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The cuban keys provide shelter to exclusive species of the local flora and wildlife.

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Beaches of powder-thin, white sand, exotic animal species and solitary scenery are simply unforgettable for all travelers.

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The oldest locals have it that Don Pepe, regardless of his bad-tempered character, had managed to live in harmony with his neighbors and relatives until the day when the fisherman learned his beautiful niece had fallen in love. Since then, no time was good enough to prevent the young lovers from seeing each other. Trapped in despair, they resorted to wisdom and started spreading the word that the spot in the keys where they used to meet was haunted by witches and ghosts that roamed in the afternoon.

Everything was just fine for a while for the young couple. But one afternoon, she got lost in the middle of a storm and never made it to the rendezvous. Each and every piece of land and sea was searched thoroughly, to no avail. Don Pepe scoured the neighboring keys in vain. There was nothing the fiancé could do to soothe his desperation, so he tried to ease his sorrow with booze. However, people still insist that a mysterious shadow saunters on the sand every afternoon in Las Brujas (The Witches) Key, while out of Borracho (Drunken) Key, a man’s cry for his missing lover is overheard.

Fantasy or reality, nobody who has ever visited that magic strip of land off the northern shore of Villa Clara stops getting dazzled by this natural paradise, safe haven of countless flora and wildlife species –some of them hailing exclusively from those keys- that also boasts nearly unexplored beaches fine enough to hold a candle to the ones found in Varadero.

A 30-mile-long stony road –it grabbed the Alcantara Bridge Award to the Best Iberian-American Civil Work due to the harmonious combination of nature and engineering- hooks up the main island with the Santa Maria, Las Brujas and Ensenacho keys. The stony road’s 46 bridges allow water exchange between both sides of the pathway, a reason why life has never stopped blooming there.

These keys are home to a number of major hotel facilities, such as Las Brujas Villas, the Sol Meliá Cayo Santa Maria Hotel or the Occidental Royal Hideaway Ensenachos –the first and only five-star deluxe resort perched on a strip halfway between Ensenachos and El Megano beaches. The hotel also relies on a few extra-hotel facilities like golf courses, nautical bases and theme parks, let alone a small airfield that makes communication a whole lot easier.

This unmatchable row of keys, that makes up what it’s known as Jardines del Rey, harbors exclusive flora and wildlife species such as the Cuban rat squirrel, numerous mollusks, the skinner bird and several lizards. As far as flora is concerned, the keys are home to 248 species, broken down in 72 timber-yielding trees, 40 types of ornamental plants and 91 medicinal herbs and shrubs.

With so many attractions under their belts, and coupled with breathtaking beaches and abundant marine life for scuba diving buffs, the keys off Villa Clara’s north shore have turned out to be the fastest-growing tourist destination in Cuba. The enhancement of the Occidental Royal Hideaway Ensenachos Hotel and the grand opening of Las Dunas Resort will step up growth even further.

However, the enchantment of Villa Clara’s northern keys is no stranger to the rest of the area. As a privileged Caribbean archipelago, Cuba’s main island is surrounded by over 3,000 keys, islets and other islands, ranging from the Isle of Youth to the Romano, Coco and Cayo Largo keys, which draw a ring of unfathomable beauty, with rich flora and fauna and paradise beaches, around the largest insular territory.

GARDENS FOR THE KING The story goes that Governor Don Diego Velazquez, the conqueror of Cuba, was the one who shattered Christopher Columbus’s crazy idea that he had landed on the magical Catay, the mysterious place Marco Polo mentioned time and again in his book The Million. Don Diego hurriedly knocked together a round trip around Cuba to make sure it was just an island, and soon before anyone could say crazy Eddy he chanced upon the unimaginable wonder of the Cuban keys.

Perhaps comparing those places with the magnificence of Spain’s royal gardens –or maybe the ones in France’s Versailles- Don Diego hit the nail on the head when he called the archipelago off Cuba’s north coast –from Punta Hicacos in Varadero all the way to Nuevitas in Camaguey- as Jardines del Rey (The King’s Gardens)

That formation that had emerged from under the sea –separated from the main island by an array of coves and lagoon- is made up of 400 keys crowned by a coral reef of nearly 250 miles long, second only to Australia’s Great Coral Barrier. The difference, however, is their balmy and calm waters all year round, as well as its rich underwater and ground wildlife, elements that lure visitors to stay in this natural Eden for forever more.

Maybe that explains why Ernest Hemingway, a man who knew this zone like no one else, made this area his favorite spot to hunt down German U-boats during World War II or just to catch giant marlins.

God knows if the 1954 Nobel-winning author ever took a swim in the calm waters off Coco and Guillermo keys, a couple of Jardines del Rey islets that stand out for their beauty and splendor.

Especially near Coco Key, a 142-square-mile, forest-covered natural haven where mangrove thickets, coconuts and wildlife species are hedged by over 13 miles of beaches of powder-thin sands and crystal-clear waters. Flocks of flamencos rest near the coastal pools, accompanied by mollusks, amphibians, mammals and endemic and migratory birds. Together, they turn this site into a one-and-only natural reservoir, with a coral reef that resembles an underwater garden.

Linked to solid ground by a 10.5-mile-long stony road that also hooks up the province of Ciego de Avila with Romano Key –another paradisiacal spot- this location is blessed with a good deal of tourist facilities where scuba diving, swimming at the beach and basking in the sun can be enjoyed in a nearly virgin landscape. The blend makes it no doubt one of the most sought-after travel destinations on the face of the earth.

CHAMBERS FOR THE QUEEN Just like the King has its gardens in the waters off northern Cuba, the Queen has her own too, in another archipelago not so developed from a tourist standpoint, but perhaps even most charming, where endemic flora and wildlife are so rich that scholars haven’t stopped to label species on the premises.

Beyond that and trapped in the same ring of keys the Isle of Youth belongs to, this group of islets comprises 300 formations of different sizes known as the Archipelago of the Canarreos. This bunch of islands is home to Cayo Largo del Sur, one of the best-known travel destinations all across Cuba.

Black-sand beaches like Bibijagua or unique sea bottoms off the southern portion are inhabited by colonies of crocodiles and marked by rich cultural traditions that make the Isle of Youth or the Isle of Pine –as it’s also known- the right spot to kick off a tour that could end up around the neighboring keys.

There lies Cayo Largo del Sur with its 16.7 miles of beaches and superb sea bottoms –penciled in by National Geographic magazine as one of the best preserved on the planet. This key offers 33 scuba diving sites in the vicinity and gasping tours through mangrove thickets for birdwatching. There are even facilities in the marinas to practice fishing or guided visits to the island or the neighboring Rosario, Rico, Cantiles and Iguana keys.

The All Inclusive Island –as Cayo Largo del Sur has been nicknamed- is outfitted with more than a thousand accommodations scattered in cozy villas and hotels next to some of the best-known beaches, like Paradiso, Lindamar, Blanca and Tortuga –named so for being the spot of choice for turtles to lay their eggs since its sand never gets too hot, no matter how strong might the sun beat down on it.

Nonetheless, the ingrained beauty of the place is no stranger to the rest of the zone. It’s déjâ vu all around Cuba’s coastlines and the many islets you might hit upon just a few miles ahead, like the cases of Jutia and Saetia keys to the west, the ones grouped around Jardines del Rey or off the waters of Holguin province, also in the north, or the peerless Jardines de la Reina and Canarreos archipelagos to the south, corollary of the main island that brags about its keys as if it were a pearl necklace.