1989

• Start of construction of the causeway "pedraplen" connecting the coastal town of Caibarien with Cayo Las Brujas, Cayo Ensenachos and Cayo Santa Maria (aka "Los Cayos de Villa Clara")

1999

• Inauguration of the 48-km causeway built by the company «Campana de las Villas ». It took 10 years to build.

• Opening of the first hotel in the area, the Villa Las Brujas on the island of Cayo Las Brujas.

December 2001

• Opening of the first all-inclusive resort, the Sol Cayo Santa Maria. The hotel was ready in 2000 but it opened its doors to tourists only in December 2001. During its first year the hotel served as a training base for future employees of this new tourist pole.

December 2003

• Opening of the hotel Melia Cayo Santa Maria.

December 2005

• Opening of the adult-only hotel Occidental Royal Hideaway on the island of Cayo Ensenachos.

December 2006

• Opening of the hotel Melia Las Dunas.

November 2007

• The hotel Melia Cayo Santa Maria becomes adult-only.

December 2008

• Opening of the Beach section of the Barcelo Cayo Santa Maria.
(The project is to built 4 sections: Beach (construction name: matanzas), Colonial (construction name: trinidad), Caribe and Tropical for a total of 2,694 rooms, and then a Palace section which ultimately became the Royalton).

December 2009

• Opening of the Colonial section of Barcelo Cayo Santa Maria.

• Inauguration of the commercial pueblo Plaza La Estrella.

November 2010

• Opening of the Caribe section of Barcelo Cayo Santa Maria.

• The Melia Cayo Santa Maria changes back its status for a family resort with a mini-club for children.

December 2010

• Opening of the luxury hotel Melia Buenavista (adult-only) located at the West end of Cayo Santa Maria (called Punta Madruguilla). There used to be a military post in this area.

2011

• All medical services in the hotels are transferred to the new International Polyclinic located within the Cayo Santa Maria hotel zone.

June 2011

• The 4 sections of the Barcelo Cayo Santa Maria are divided into 2 separate hotels: the Barcelo Cayo Santa Maria Beach-Colonial and the Barcelo Cayo Santa Maria Caribe-Tropical.

• Inauguration of the comercial pueblo Plaza Las Dunas located a few steps from hotel Melia Las Dunas.

• Announcement of the upcoming opening of a new hotel, the Sirenis Cayo Santa Maria, scheduled for December 2011.

• The adult-only hotel Occidental Royal Hideaway on Cayo Ensenachos changes administration and becomes the Iberostar Ensenachos, it will now be a hotel for everyone (family section and adult sections).

• Inauguration of the Dolphinarium (Delfinario).

December 2011

• The Tropical section of the Barcelo is now open but changes management for the Canadian hotel chain Blue Diamond Hotels & Resorts. (a division of the Sunwing Travel Group). The Barcelo Caribe section becomes the Memories Paraiso Beach Resort and the Barcelo Tropical section becomes the Memories Azul Beach Resort.

• The Colonial and Beach sections of the Barcelo are now grouped in one hotel called Barcelo Cayo Santa Maria Beach-Colonial, eventually the name will be changed to Barcelo Cayo Santa Maria.

• Opening of the Hotel Gaviota Cayo Santa Maria. This hotel should have been administered by the Spanish hotel chain Sirenis, but the latter withdrew from Cuba. The Cuban Group Gaviota S.A. took charge of the administration and finally included it in its "Playa Hoteles" brand under the name Playa Cayo Santa Maria.

July 2012

• The Barcelo group leaves Cayo Santa Maria. The hotel is now administered by «HUSA hoteles» under the name HUSA Cayo Santa Maria Beach Resort.

December 2012

• Opening of the Royalton Cayo Santa Maria, a luxury adult-only hotel, located just a few steps from the Plaza La Estrella.

Spring 2013

• The Paraiso and Azul sections of the Memories are now grouped under the name Memories Paraiso Azul Beach Resort, these two sections will no longer be sold separately.

• Opening of 60 new rooms in the Beach sector of the HUSA Cayo Santa Maria (a block located near the Royalton Cayo Santa Maria and the Plaza La Estrella).

August 2013

• Opening of the hotel Eurostars Cayo Santa Maria in the Playa Las Caletas sector (construction name was: ​​Punta Piedra Movida).

Spring 2014

• Announcement of a future hotel on Playa Perla Blanca, a beach located in the eastern part of Cayo Santa Maria. It will be administered by "Valentin Hoteles" under the name Valentin Perla Blanca.

June 2014

• The hotel chain HUSA abandons the administration of its only hotel in Cuba. In the interim, it will be managed by the Cuban group Gaviota SA under the name Gaviota La Estrella.

September 2014

• Announcement of the opening of two new hotels in the Eastern sector of Cayo Santa Maria (near the Valentin Perla Blanca) by the end of 2015, they are: The Warwick Cayo Santa Maria (construction name: Lagunas del Este 1) and the Ocean Casa del Mar (construction name: Lagunas del Este 2).

November 2014

• Opening of the hotel Valentin Perla Blanca (1st phase).

December 2014

• The hotel Gaviota La Estrella (formerly HUSA and Barcelo) becomes the Starfish Cayo Santa Maria administered by Blue Diamond Hotels & Resorts (a division of Sunwing Travel Group).

January 201

• Opening of the Valentin Perla Blanca Paraiso (2nd phase).

July 2015

• After only 2 years the Eurostars hotel chain abandons the administration of its only hotel in Cuba. In the interim, it will be managed by the Cuban Group Gaviota SA under the name Hotel Cayo Santa Maria.

