Sailing the Beautiful Seas of Sunny Cuba

Think of Cuba and what springs to mind? Maybe it’s cigars, colonial architecture or the famous battered but classic American cars. Or possibly it’s the welcoming people, salsa dancing or those perfect white sand beaches lapped by the clear waters of the Caribbean Sea.

Now you can add sailing into the mix too. For a start, the weather is ideal for it. Steady trade winds from an east to north-easterly direction usually favour the more sheltered south coast. In summer, the warm wind blows at 5-10 knots, although it can drop altogether too. September and October are the hurricane season and in the winter the wind speed increases to 15-25 knots.

Aside from lovely conditions, there lots of different yacht charter options, including bareboat, skippered, luxury crewed yachts, monohulls and catamarans and both sail and motor yacht charter. There are countless stunning places to head for and two main marinas located on the south coast. Nicknamed ‘the Pearl of the South’, Cienfuegos is one of the island’s largest and most well-to-do cities, with a commercial harbour with a marina pleasantly close to the centre, which feels very French in character.

The other marina is 15 minutes from the colonial and historic city of Trinidad, located in the centre of the south coast. Together with the nearby Valle de los Ingenios, this fascinating site is on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Both places have plenty of shopping, attractions and restaurants to keep you amused on land before heading out to sea.

Sailing westward, this route will take you through the Canarreos Archipelago, a 90-kilometre stretch of small and medium-sized islands with literally hundreds of places to drop anchor and soak up life on the not-so-high seas. One option is Cayo Largo, a tourist resort with highly impressive beaches. Playa Sirena is usually referred to as the most beautiful beach here and the natural pools at Cayo Rico are wonderful as well. Don’t forget your snorkels.

If you cruise east it brings you to the beautiful Ancón Beach, Cayo Blanco, Cayo Machos de Afuera and Cayo Cino Balas on the way to the Jardines de la Reina marine park. This wild, beautiful region is protected by a vast coral barrier reef and the sailing is exhilarating and exploratory as you wind through channels along the keys. Nature lovers will want to take their binoculars and cameras as there is plenty of marine life, flamingos, pelicans and spoonbills, along with the extraordinary iguanas.

If you prefer something a bit more casual on the sailing front, stay at Breezes Jibacoa. This is an all inclusive Superclub positioned on 300-metre of prime beach with lots of Hobie Cat and dinghy sailing right on the doorstep. Located on Arroyo Bermejo Beach, on the country’s north coast, the Breezes Jibacoa is surrounded by beautiful scenery and the hotel is only 45 miles from Havana International Airport and 35 miles from Varadero. The nearby fishing town of Santa Cruz del Norte is home to one of the largest Havana Club Rum factories in Cuba, which makes souvenir shopping refreshingly simple for a change.

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