This will be a long thread as I’ll slowly post numerous photos over the next few days. We were there about a month ago. Wife and I have been taking winter vacations in Cuba for the past 18 yrs. Since many of you aren’t allowed to go there I want to show a bit what the real Cuba is about. And if I infuriate the conservative right wingers on ST with some of my comments then all the better.
First off, Cuba has a booming international tourist industry that attracts tourists from all over the world except one country. In fact tourism has gone up by 17 % this year since the announcement that the embargo might be dropped. Its now being promoted by the travel industry as a see it now place before the Americans move in and there is a McD’s on every beach. The reality is that the 55 yr. old U.S. embargo has had zero effect on the rest of the world in their dealings with Cuba. The USA has stood alone looking foolish in the eyes of the rest of the world with the policy on Cuba. Even then, every single time we go to Cuba we always meet Americans who say f*ck government policy and want to see the place for themselves. This time we met three of our southern neighbors - one was a guy from NYC who flew in from Mexico, another an expat living in the UK but she still flew in on her US passport from London, and the third guy was a farmer from Ohio who caught the 80 km ferry ride from Jamaica.
I’ll begin with were we stayed, a resort on the south coast near the small city of Cienfeugos. The area is rural and quite isolated with only two older resorts on many miles of beach. The place we stayed was actually built be the Russians in the 1960’s during the cold war as a place for their officers to bring their families . As expected it would have been quite spartan and the construction is reinforced concrete as if they were building a nuclear shelter. Its probably the most hurricane proof building in all the Caribbean. 
We stayed here the first time fourteen years ago when it was rated as a two star. Its now bumped up to a three star, but that’s fine for us as its very quiet and the most unpretentious resort we’ve ever been to. We go to scuba dive as our primary choice of location and as long as there is great diving with a beach and rum we aren’t overly picky. If you’re looking for a Disneyland in the Caribbean then this part of Cuba is not the place for you as you’re stepping back in time. There are some tourist strips such as the Veredaro area , but we avoid those places like the plague.
There are a few tourist designated areas but most beaches in Cuba are public so tourists share them with the locals. The Cubans are very friendly and quite open. We stayed in a very rural area so you can walk for miles along the beach and hardly see a soul except for the occasional local. Cuba is one of the safest countries for tourists in the entire world. Compare that to Mexico or some other Caribbean islands.
As mentioned, Cuba has a huge international tourist industry. In 2014 there were 1.1 million visits to Cuba from Canada alone, which based on our population is 1/30. There are lots of Euros, including western and former eastern bloc nations and Cuba is also very popular with South Americans. We’ve also met people from places as diverse as Japan, Turkey, Australia and New Zealand. But one thing is very obvious - Cuba just doesn’t have the infrastructure to support the extra estimated 2-3 million annual American tourists that would visit if the embargo was lifted tomorrow morning.
Note the tall ship at anchor. This is another way to see Cuba if you want a two week cruise to different places. They’re scuba diving at one of the local dive sites.
Great beach bar. We eat a lot of sea food in Cuba. We ate lunch here almost every day. What is on the menu is whatever the fishermen catch that morning. You can also purchase fresh caught fish from the local fishermen on the beach and the beach bar will cook it up for you. This particular beach bar is part of the resort but there are others that are public. Hate to see these places replaced with a McD’s.
Did I mention that this was a rural area? Wake up in the morning and see horses, sheep or roosters tripping across the property.
No swim up bar but it was a big pool that was great for doing lengths before breakfast.
