Sunshine, beach, nautical sports and an unmatchable environment provided by its comfortable hotels, as well as the chance of sightseeing tours to anywhere in Cuba, are the essence behind Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo. These are the two islets outfitted with a real tourist infrastructure in the archipelago.

There are top-notch all-included hotels along great beaches. In them, guests are entitled to choose and add different tours around the keys to their own stay programs. Among those tours, travelers can wallow in trail blazing for nature-lovers, horseback rides, bicycles, bikes or jeeps, nautical tours, fishing or scuba diving, a visit to La Guira site featuring traditional hoe-downs or hick parties. Other amenities include visits to La Cueva del Jabalí (The Boar’s Cave), indeed a place for recreation and nightly shows, watching flamingos in La Silla layover (The Chair), or just lay back in a different kind of place like Pilar Beach, Flamingo Beach or Prohibida Beach (Forbidden Beach). Off the keys, travelers can get to know Ciego de Avila, capital of the province bearing the same name, a place for tourists to meet its brisk dwellers. And what about Morón, the region’s second-best town. In its nearby lagoons, staffers organize speedboat rides into the channels, or simply enjoy trout fishing. In Florencia, a mountainous region rich in traditions and history in the eastern side of the province, travelers can choose from horseback rides with Cuban-cuisine lunch included by a river. A tour to Cubanagua Hill, due to its many environmental values, is also a pretty good option.

The Jardines del Rey’s near furute.- For this year’s second half, the grand opening of Laguna Azul-Emperador (El Senador) hotel complex is expected. Perspectives include building new hotels aimed at sustainable development rate of 800 rooms a year. This would put hotel infrastructure in the neighborhood of 8,000 rooms by 2005, not only on Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo, but also on Paredón Grande and Cayo Romano among others. However, regardless of the tourist boom, observance of environmental protection guidelines and regulations is mandatory.In the same breath, extra-hotel alternatives will be dramatically boosted in Jardines del Rey. Quite soon, Cayo Coco’s first 18-hole golf court will be built and the first stage of the new marina at Cayo Guillermo will be concluded. Another marina will be built on Cayo Coco and construction of El Bagá National Park, stretching out for 20 square kilometers amid mangrove thickets, lagoons and natural canals to the western Cayo Coco, must be underway soon. Also in the offing is the project of a scuba diving center on Cayo Media Luna (Waning Moon Key) across from El Pilar Key, as well as a center for trailblazing activities in Loma del Puerto, right down in the middle of Cayo Coco. Rocarena Restaurant is already operational in a coveted location off Las Coroladas Beach, likewise attached to a scuba diving center, an amusement park and a life-quality clinic. Cayo Coco’s international airport must be operational pretty soon.