Cuba - Lonely Planet [285]
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Self-sufficient travelers can turn in to the beach at the mirador (a tower with fantastic panoramic views), 200m before the hotel, or procure a hotel day pass for CUC$20.
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PLAYAS LA HERRADURA, LA LLANITA & LAS BOCAS
Congratulations! You’ve made it to the end of the road. A captivating alternative to the comforts of Covarrubias can be found at this string of northern beaches hugging the Atlantic coast 30km north of Puerto Padre and 55km from Holguín. There’s not much to do here apart from read, relax, ruminate and get lost in the vivid colors of traditional Cuban life.
From Puerto Padre it’s 30km around the eastern shore of Bahía de Chaparra to Playa La Herradura. The beach is a scoop of golden sand that will one day undoubtedly host an all-inclusive resort. Enjoy it while you can – by yourself. There are a handful of houses legally renting rooms (look for the blue-and-white Arrendador Divisa sign). A long-standing choice is Villa Papachongo (in Holguín 24-42-41-74; Casa No 137; r CUC$15; ), right on the beach with a great porch for catching the sunset. Other options are Villa Rocio and Villa Pedro Hidalgo. Ask around. The place isn’t big and everybody knows everybody else. If you want to explore more, push on to Playa Las Bocas where there are several more houses for rent along with a small snack store and an open-air bar at the entrance to town.
Continue west on this road for 11km to Playa La Llanita. The sand here is softer and whiter than in La Herradura, but the beach lies on an unprotected bend and there’s sometimes a vicious chop.
Just 1km beyond, you come to the end of the road at Playa Las Bocas. Wedged between the coast and Bahía de Chaparra, you can usually catch a local ferry to El Socucho and continue to Puerto Padre or rent a room in a casa particular.
Getting There & Away
There are trucks that can take you as far as Puerto Padre from Las Tunas, from where you’ll have to connect with another ride to the junction at Lora before heading north to the beaches. It’s much easier to get up this way from Holguín, but even this way there are only regular trucks to the junction at Velasco, from where you’ll have to connect with another ride north.
Driving is the best shot. Head out of Las Tunas 52km north to Puerto Padre (gas up at the Servi-Cupet here), east to the junction at Lora, then north to Playa La Herradura. A hired taxi should cost between CUC$40 and CUC$50 one-way. From Holguín, leave town on the Gibara road, then head northwest in Aguas Claras on Rte 123. Proceed through the town of Velasco and in Lora turn north on the rutted road to Playa La Herradura.
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Holguín Province
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HOLGUÍN
GIBARA
PLAYA PESQUERO & AROUND
GUARDALAVACA
BANES
BIRÁN
SIERRA DEL CRISTAL
CAYO SAETÍA
MOA
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With native sons as polar opposite as Fidel Castro and Fulgencio Batista, it’s no surprise that Holguín is a region of extremes, and if you delve a little deeper you’ll find a few more. There’s the pine-scented purity of the Sierra del Cristal versus the environmental degradation of the Moa nickel mines; the tranquility of Cayo Saetía versus the bustle of the provincial capital; or the inherent Cuban-ness of Gibara versus the tourist swank of Guardalavaca.
Outside its dazzling north coast resorts, few non-Cubans know much about this hardworking but hard-to-fathom province. It’s a sad, if excusable, oversight. Native Holguiñeros have been ruling over Cuba since 1934 (Batista-Castro-Castro). Not bad for a province that only registered its first city in 1752 and, until the late 1950s, was a virtual fiefdom of the American-owned United Fruit Company.
Holguín’s beauty was first spotted by Christopher Columbus who, by most historical accounts, docked here in October 1492, describing the region’s broccoli-green forests and shapely coastal hills as the ‘most beautiful land he had ever laid eyes on.’
Timeless and benevolent in their mystery, the hills are still here, though the forests were cleared long ago by United Fruit