Cayo Santa Maria is a small island of thirteen kilometers long and up to two kilometers wide, located north of the main island of Cuba in the « Jardines del Rey » or King's Garden. The King's Garden is part of the Biosphere Reserve of UNESCO. To get there, you drive on a causeway in the sea or « pedraplen » of forty-eight kilometers. The beaches of Cayo Santa Maria are located north of the island.

The six sections of beach (total over seven miles) are perfect for walkers and also for those wishing to relax in the sun. Hotels in Cayo Santa Maria are located on the longest beach of the island, 6.2 km in the west sector. The virgin section of the main beach is located west of the Sol Cayo Santa Maria (the first hotel of the island).

We discovered Cayo Santa Maria in January 2002 when the island was home to one hotel, the Sol Cayo Santa Maria. To learn more about the history of the island, visit the historia of our site dedicated to this little paradise in the Atlantic ocean. At the beginning, it was a real paradise of miles of virgin beaches.

Since the opening in December 2001 of the Sol Cayo Santa Maria, new resorts have opened their doors in Cayo Santa Maria, the Melia Cayo Santa Maria (2003), the Melia Las Dunas (2006) and recently the complex Barceló Santa Maria (2008) . Despite this important development, Cayo Santa Maria remains nonetheless a charming little island with lots to offer. Many regulars of this sunny destination return regularly even since the opening of this recent tourist destination.

Several projects are under development on the island and the surrounding area. For more information on hotels and services to come, visit the project section of our site. It is obvious that the ten years required for the construction of the causeway to connect Cayo Santa Maria to the main island of Cuba were not for a single hotel. Keep in mind the future American customers will require thousands of rooms to accommodate millions of tourists annually even the first year after lifting the embargo since 1962.

The sea dike was built with minimal impact on the environment through several bridges. It was a colossal task. The causeway connects the islands of Cayo Las Brujas (35 km), Cayo Ensenachos (42 km) and Cayo Santa Maria (45 km) to the village of Caibarien. The hotel staff goes through the dam every day, as they live in the nearby villages of Caibarien and Remedios. The government has recently built housing Caibarien to facilitate transfers daily.

Cayo Santa Maria is located about thirty miles (in the sea) to the west of Cayo Guillermo and Cayo Coco. The destination is served by the Santa Clara Airport (SNU) about 1 hour 30 minutes by bus. A handicap for a destination that will soon house more than 4,000 rooms, as coaches must go through small villages before going on the causeway. To solve this problem, we have heard of several projects such as a highway linking Santa Clara to the causeway, a strengthening of the runway of Las Brujas airport (10 minutes from Cayo Santa Maria) and recently Caibarien airport would reduce the transfer time to thirty minutes.

This website is our second largest after Cayo Largo and has been online since spring 2002. With all the current developments on the island, you will understand that it is quite difficult to keep updating information contained in this site. It is for this reason that we return once a year for taking photos, videos and info on hotels, tours, activities, etc.

Cayo Santa Maria and the islands of the king's gardens, is the exclusive property of the Cuban government. Some administrative contracts are awarded to Spanish chains such as Sol Melia and Barcelo, but the buildings are managed by the Cuban group Gaviota.

The « Au Natural » lovers will be delighted to learn there is a section of beach on the island where it is possible to enjoy naturism. It is located in the west area of the Sol Cayo Santa Maria. He is currently the only place allowed on the island. Visit the naturism section of our site to learn more about this subject. As for Cayo Largo, there is a fine cohabitation of naturist and non-naturist in Cayo Santa Maria.

We hope that our site dedicated to Cayo Santa Maria you will make you feel to discover this small island or to return. You are also invited to read and / or participate in the discussion forum. Lily and I are owners of the domain name cayosantamaria.info since 2002, and many other sites. Visit our website to discover our other travel sites.

Lily is a travel agent for Voyages Jean-Pierre for several years. She knows Cuba very well to have visited the island more than fifty times. If you wish to discuss about travel packages to Cayo Santa Maria, click HERE to contact her.

Here are few interesting links ...

Visit the newPueblo Cayo Santa Maria located near the Barceló hotel.

  Pesos? Tips? Dollars? Euro? US? Click HERE to know more (in French).

Visit our website about weddings at Cuba.

Discover our snorkeling trips. We have hundreds of photos of fishes, corals and other colorful species and videos in Flash format from destinations we visited. Click HERE to access our site (in French).

Découvrez tous nos sites web de Cuba. Une collection de plusieurs sites informatifs sur cette destination soleil des Antilles. ¡Cuba ... nuestra segunda casa!

Enjoy your visit !

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