Oh My DOG - I'm in love -- with Cayo Largo. This tiny little island in a chain of islands on the Carribean side of Cuba is just plain amazing!
Let me first say that if you are looking for a holiday with lots of partying, tonnes of people piled on top of each other in small spaces, and youngsters drinking their faces off, this is not the place for you - you should go google Cancun - - like, now.
Okay, so for the rest of us, this place is amazing! I can't say enough good things about it! The sand, for one, is amazing. It's a light bone colour, and it never ever ever gets hot! It feels comfy and cool on your feet even on the hottest day. There are only 5 resorts on this island, and the beach stretches for a long long time, so most people spread out, and if you're willing to walk a bit, you can have your own private segment of beach. And since the sand is almost white, the water appears a beautiful pale turquoise... its breathtaking. And then there is the snorkelling. We have seen more life just snorkelling in Cayo Largo than we've seen on many of our past scuba dives! Snorkelling no more than a couple hundred metres out from the beach we met several charming barracuda; a big giant barracuda type thing which we have not yet identified, nor did we hang out with this chap long, he was pretty intimidating; a Turtle - snorkelling, we saw a big greenback turtle; several stingrays, different colours and sizes each; a big-ass grouper, he was cool; jellyfish; cuttle fish; a school of about 300 tarpon came whizzing around us for a few brief and hectic moments; fish, fish and more many fish on the reefs... rays shadowing you as you walk along the beach. Above the water were Pelicans all over the beach - iguanas all over the island, some of whom will share your ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. Amazing bugs, beautiful flora, a 2 metre crocodile, and at least a dozen charming little cats running around the resort. And the island is half nature preserve, with a turtle incubation area to help bolster the sea turtle population.
This is Maria, a 60 year old greenback sea turtle who comes to the incubation centre to lay her eggs. Let me first say that if you are looking for a holiday with lots of partying, tonnes of people piled on top of each other in small spaces, and youngsters drinking their faces off, this is not the place for you - you should go google Cancun - - like, now.
Okay, so for the rest of us, this place is amazing! I can't say enough good things about it! The sand, for one, is amazing. It's a light bone colour, and it never ever ever gets hot! It feels comfy and cool on your feet even on the hottest day. There are only 5 resorts on this island, and the beach stretches for a long long time, so most people spread out, and if you're willing to walk a bit, you can have your own private segment of beach. And since the sand is almost white, the water appears a beautiful pale turquoise... its breathtaking. And then there is the snorkelling. We have seen more life just snorkelling in Cayo Largo than we've seen on many of our past scuba dives! Snorkelling no more than a couple hundred metres out from the beach we met several charming barracuda; a big giant barracuda type thing which we have not yet identified, nor did we hang out with this chap long, he was pretty intimidating; a Turtle - snorkelling, we saw a big greenback turtle; several stingrays, different colours and sizes each; a big-ass grouper, he was cool; jellyfish; cuttle fish; a school of about 300 tarpon came whizzing around us for a few brief and hectic moments; fish, fish and more many fish on the reefs... rays shadowing you as you walk along the beach. Above the water were Pelicans all over the beach - iguanas all over the island, some of whom will share your ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. Amazing bugs, beautiful flora, a 2 metre crocodile, and at least a dozen charming little cats running around the resort. And the island is half nature preserve, with a turtle incubation area to help bolster the sea turtle population.
Oh ya, and tonnes of anole type lizards, and mourning doves, hummingbirds, lots of other birds I can't identify. Basically, if you love animals and beautiful scenery without too many homo sapiens around, this is the place for you.
Sadly, the week we were there, the homo sapiens count was just high enough to book up all of the deep dives, so we only did a shallow one... it was okay, but unless you're a beginner, I don't recommend it, for most of the dive we were 9-20 feet, not really much more than snorkelling with a whole bunch of extra equipment!
The resort we stayed at was the Sol Cayo Largo - a really great place, we'll definately be returning here again!
Sadly, the week we were there, the homo sapiens count was just high enough to book up all of the deep dives, so we only did a shallow one... it was okay, but unless you're a beginner, I don't recommend it, for most of the dive we were 9-20 feet, not really much more than snorkelling with a whole bunch of extra equipment!
The resort we stayed at was the Sol Cayo Largo - a really great place, we'll definately be returning here again!
No comments:
Post a Comment