Varadero

The resort began in the 1880s as a summer retreat for families from nearby Cárdenas and became a playground for wealthy Cubans and Americans before the 1959 revolution. Since the 1990s it has been the center of Cuba's international beach tourism, with large all-inclusive hotels along the eastern part of the peninsula and an older village of low houses and small parks at the western end. Varadero suits travelers who want an easy beach base with shallow, clear water, plus caves, reefs and the cities of Matanzas, Cárdenas and Havana within reach for day trips. This guide uses Varadero as a base for exploring the rest of western Cuba.

Where to stay in Varadero

Varadero stretches along one main road, and where you stay sets the tone of the trip. The old village, roughly between Calles 23 and 54, keeps wooden summer houses with red roofs along Avenida Primera, small squares and the beach a block away; it suits travelers who like to walk to cafés and see everyday life. Parque Josone, a landscaped park from 1942 on Avenida Primera at Calle 56, marks the quieter, greener end of town, and Kawama, at the western end, is closest to the mainland and the road to Matanzas.

East of the town, the peninsula is lined with large hotels and all-inclusive resorts, which suit families and couples who want everything on site. In Cuba, private vacation rentals take the form of casas particulares, licensed private homes marked by a sign with blue triangles. Rules for private rentals are set by the Cuban authorities and change from time to time, so check the current official rules and make sure that any home you book holds a valid license.

The beach and the Hicacos Peninsula

Varadero's beach faces north across the Straits of Florida, with fine white sand and a gentle slope, so in many places bathers can wade dozens of meters out before the water gets deep. The peninsula is long and very narrow, separated from the mainland by the Kawama Channel, with the Bay of Cárdenas along its southern side.

At the northeastern tip, the Varahicacos Ecological Reserve protects native forest, dunes and caves. Its trails lead to the Cueva de Ambrosio, where about 47 pre-Columbian drawings have been recorded, and to the Cueva de los Musulmanes, once used as an Indigenous burial site. The Hicacos Point Natural Park nearby includes Mangón Lake, home to dozens of bird and reptile species, and the ruins of La Calavera, an early Spanish salt works. Offshore, the cays at the western end of the Sabana-Camagüey Archipelago are visited for snorkeling, and Varadero has more than 30 dive sites, including the Cayo Piedras del Norte marine park, where a sunken ship and an aircraft lie on the seabed.

History of Varadero

The name means dry dock in Spanish, after the shore where ships were hauled out of the water, and the peninsula's salt pans, closed in 1961, supplied Spanish fleets from the late 16th century. Varadero is first mentioned in 1555, but the town itself dates from 1887, when families from Cárdenas received permission to build summer houses by the beach. An annual rowing regatta began in 1910, and the first hotel opened in 1915.

In the early 1930s the American industrialist Irénée du Pont built a mansion he called Xanadu on the peninsula, and other wealthy families followed. After the 1959 revolution many villas were expropriated, some becoming museums, and in 1960 the Park of the 8,000 Lockers opened the beach to Cubans of every class. Hotel building on a large scale returned in the 1990s, when international tourism became a pillar of the Cuban economy. Varadero was a municipality of its own from 1976 to 2010 and is now part of Cárdenas. The Municipal Museum occupies a 1920s summer house near the beach.

Matanzas, Cárdenas and the Zapata Peninsula

Matanzas, the provincial capital, lies about 32 kilometers west of Varadero on a deep bay crossed by three rivers. Founded in 1693, it is called the City of Bridges and, for its poets, the Athens of Cuba, and it is known as the birthplace of danzón and rumba. The Sauto Theater, opened in 1863, and the Bellamar Caves just outside the city are both national monuments. Cárdenas, on the bay sheltered by the peninsula, was founded in 1828 on a grid plan, and it was here in 1850 that Narciso López first raised the flag that became Cuba's national flag.

Farther south, the Zapata Swamp covers much of the Zapata Peninsula and is protected as a biosphere reserve and a Ramsar wetland. It is home to the endemic Cuban crocodile and the bee hummingbird, the smallest bird species in the world. On its coast, Playa Larga and Playa Girón, the landing sites of the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, are now known for diving along coral walls.

Havana as a day trip or second base

Havana lies about 140 kilometers west of Varadero along the Vía Blanca highway, roughly two hours by road, and many visitors combine a few days in the capital with their beach stay. On the way, the Bacunayagua Bridge, opened in 1959, is the highest bridge in Cuba and has a viewpoint over the Yumurí Valley.

Old Havana, where the Spanish founded the city on its present site in 1519, was inscribed with its fortifications on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1982. Its squares, among them the Plaza de Armas and the Plaza de la Catedral, are framed by baroque and neoclassical buildings, many restored by the Office of the City Historian. The Castillo de la Real Fuerza, begun in 1558, and the fortresses of El Morro and La Cabaña across the harbor mouth once guarded the treasure fleets, and at La Cabaña a cannon is still fired every night at nine. The Malecón seawall runs west from the old city, and the Paseo del Prado marks its edge with Centro Habana.

Getting there, entry rules and money

Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport (VRA), roughly 20 kilometers west of Varadero toward Matanzas, handles international and domestic flights, and José Martí International Airport (HAV) in Havana is the country's main gateway. Taxis and tourist buses link the hotels with the town, and UK travel advice notes that fuel shortages can affect long road journeys.

Entry rules change, so check the current official rules before you travel. UK government travel advice states that tourists need a tourist visa, also called a tourist card, or an electronic visa, must complete the online D'Viajeros arrival form within 72 hours before entering Cuba, and need a passport valid for at least six months after arrival; it also advises travel insurance with medical cover. For people subject to US jurisdiction, US law does not permit tourist travel to Cuba: the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control allows travel only within 12 categories, narrowed in September 2026, and lodging at places on the State Department's Cuba Prohibited Accommodations List is barred.

Weather and when to visit

Varadero has a tropical climate tempered by the trade winds, with an average temperature of about 25°C: around 21°C in winter and 27°C in summer, and humidity of about 80 percent. Like most of Cuba, it has a drier season from November to April, which is also the main travel season, and a rainier season from May to October, for a total of roughly 1,400 millimeters of rain a year. In winter, air flowing south from North America can bring cooler, breezier days.

The hurricane season runs from June to November, and storms are most likely in September and October; Hurricane Irma damaged much of Varadero in September 2017. After a hurricane, power, communications and water supplies can be disrupted, so travelers visiting in those months should follow forecasts and keep plans flexible. Whatever the month, check the flags on the beach before swimming, and plan outdoor trips for the morning in summer, when the afternoon heat and humidity are at their peak.