August 2015

• Opening of the hotel Warwick Cayo Santa Maria located on the eastern part of the island of Cayo Santa Maria.

February 2016

• Opening of the hotel Ocean Casa del Mar by H10 located on the eastern part of the island of Cayo Santa Maria.

November 2016

• The Hotel Starfish Cayo Santa Maria is now divided into two sections sold separately, the East side keeps the name Starfish Cayo Santa Maria (sold in Canada by tour operator Sunwing Vacations) and the West side is named Starfish Tropical Cayo Santa Maria (sold in Canada by tour operator Air Canada Vacations).

December 2016

• Opening of the "Dhawa Cayo Santa Maria" (516 rooms). This hotel is located on Cayo Las Brujas (a small island next to Cayo Santa Maria).

January 2017

• The "Memories Paraiso Azul Beach Resort" is divided into three hotels sold separately. The former Paraiso section becomes the "Memories Paraiso Beach Resort" (666 rooms), the former Azul section was divided in two hotels: the "Grand Memories Santa Maria" (342 rooms) and the "Sanctuary at Grand Memories Santa Maria" (378 rooms, adult-only).

February 2017

• The Hotel Cayo Santa Maria (formerly Eurostars Cayo Santa Maria) is now managed by Golden Tulip, part of Louvre Hotels Group, and becomes the Golden Tulip Aguas Claras.

September 2017

• Hurricane Irma hit « Los Cayos de Villa Clara ». Click to read about Irma.

November 2017

• After only 2 years the Warwick hotel chain abandons the administration of its hotel in Cayo Santa Maria. In the interim, it will be managed by the Cuban Group Gaviota SA under the name Hotel Lagunas del Este I.

March 2018

• Opening of the "Sercotel Experience Cayo Santa Maria". This hotel is located on Cayo Las Brujas (a small island next to Cayo Santa Maria).

• Opening of the "Hotel Las Salinas Plaza & Spa" located in the Gaviota Las Salinas, Plaza & Spa in Cayo Las Brujas.

June 2018

• Hotel Lagunas del Este I (formely Warwick Cayo Santa Maria) is now managed by Labranda Hotels & Resorts under the name Labranda Cayo Santa Maria.

October 2018

• Opening of the "Angsana Cayo Santa Maria". This hotel is located on Cayo Las Brujas (a small island next to Cayo Santa Maria).

December 2018

• Opening of the "Paradisus Los Cayos". This hotel is located on eastern sector of Cayo Santa Maria.

January 2019

• Less than a year since the opening, Sercotel has quitted Cuba. The Sercotel Experience Cayo Santa Maria is now managed by Gaviota (Cuba) under the name Hotel Playa Vista Mar.

April 2019

• The city of Santa Clara was hit by a severe local storm. Strong linear winds up to 100 Km/h, combined with heavy rainfall and hail, caused damages to the roof of the Abel SantaMaria International Airport (a.k.a Santa Clara Airport). The airport is closed until further notice. Flights are cancelled or being diverted to other airports, mainly Varadero, Cayo Coco and Cienfuegos. Power lines and dozens of homes were also affected; a large part of Santa Clara is without power, but fortunately no human casualty was reported.

May 2019

• The Santa Clara airport is reopened.

June 2019

• Hotel Playa Vista Mar (formerly known as the Sercotel Experience Cayo Santa Maria) becomes the Grand Aston Cayo Las Brujas Beach Resort & Spa. The hotel located inside the Gaviota Las Salinas, Plaza & Spa becomes the Aston Fiesta.

August 2019

• Hotel Golden Tulip Aguas Claras (formerly known as the Eurostars Cayo Santa Maria) becomes the Be Live Collection Cayo Santa Maria.

December 2019

• Opening of the Grand Sirenis Cayo Santa Maria located on Playa La Salina, Cayo Las Brujas.

March 2020

• All hotels were closed in mid-March for an indefinite period due to the pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus.

April 2020

• The Ocean Casa del Mar will no longer be managed by the H10 hotel group. This Gaviota property, called Lagunas del Este II, will be managed by Swandor Hotels & Resorts under the name: Swandor Palace Lagunas del Este.

November 2020

• The Labranda Cayo Santa Maria (formerly known as Lagunas del Este I and Warwick Cayo Santa Maria) becomes the Roc Lagunas del Mar.

December 2020

• Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel announced the elimination of their dual currency system (CUC and CUP) as of January 1, 2021. In other words, the definitive removal of the CUC (Cuban convertible peso) in favor of the CUP (Cuban peso) which will have a single exchange rate of 24 CUP for 1 US dollar.

Summer 2022

• Swandor Palace Lagunas del Este returned to its former administrator Ocean by H10 under its opening name: Ocean Casa del Mar.

November 2022

• Reopening of hotel Sol Cayo Santa Maria, completely renovated and now a Adult-Only resort (16+).

• The Ocean Casa del Mar will no longer be managed by the H10 hotel group. In the meantime, this Gaviota property will be named Casa del Mar Cayo Santa Maria.

December 2022

• The Be Live Collection Cayo Santa Maria is now managed by the MGM Muthu Hotels under the name Gran Muthu Cayo Santa Maria.

January 2023

• Hotel Casa del Mar (formerly Swandor Palace Lagunas del Este and Ocean Casa del mar) wil now be managed by the Spanish chain Roc Hoteles and becomes the Roc Casa del Mar.

March 2023

• Opening of the Selectum Family Resort Cayo Santa Maria managed by the Turkish hotel chain Selectum Hotels & Resorts.

June 2023

• The Selectum Family Resort Cayo Santa Maria becomes The One Gallery Hotel.