Baseball, the national sport
Beisbol was introduced by North American students in 1864 with the secret hope of countering the Spanish influence in the Caribbean. Very quickly, clubs were formed and the first championships were held in 1878. Today, it is a national sport, which unleashes passions and is the object of much attention. Everywhere you go, you will see children playing. And since they need space, they often take over the roads. Be careful! For Cubans, sports are a source of pride and a matter of honor. And baseball is no exception to the rule. With three Olympic titles in Barcelona (1992), Atlanta (1996) and Athens (2004), a semi-final and a silver medal in Sydney (2000) and Beijing (2008) and 25 world titles, the Cuban team is the symbol of a winning nation. If baseball disappeared from the Olympic program in 2012 and 2016, it made its comeback in 2021 for the Olympic Games in Tokyo. A return that was made without Cuba, since the national team failed to secure its ticket to the event in the qualifying tournament held in Florida, a trip to the United States that was marked by hostile slogans against the Cuban government in the stands and especially by the desertion of Cesar Prieto, considered one of the best players in the country, upon arrival on U.S. soil. Note, since 2018, Cuban players are (finally) allowed to play in Major League Baseball (MLB), the prestigious North American league.Boxing, a part of Cuban culture
Boxing is a real institution in Cuba! On the island, boxing is to Cuba what soccer is to Europe. For more than four decades, it has been one of the great nations of this sport, a real factory of champions that has accumulated no less than 41 Olympic medals and 80 world titles. History will probably remember the name of Felix Savón. This Cuban boxer, three times Olympic gold medalist in the heavyweight category, has an impressive record of 387 victories and only 21 defeats! The Cuban school is copied all over the world. A school that was exclusively amateur for decades. If professional boxing is not allowed on the island since 1962 and its prohibition by Fidel Castro, we learned in the spring of 2022 a real revolution: Cuban boxing will open to professionalism. The Cuban Boxing Federation has signed a contract with a Mexican promoter to allow its athletes to earn a living by stepping into the ring (80% of the money will go to the boxer and 20% to the Federation). Many of them have fled the island in recent years to be able to box professionally. A passage in the professional world is almost compulsory for local boxers to allow them to stay at the level of the world's best, to keep the island as a reference of boxing and to continue to attract boxers from all over the world who come for their training camps, like Tony Yoka before his Olympic title in Rio in 2016.
Swimming and water sports
With almost 4,000 km of coastline, the island of Cuba offers an impressive number of beautiful beaches with crystal clear waters. Without being exhaustive, you can lay your towel in Varadero, Playa Pilar on Cayo Guillermo, Hemingway's favorite beach, Guardalavaca and a whole series of islets(cayos), each more beautiful than the other. The beaches are generally more beautiful on the north coast. There are plenty of places to lounge on a towel or practice all kinds of water sports, such as windsurfing, paddle boarding, kayaking, but also motorized sports such as jet-skiing, water skiing, wakeboarding, towed buoys, etc.
