Cayo Santa Maria (Cayo Santa Maria) is located in the Atlantic Ocean near the islands of Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo, opposite the northern coast of the province of Villa Clara. It is connected to the mainland by the Pedparlen dam with a length of 48.6 km. Nearby are small islands of Las Brujas and Ensenchos.
Cayo Santa Maria itself is a miniature islet with a length of only 13 km and a width of no more than 2 km, which belongs to the archipelago with the romantic name "Royal Gardens" (Jardines del Rey). Gardens, in turn, are under the care of UNESCO, as an important biosphere reserve.
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How to get here
Only 30 km separates the island from Cayo Guillermo and Cayo Coco, which can be reached in half an hour with the help of the picturesque dam Pedraplen (Pedraplen). The nearest international airport is in Santa Clara (on the way 1, 5 hours, shuttle buses run).
On the island of Las Brujas, there is a small airport where local airlines from Havana arrive (no more than 15 minutes drive).
Transport
Pedraplen is the only road on the island in its usual sense for Europeans, all the rest are sandy trails. You can ride here on a scooter or a jeep, but you have to be careful, especially if you want to go to the eastern beaches (for example, Playa Perla Blanca).
Round-the-clock cabs are on duty at all hotels of the island and at the Royal Hideaway Cayo Ensenachos hotel. However, for long trips it is better to book in advance. Cost of travel to the village of Caibarien 35 CUC one way / 65 CUC round trip, Remedios 40 CUC / 75 CUC, Santa Clara 65 CUC / 130 CUC and Cayo Ensenacos 5 CUC / 10 CUC.
Pueblo La Estrella, famous for its restaurants, bars, discos, massage parlors and bowling clubs, runs shuttle buses all day long to the popular shopping and fan village. From the hotel Royal Hideaway Ensenachos it is only 5.8 km away, Sol Cayo Santa Maria - 4 km, Melia Cayo Santa Maria - 3, 3 km, Melia Las Dunas - 2, 6 km.
Auto and scooter rental
You can rent a scooter (the use of a helmet is mandatory in Cuba) - they are designed for two people, but it is better to take "one-to-one": the power is small, the roads are sandy, the seats are small. The cost of renting from 10 CUC per hour, 1-2 days 31 CUC per day, more than 3 days - 22 CUC per day, more than 5 days - 18 CUC per day.
Many hotels also offer their guests bicycles, hire points are in the same place where they rent an auto or scooter. Do not expect luxurious, shiny chrome fashionable gizmos of animals with a bunch of speeds - the climate and salty air do their thing, everything rusts, so they remind us a lot of "Storks" from childhood (though not everywhere).
In addition, you can rent a car, the most popular - jeeps with manual control. Machines, as a rule, are rented with a full tank, so they must be handed over. The only gas station is at the airport of Las Brujas. The rental price per day, including insurance: jeep 47 CUC per 100 km, then 0, 35 CUC for each additional km; for a mere 59 CUC auto per 100 km and further the same 0, 35 CUC for each subsequent km.
Beaches of Cayo Santa Maria
All beaches and hotels on Cayo Santa Maria are on the north coast of the island. At the same time, the 11-kilometer coast can be conditionally divided into 6 sections, ideal for long evening walks, bathing in the purest azure sea and simply sunbathing. Hotels stretched about 6, 5 km along the sea, closer to the north-western part of the island, each of them has its own strip of sand for the guests - this is the site number 1 - equipped beaches Melia Las Dunas and Barcelo, Melia Cayo Santa Maria and Sol Cayo Santa Maria.
However, all the beaches of Cayo Santa Maria are public, that is, no one will forbid sunbathing on a particular stretch of land even near the hotel, not counting beach number 3 (under red roofs). To get to distant beaches, such as Playa Perla Blanca, you will have to rent a scooter or a bicycle, but you should keep in mind that the road is not in the best condition.
The entrance to the water, though gentle, but the depth begins quite quickly. In addition, the Cayo Santa Maria is almost never calm (behind the calm water - at Cayo Guillermo). There are almost always blowing winds, sometimes there are mini-storms, which tourists are notified by a red flag on the beach.
All hotels on the island operate on the "all inclusive" system, which includes the use of non-motorized water sports - look for water club (guests of Sol Cayo Santa Maria use the club of their neighbor Melia Cayo Santa Maria).
All the beaches near the hotels, as a rule, separate natural dunes and mangroves, sometimes reaching a 2-meter height (as in the Barcelo hotel). This is protection from hurricanes and storms, which, alas, also prevents to enjoy the sea views from hotel hotels and restaurants.
Entertainment, excursions and attractions
In December 2009, Cayo Santa Maria opened a tourist village with the romantic name Pueblo La Estrella ("Star"), which is located approximately in the middle between the beach and the tropical thickets of the Barcelo Cayo Santa Maria. As a rule, tourists come there solely for one purpose: to spend money, and a little fun, perhaps. To their services in Pueblo la Estrella shops, restaurants, bars, disco, bowling club, spa and massage parlor, souvenir shops.
A separate pleasure is to walk to the neighboring miniature islet that lies to the west of Cayo Santa Maria and is called Cayo Ensenachos. There, in addition to the luxurious hotel Royal Hideaway Ensenachos - the only one on the island! - there are a couple of amazing beaches with snow-white sand: Playa Ensenachos and Playa Megano.
Another small islet to the west of Santa Maria is the island airport of Cayo Las Brujas (Cayo Las Brujas). There is also one hotel, a modern marina with a bar and a dive center, a 2-kilometer beach in the bay with a very calm sea.
Finally, you can go to two small villages - the fishing Caibarien or the cute Remedios (Remedios). The latter also boasts its own church, school and other notable buildings.