The North Coast

There is little to recommend along the coast northwest of Santa Clara [1]. The Circuito Norte (Route 4-13) parallels the shore, providing an easy route for travelers heading between Santa Clara and Varadero.

Encrucijada, 25 kilometers due north of Santa Clara, was the birthplace of revolutionary heroes Abel Santamaría and Jesús Menéndez. Their houses are now museums.

East of Encrucijada, Route 4-13 runs through San Antonio de las Vueltas, a sleepy town that wakes up for the year-end parranda. The highway then merges with Route 4-321, which runs west to Santa Clara and east to Remedios [2] and Caibarién [3].

Beach-fringed cays lie scattered offshore. The cays’ landward shores are fringed by mangroves—havens for herons, flamingos, roseate spoonbills, and other stilt-legged waders, as well as manatees, while marine turtles come ashore to lay eggs. The Área Protegida Las Picuas–Cayo del Cristo (tel. 042/69-0141) has no facilities for tourists (not even tours), although flamingos can sometimes be seen in lagoons by the office in the fishing community of Carahatas, 14 kilometers north of the Circuito Norte. It has a small jutía breeding facility.