Cuba - Lonely Planet [262]
NH Krystal Laguna ( 30-14-70; s/d CUC$110/170; ) The same chain that runs Parque Central in Havana also tends to this low-rise resort spread spaciously between the Meliás and the Tryp. It’s run as a complex with the Emperador located next door, and sports 80 villas on a lagoon behind the beach and sea. Novelties aside, the NH gets mixed reviews with many travelers citing its (relative) inferiority compared to its spiffy Havana cousin.
Villa Gaviota Cayo Coco (Gaviota; 30-21-80; d/tr CUC$130/185; ) An amiable low-key place, Villa Gaviota has friendly service and a degree of intimacy missing from most of the larger resorts. It’s right on the beach.
Hotel Blau Colonial ( 30-13-11; r from CUC$130; ) Formerly known as the Guitart Cayo Coco, this well-designed resort was the island’s first hotel when it opened in 1993 (ancient history by Cayo Coco standards). The hotel gained notoriety in 1994 when, according to Cuban media, gunmen from the right-wing Cuban exile movement Alpha 66 opened fire on the building in a blatant act of provocation. Fortunately, no one was hurt. Refurbished under new management in 2003, the Blau boasts attractive Spanish colonial–style villas that lend it a more cloistered and refined air than the Tryp next door.
Meliá Cayo Coco ( 30-11-80; s/d CUC$132/208; ) This stellar resort on Playa Las Coloradas, at the eastern end of the hotel strip, is everything you’d expect from the businesslike Spanish Meliá chain. For a luxury twist try staying in one of the elegant white bungalows that stand perched on stilts in the middle of a lagoon. Though the prices are high, the Meliá is a romantic haven, and a ‘no-kids’ policy enhances the tranquility.
Eating
Amid the ubiquitous as-much-as-you-can-eat hotel buffets there are a few independent restaurants – mainly thatched roof, ranchón-style places on or near the beach.
Restaurant Sitio La Güira ( 8am-11pm) Set in the old reconstructed charcoal burners’ camp, La Güira’s food is fresh, plentiful and not too charcoaly. Try the big, fresh sandwiches for CUC$2 or the shrimp plates for CUC$12. Strumming music trios do the rounds.
Parador La Silla ( 30-11-67; 9am-6pm) A thatched-roof snack bar halfway along the causeway into Cayo Coco that seems to almost float on the shallow Bahía de Perros. After a full plate of comida criolla (Creole food) you can climb up an adjacent lookout tower and try to spot distant specks of pink (flamingos).
Ranchón Playa Flamenco ( 9am-4pm) Eat exquisite seafood, drink cold beer, swim, snorkel, sunbathe, eat more seafood, drink more beer…you get the picture.
Ranchón Las Coloradas ( 30-11-74; 9am-4pm) Seafood again in an even more paradisiacal setting – can it be possible?
There’s an additional bar-parrillada (grill restaurant) at the Parque Natural El Bagá.
Drinking & Entertainment
All the ranchóns reviewed have attached bars and all the all-inclusive hotels have a full nightly entertainment program (usually only available to hotel guests). Otherwise it’s…
La Cueva del Jabalí ( 30-12-06; admission CUC$5; Tue-Sat) For those bored of the all-inclusive floor show, this is the only independent entertainment venue in Cayo Coco. It’s 5km west of the Tryp complex, in a natural cave. The place features a cabaret show and it’s free all day to visit the bar.
Getting There & Around
Opened in 2001, Cayo Coco’s Aeropuerto Internacional Jardines del Rey ( 30-91-65) boasts a modern 3000m-runway facility that can process 1.2 million visitors annually. Weekly flights arrive here from Canada, Mexico, Spain, the UK, Germany and more. There’s a twice-daily service to and from Havana