Cienfuegos (pop. 105,000), 340 kilometers east of Havana and 69 kilometers southwest of Santa Clara, lies on the east side of the Bahía de Cienfuegos, a deep, 88-square-kilometer bay with an umbilically narrow entrance. It’s Cuba’s third-largest port and shelters a large fishing and shrimping fleet. International influences (especially French) have made themselves felt. Cienfuegos even had its own Chinatown (now long since devoid of Chinese people), west of Parque Martí on the edge of the port.

Cienfuegos means “100 fires” and is sometimes written “100 fuegos.” Citizens call their town La Perla del Sur (the pearl of the south). The city’s appeal lies partly in the European flavor of its colonial hub, with a wide Parisian-style boulevard and elegant colonnades. Nonetheless, Cienfuegos has neither the grace of Trinidad nor the flair of Havana. Still, there is an ambience that inspired Benny Moré, the celebrated Cuban sonoro, to sing, “Cienfuegos is the city I like best.”

Getting to Cienfuegos

By Air: The Aeropuerto Internacional Jaime Gonzalez (tel. 043/55-2047) is five kilometers northeast of town. It was not functioning at last visit.

By Bus: The interprovincial bus terminal (Calle 49 e/ Av. 56 y 58) is six blocks east of the Prado. Víazul (tel. 043/51-5720) buses serve Cienfuegos daily en route between Havana and Trinidad, departing Havana at 8:15 a.m. and 1 p.m. (CUC25).

By Train: The train station (Calle 49, e/ Av. 58 y 60, tel. 043/52-5495) is one block north of the bus station. Trains depart for Cienfuegos from Havana at 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. (CUC11); and from Santa Clara at 5:20 p.m. (CUC2.10, second-class only). You can also catch an especial from Havana to Santa Clara and then connect to Cienfuegos, which lies at the end of a branch line off the main Havana–Santiago railroad.

By Private Yacht: Arriving yachters must report for clearance at the Guardía Frontera post, one kilometer south of the Jagua fortress on the western shores of the entrance to Bahía de Cienfuegos. Marina Marlin Cienfuegos (Calle 35, e/ 6 y 8, tel. 043/55-1241, fax 043/55-1275, marinacfg [at] nautica [dot] cfg [dot] cyt [dot] cu) has moorings for 30 yachts (from CUC0.45 per foot), with water, electricity, and diesel.