May 16, 2015
Facts about Playa Caletones
From Lonely Planet Guide to Cuba
ou’ll need some sort of transport (bike, taxi, rental car) to get to this lovely little beach, 17km west of Gibara. The apostrophe-shaped stretch of white sand and azure sea here is a favorite of Holguín vacationers. The town is ramshackle, with no services except rustic Restaurante “La Esparanza” on the beachfront road, serving up some of Cuba’s most delectable fresh seafood on an upstairs terrace overlooking the water.
Ask here about freshwater pozas (pools) where you can go swimming. DIY divers can part with CUC$10 to be guided to some caves 5km further along, which purportedly contain some of Cuba’s best cave diving. You’ll need your own equipment. The cave system goes back some 3000m, with water depth about 15m.
Cycling Stats
Start point: Gibara, Las Tunas, Cuba
Destination: Playa Caletones, Las Tunas, Cuba (out and back)
End point: Gibara, Las Tunas, Cuba
41.9 km distance, 16.8 avg. speed
2:29 riding time
What happened…
Andrew writes: I wish I could tell you about how wonderful the beach was today, but really…it pales in comparison to some of the other beaches we have seen. Lonely Planet says something about this being some sort of a gem of a beach..maybe if that gem is a topaz, or carnelian. We rode 20km to get there, with the wind at our back which was nice, but then most of the coastline was rock, or coral; just all-around sharp.
What little strip of sand there was ended up being quite exposed to the wind, which after a winter in Mexico of sand in the face, isn’t a lot of fun. Even kite-surfing wasn’t really an option because, while I had my equipment, the setup just didn’t lend itself very well to safety. Lots of sharp pointy rocks in the water, and not a lot of room to launch and land amidst the other people there. We decided to head straight back to Gibara instead.
We went for a hike to the top of Gibara in the afternoon, where the old fort overlooks the bay. It was nice. Then for dinner, I managed to talk the Casa owner into making us less food, for less money, since I didn’t feel like paying $16CUC ($16USD) for swordfish). We had chicken and rice instead for half that. Then it was to bed early, looking forward to riding tomorrow to Holguin and checking out the city.
Amanda writes:Likely the flattest road we’ve experienced since being on the South coast. The way out was wind at our back and only took us an hour to cover the 20 km. The small playita is okay but perhaps having been spoiled by the Carribean beaches of the South coast and Guardalavaca we didn’t think it was anything special. A nice bike ride but if you’d prefer a rest day, take it here.
Today’s Photographs
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