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Varadero &

Province% 45 / POP 692,536

Includes  Why Go? ...... 200 With a name translating as ‘massacres,’ Matanzas Province Matanzas...... 215 conceals an appropriately tumultuous past beneath its Cárdenas...... 223 modern-day reputation for glam all-inclusive holidays. In San Miguel de los the 17th century pillaging pirates ravaged the region’s prized Baños & Around. . . . 225 north coast, while three centuries later, more invaders grap- pled ashore in the Bahía de Cochinos () under the Península de Zapata...... 227 dreamy notion that they were about to liberate the nation. The Bahía de Cochinos attracts more divers than mer- Central Australia cenaries these days, while sunbathers rather than pirates & Around...... 227 invade the northern beaches of Varadero, the vast Caribbe- Boca de Guamá. . . . . 227 an resort and lucrative economic ‘cash cow’ that stretches Gran Parque Natural 20km along the sandy Península de Hicacos. Montemar...... 228 Providing a weird juxtaposition is the scruffy city of Playa Larga...... 230 Matanzas, the music-rich provincial capital that has gifted Playa Girón...... 231 the world with rumba, danzón (ballroom dance), countless grand neoclassical buildings and Santería (the province is the veritable cradle of Afro-Cuban religion). Tourists may be scant here outside of Varadero but soulful, only-in- Best Places to Eat experiences are surprisingly abundant. ¨¨Varadero 60 (p210) ¨¨Salsa Suárez (p208) When to Go ¨¨Paladar Nonna Tina (p209) ¨¨December through April the all-inclusive hotels in the ¨¨El Chiquirrín (p220) tourist set-piece – Varadero – hike prices for the temporada alta (high season), the best time for beach-basking. ¨¨Hit Matanzas city around October 10 for the annual rumba Best Places to festival, Festival del Bailador Rumbero. Sleep ¨¨November to April are the best months for birdwatching in ¨¨Hostal Azul (p218) the Ciénaga de Zapata. ¨¨Casa Julio y Lidia (p233) ¨¨Casa Mary y Àngel (p203) ¨¨Royalton Hicacos Resort (p206) Varadero & Matanzas Province NortherNORTHERnN MAMaTtANZASanzas 199 5 555 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 - S 5555555555555555 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 E s O s a n C G a u ó 5 555555 5555555555555555 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 l n N

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NORTHERN MATANZAS dero) and one of its biggestits of one and dero) ports (Matan zas), the northern coastline is also Matanzas center and a hub main population Province’s for industry and commerce. Despite this, the Home to Cuba’s largest resort largest area (Vara to Cuba’s Home 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

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