A Stopover in Morón
Located 37km (23 miles) north of Ciego de Avila, Morón (Moh-rohn) is the small gateway city to the cays, and home to most of the 3,500 Cubans who work at the resort hotels. With just a few dusty streets traveled by bicycles, horse-drawn carriages, and antique American autos, charmingly low-key Morón is most notable for its splendid, but dilapidated collection of colonial buildings that line the main street, Calle Martí. Most visitors arrive by bus or taxi from Ciego de Avila or Camagüey or on an organized tour from one of the hotels on the Cayos. Though Morón possesses a Municipal Museum, Calle Martí 374 (tel. 33/50-4501; admission CUC$1/US$1.10/55p) with pre-Columbian artifacts and idols, and an evocative 1920s railway station, most travelers are content to stroll up and down Martí, absorbing the relaxed local flavor. The town mascot is the cock of Morón, a bronze statue placed at the foot of a clock tower near the Hotel Morón (the cock crows twice daily).
Some visitors decamp to Morón as a less-expensive alternative to the all-inclusive luxury hotels on the cays. By far the best place to stay in town is La Casona, Cristóbal Colón 41-C (tel. 33/50-2236; fax 33/5-2128), an elegant and beautiful, if simple, small hotel in a yellow colonial manor house. It has seven enormous but sparsely furnished rooms with extremely high ceilings, marble floors, private bathrooms, and air-conditioning, and the hotel has a family-style restaurant, small pool, and an open-air bar out back. Though rooms could perhaps be a bit better cared for, the hotel is an atmospheric place to crash for CUC$36 (US$39/£19) double occupancy. The large, unattractive, and uninviting Hotel Morón, Avenida de Tarafa (tel. 33/50-2230; www.islazul.cu), run by Islazul, is a distant second choice. It does have a pool, however. Double rooms cost just CUC$36 to CUC$42 (US$39-US$45/£19-£23).
Easily the best spot for a meal in Morón is Restaurante-Bar La Fuente, Calle Martí 169 between Libertad and Ignacio Agramonte (tel. 33/50-5758). The upscale and very cute restaurant has original art on the walls and an open central patio and fountain. Focusing on the tourist trade, it serves lots of salads, omelets, and main courses like grilled fish and lobster for CUC$5 to CUC$20 (US$5.40-US$22/£2.70-£11). At night, the essential visit is to the Casa de la Trova, Calle Libertad between Narciso López and Martí, for a dose of traditional Cuban tunes.
Farther South: Jardines de la Reina
South of Ciego de Avila is the protected pristine chain of islands known as the Archipíelago de los Jardines de la Reina. Here, there are hundreds of uninhabited virgin cays, but the real attraction lies under the water with some of the best diving and fishing in the Caribbean. There are some 80 dive sites that offer the possibility of seeing whale sharks, hammerhead sharks, bull sharks, and hawksbill turtles, among others. (Whale shark high season runs Aug-Jan, with the peak months being Oct-Dec.) Anglers can hope to catch an abundance of bonefish, thousands of tarpon, and huge numbers of permit. Other species that can be caught are horse eye jacks, mutton snapper, and silky sharks. There is only one authorized diving and fishing operation based out of Júcaro, south of Ciego de Avila: Avalon (www.divingincuba.com and www.avalonfishingcenter.com), which runs 7-day diving packages on three live-aboard boats or the floating hotel, La Tortuga, starting at CUC$1,731 (US$1,869/£935) in low season; and 7-day fishing packages on three live-aboard boats or the floating hotel, La Tortuga, with seven cabins, starting at CUC$3,407 (US$3,680/£1,840) in low season.