Superb scuba diving spots
Visitors will appreciate the opportunities offered by diving. With nearly 4,000 km of coastline, islands surrounded by vast coral reefs often close to the coast, the seabed is a treasure trove. The flamboyant colors and the strange and unique shapes of the corals and fishes are favorable elements for underwater excursions. On the south coast, the Bay of Pigs (Playa Larga and Playa Girón), Cienfuegos and Playa Ancón, Isla de La Juventud, and, on the north coast, Jibacoa and Bacunayagua (on the road from Havana to Matanzas) should be favored. On the western tip of the island in the province of Pinar del Río, Maria La Gorda
is certainly one of the best diving sites in the country and in the Caribbean area. The water is very clear on the Caribbean side. The underwater landscape is very rich with a flora of any beauty, caves covered with corals and inhabited by the most colored fish. You can also admire beautiful tubular sponges, and even black coral. Finally, turtles are very numerous and you will regularly meet stingrays, groupers, parrots, triggerfish, and especially many schools of barracudas and lutjans. Not to mention the famous Cuban lobsters. Finally, in general, go diving around all the cayos where the waters are so translucent that you will already see perfectly, simply equipped with the trilogy of fins-mask-tuba.Fishing, in the footsteps of Hemingway
The main black trout fishing areas are the provinces of Pinar del Río (Río Cuyaguateje and Lago Grande), Villa Clara (Lake Hanabanilla), Sancti Spíritus (Lake Zaza), Ciego de Avila (Lake Redonda). But fishing, the real fishing, the one that attracts enthusiasts and was the delight of Hemingway, is obviously swordfishing. A sport fishing that you can practice thanks to some tourist operators and, every year in June, on the occasion of the international competition of Havana that bears the name of the famous author of The Old Man and the Sea. The best period is from April to September and the best spots are off the northern coast. You can catch swordfish, tuna, mackerel, barracuda and sharks. Cayo Guillermo, Hemingway's favorite spot, is obviously a must.
Assaulting an exceptional nature
Hiking. Although Cuba is well known for its architectural and cultural richness, its unforgettable beaches, and the warm welcome of its people, one would almost forget that Cuba is endowed with an exceptional and still highly protected natural environment, with numerous national parks, biosphere reserves and nature reserves. Given the way tourism is organized in Cuba, almost all hikes are now systematically guided by guides, most of whom are foresters who know their adventure terrain perfectly and are also very knowledgeable about the flora and fauna, making your outings very rewarding. To avoid the (too) hot weather and the rainy season, it is better to plan to walk between December and April
If you want to exercise and take in the sights, you should not miss the Viñales Valley, THE place for hiking in Cuba, located in the province of Pinar del Río. This beautiful valley, classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, boasts a unique landscape and exceptional colors, with trails that cross red earth fields, near tobacco crops with mogotes - karstic reliefs inherited from the Jurassic period - that rise to the horizon. In the center of the island, the natural park of Topes de Collantes, located in the heart of the Sierra del Escambray, attracts lovers of virgin nature. Between mountains and tropical forests, the natural environment is perfectly preserved
More demanding, four mountain systems are particularly suitable for trekking. The Guaniguanico mountain range, formed by the Sierras de Los Órganos and Del Rosario; the Guamuhaya mountain range, integrating the Sierras del Ecambray and Sancti Spíritus; the Sierra Maestra mountain range and its extension to the east with the Sierra de la Gran Piedra; and finally the Sagua-Baracoa mountain range for experienced trekkers. In the Sierra Maestra, two or three days of intense hiking can lead you to the summit of Pico Turquino (1,974 m), the highest peak on the island
For some years now, Cuba has been developing ecotourism, in an effort to protect the environment and promote sustainable development. Even if the possibilities of hiking are not numerous, a lot of work has been done in terms of itineraries, creation, adaptation of equipment and structures in respect of the sites. We can note the development of tobacco drying sheds in the region of Viñales, the reconstitution of huts in which escaped slaves took refuge, "cimarrones", in the sector of Las Terrazas in the Sierra del Rosario, the tents around the old haciendas in the Sierra del Escambray or finally the refuges in the famous Sierra Maestra
Caving. For caving enthusiasts, numerous caves, some of which are among the largest in Latin America(Gran Caverna de Santo Tomás), provide an exciting glimpse into the country's underground world. On the surface, you will appreciate the variety of fauna and flora, where the rate of endemism remains extremely high.
Cuba, cowboy style
Horseback riding in the Cuban wilderness is a great opportunity not to be missed and often at low prices and with an experienced guide. This activity will be offered to you as soon as you set foot in the countryside on many ranches. But, for safety reasons, do not go with just anyone! Horses that are too young, or not well trained, can get carried away. Be sure to check the professional license of your guide. We particularly recommend horseback riding in the lush hills of Viñales, among the famous mogotes and tobacco fields.
