Choices, Choices

It was between lizards and beaches and I went with the reptilian creatures since they lived on a Caribbean beach anyway. So I boarded a white catamaran on the Ancon Peninsula with a party of crazy French Canadians and some Europeans. The first two hours we spent chilling out on the deck, enjoying the sun and sea, and getting to know each other. Then we arrived at the reef to snorkel, and it was more beautiful than I expected it would be. We were the only yacht out there, and we had all the freedom and time to explore the reef on our own.

When we arrived at Cayo La Iguana, we were greeted on the beach by dozens of large, scaly iguanas. The place was crawling with them and hermit crabs too. We had a decent lunch of paella, some dry flat bread that got tastier the more you ate of it, and potatoes. Then, we had a few hours of time on the island we had all to ourselves. I spent some it enjoying the sun, and the rest snorkeling off the beach where a school of thousands of tiny silver fish surrounded me.

It was the kind of tour I enjoyed; relaxing in a small group, and one that gave us heaps of freedom and time in beautiful places where we were the only tourists around. I should have skipped touristy Varadero for its lack of all of the above.

To Visit Or Not To Visit?

I'm not sure why I went to Varadero since I knew it was super touristy and couldn't offer me anything unique or interesting. I did my usual first morning deal in a new town and went for a walk. As expected, I found nothing that I was interested in. The beach was lovely, sure, but a cold wind swept up the sand and kept everyone's jackets on. The short time I was there, I spent in the hotel room, taking advantage of a rare opportunity to watch cable tv.

But there was a popular tour on offer to Cayo Blanco, one of the islands off the coast, that I decided to take. I didn't want to have wasted my trip there. It was almost a waste of time anyway; a huge noisy tour group of exclusive hotelers on a big catamaran. There was an open bar and the music was pretty good, though completely ruined by the obnoxious middle aged Polish men in budgie smugglers, getting drunk and rowdy, to their wives' embarrassment.

But there was a reason the tours were popular, and despite the disappointment of Varadero, I would still recommend a trip out to the nearby reefs for a spot of snorkeling. The reefs around Cuba were particularly beautiful. I would compare the ones that we saw close to the stunning Belizean reef, though we didn't see the big marine life draws like sharks or sting rays. An option on the tour was a visit to see the dolphins. Everyone was allowed down into the dolphins' pen to pet them, get a kiss and watch a bit of a show in the freezing water. Once we reached Cayo Blanco, a typically gorgeous Caribbean island overrun with tourists, we had a fantastic lobster lunch before a bit of free time on the beach.