirates-like many other islets in the Cuban archipelago it has several miles of intimate beaches of excellent quality, tucked into nooks along the coastline with virgin areas inland that abound in wildflowers and animals. Here, too, you can see the ruins of San Hilario Fort (built in 1831) and visit Colon (Columbus) Lighthouse (built in 1848), which warns mariners of dangers in the area.

- Beaches of Camaguey province
- Scuba Diving
- Santa Lucia Hotels

Location and How to Get There

Santa Lucia Beach is on the nothern coast of Camaguey Province, in the east-central part of Cuba, around 338 miles (545 km) from Havana. By air, you land at Ignacio Agramonte International Airport, which serves the city of Camaguey, 68 miles (110 km) southeast of Santa Lucia, where there is an airport for small planes. By land, the region is linked to the rest of the country by road (the Central Highway) and by rail.

- Highway guide
- Flights

What to Do

Activities at Santa Lucia include scuba diving and snorkling at the coral reef, sunning, swimming, playing beach volleyball, windsurfing, pedal boating and engaging in other water sports. Visit the coral reef. Enjoy the entertainment that is offered during the day and at night.

Or go to the Bay of Nuevitas for sports fishing, scuba diving in sunken ships, seeing colonies of Roseate Flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber ruber) and watching a great show featuring Bull Sharks (Carcharhinus leucas). At Cayo Sabinal, you can go snorkling, scuba diving and hiking.

- Scuba Diving Santa Lucia

Accommodations and Facilities

There are over 1000 rooms at Santa Lucia Beach, in 4- and 3-star hotels. All use the All-Inclusive plan. There are swimming pools for children and adults, a mini-club for children, volleyball and tennis courts, water sports, games rooms, a jacuzzi, shops, and shopping malls, restaurants with many options, bars, discoteques, money-exchange offices, a doctor on call 24 hours a day, gymnasiums, international communications, taxis, rental cars and entertainment during the day and at night.

The Shark's Friends Scuba Cuba International Scuba-Diving Center, with international qualified specialists, offers at all levels and an opportunity to make underwater videos.

Cayo Sabinal has five ecologocal cabanas which blend with their surroundings. Each has a private bath and fan. There is also a combination bar and restaurant which specializes in seafood, plus bicycle rentals and facilities for snorkling and scuba diving.

- Hotels Santa Lucia

Places of Interest

The province has many natural attractions. The Sierra de Cubitas ecological preserve has several natural corridors, more than 70 caves of great speleological and archeological value, and interesting flora and fauna.

Walk through Paredones Pass - a deep defile nearly 5000 feet (1500 m) long on the bed of an extinct river, between rocks more than a million years old and roofed over by plants where colorfull birds nest - Vigueta Pass, where you can see several endemic species of flora and fauna; and on to Lechuza (Owl) Cave, whose galleries lead to halls 164 feet (50 m) in diameter. Bonet's Pit, the largest known karst depression in Cuba, is 295 feet (90m) deep and has important vegetation. Maria Teresa's and Pichardo's Caves contain Indian pictographs.

For underground climbs, try Rolando's Chasm, 433 feet (132 m) deep, with a lake at the bottom around 164 feet (50 m) in diameter, or Mayanna's Chasm, a cave with a vertical access 295 feet (90 m) deep and a dry bottom.

Off the southern coast of the province, at Cayo Caguamas, go swimming and snorkling or go for boat rides and fish with light gear.

- Camaguey city