May 13, 2015
Facts about Guardalavaca
From Lonely Planet Guide to Cuba
In the days before towel-covered sun-loungers and poolside bingo, Columbus described this stretch of coast as the most beautiful place he had ever laid eyes on. Few modern-day visitors would disagree. Love it or hate it, Guardalavaca’s enduring popularity has its raison d’être: enviable tropical beaches, verdant green hills and sheltered turquoise coral reefs that teem with aquatic action. More spread out than Varadero and less isolated than Cayo Coco, for many discerning travelers Guardalavaca gets the R and R balance just right – relaxation and realism.
Friendly Faces
Alex: One of the half-dozen kitesurfing instructors at the Hotel Brisas. German/Cuban, he spoke good English, and was just stoked to have a “dream” job, since he mostly hung out with his friends all day, kitesurfing whenever he wanted. Alex wanted to buy Andrew’s kite board, since his is broken, but Andrew just can’t see himself selling any of his gear.
Today’s Highlights
Seeing the ocean from the top; kitesurfing; swapping stories over drinks.
Cycling Stats
Start point: Banes, Holguin, Cuba
Destination: Guardalavca, Holguin, Cuba
2:59 km riding time, 43.7 km distance, 14.0 km/h average speed, 48.8 max. speed
What happened…
Andrew writes: Leaving Banes early, with only 35km to ride meant that today was such a short cycling day. It was a pretty easy ride also, at least up until 10km left when I said to Amanda, ”What an easy ride eh?” and then we immediately shot up 250m in elevation over a 3km pass. It was worth it though, at the top, we could look down and see the town of Guardalavaca below, and behind it, the Atlantic ocean.
Rolling into town on the downside of the hill, we had huge grins on our faces from the exhilaration of the speed, plus the sheer beauty of the aquamarine water, vibrant green palms, and pure white sand. Then my grin got even bigger when I spotted a kite floating above the water, with someone racing along the waves below.
We picked out the Casa closest to the public beach, did some “chores”, and then headed down to the water to check it all out. Guardalavaca actually has a pretty wide reef break, about 1km away from shore. This makes all of the beach area pretty calm, which ended up being perfect for kitesurfing. There were loads of palapas to lounge under, with chairs supplied, easy access to food/drink from the hotels and bars nearby, and the people watching was fun too. Amanda joked to me how it must be a new batch of tourists, because they were pretty white. Sure enough, by the end of the afternoon, they were all lobster red; just something we first noticed in Cayo Coco.
The kiting was average, 15-20 knots, pretty gusty, but to be honest, it was such a joy to be out on the water. Partly because I love the sport, but also, there is a part of me that feels vindicated that I’ve been hauling around 25lbs of gear that I’m actually getting to use! Unlike probably 20lbs of other stuff in my bags that hasn’t been touched. The level of local talent was impressive, with guys throwing big hooked and unhooked tricks. Sometimes I think I will practice more so that when I see my friend Kyle in San Carlos, I’ll have a big bag of tricks to show him.
After the beach we went back to the Casa for dinner. It turns out there are two young German backpackers here also. We spent the rest of the evening eating, drinking, and swapping travel stories. It was a lot of fun!
Today’s Photographs
[flickr_tags user_id=”17145280@N00″ tags=”051315″]