Playa Mégano

 

Mégano Beach is one of the most beautiful beaches in the Playas del Este group. Until recently, Mégano was a quiet spot preferred mostly by foreign tourists seeking a beach. With improved transportation, Mégano beach now welcomes hundreds of Havana residents. The bamboo sun shades that once added beauty to the area, have disappeared over time, replaced by beach umbrellas that hit your head when you stand up a little and sun lounger that can't be adjusted when sitting. It's worth noting that finding a sun lounger or umbrella is often difficult due to the large crowds of Havana residents who flock to the beach, especially on Sundays.

 

The Beach Club restaurant is a safe place to enjoy lobster and fish. New shack-style places selling drinks and snacks are also opening nearby. Hotel Villa Megano is the most important building of this area.

 

Playa Santa María del Mar (Tropicoco, Mar Azul)

 

The area which is known today as Playa Santa María del Mar, or Playa Mar Azul for the stunning blue of the sea, underwent an urban transformation in the 20th century, with summer houses and a private club built to promote tourism.  After the Revolution, most of the owners of the houses left the country, and the property was transferred to the Cuban Workers' Central Union to provide incentives for their best workers during their vacations. Private beaches were opened to all Cubans.

 

Santa María del Mar Beach is like an extension of Mégano Beach, sharing the same beautiful features. Its width of up to 60 meters is striking. You can enjoy lobster and fish at restaurants like Chiringuito de playa, Rancho Catamaran, and Ranchon don Pepe.

 

Today the Hotel Tropicoco (Mar Azul Hotel) is the most important accommodation place in the region.

 

East of Playa Santa María del Mar, towards the Boca Ciega River, the population density decreases, but there are still small areas like Las Palmitas and Mi Cayito within the boundaries of Guanabo where people gather around bars and restaurants and enjoy the beach. At the easternmost point of this area is the Blau Arenal Habana hotel.

 

Playa Boca Ciega

Playa Boca Ciega is a beach located on the western coast of the town of Guanabo, separated from Playa Santa María del Mar by the river of the same name. Food and drink options are available at the Oasis Beach Bar Restaurant, although this beach is not very popular.

 

Playa Guanabo

 

The name Guanabo comes from the guano used as mortar in the construction of huts once upon a time in Cuba, as it was abundant in this place. Guano is a substance rich in nitrogen and phosphate, formed by the accumulation of the remains and corpses of seabirds, over many years. It is used mainly as a fertilizer in agriculture.

 

Located 27 km from Havana, this district covers a vast area of 32 square kilometers.

 

Guanabo, a developed municipality, boasts numerous accommodation facilities (hotels, casas particulares) along the beachfront, and restaurants, such as Restaurante 421 Guanabo, Bar Restaurante Papi Happy, La Casa del Pescador and El Cubano. Numerous bars provide a lively nightlife scene.

 

Playa Boca Ciega, Playa Guanabo, Playa Veneciana, Playa Brisas del Mar, and Playa Rincon are beaches located along the Guanabo coast. The section called Playa Guanabo represents the larger central part of the coast of the municipality. The area is also home to natural attractions such as coral reefs, making it suitable for snorkeling and diving.

 

Playa Veneciana is separated from Playa Guanabo by the Boca de Guanabo and the lagoon. Playa Veneciana, Playa Brisas del Mar, and Playa Rincon are destinations mostly for local residents. As you move east, the white sand turns gray.

The most popular beaches in Havana are those grouped under the name Playas del Este (Eastern Beaches). If we consider the tunnel as the end of Havana's city center, these beaches are located along the long coastal strip between 14th and 30th kilometers east of Havana.

In order of distance from Havana, from the nearest to the farest, the beaches are as follows:

• Playa Bacuranao

• Playa Tarara

• Playa Mégano

• Playa Santa María del Mar (Tropicoco, Mar Azul)

• Playa Boca Ciega

• Playa Guanabo

• Playa Veneciana

• Playa Brisas del Mar

• Playa Rincon de Guanabo

Although each has a different name, they could be considered a single beach called the Blue Circuit.

All these beaches are accessed by the road Via Blanca, the highway that connects Havana to Varadero.

These popular beaches are characterized by fine white sand and clear turquoise waters, inviting the residents of Havana to enjoy and relax. When summer begins, Havana residents flock to these beaches to soak up the sea and sun. The beach season for Cubans begins in June and ends in early November.

 

Playa Bacuranao

Playa Bacuranao is prefered mostly by the residents of the Alamar neighborhood, Guanabacoa, and San Miguel del Padrón, due to its proximity to the buses that take them back to their homes. The waters of the Bacuranao River flow into the ocean on the western side of the beach.

Playa Tarará

The resort of Tarará, unlike other beaches in this group, has a distinct history.

The history of the town of Tarará dates back to the 16th century, when it belonged to the Spanish Crown. The indigenous people were working in copper mines, which were used to make cannonballs to protect themselves from constant attacks by pirates and corsairs. When Spanish soldiers oversaw the mining of minerals on the coast of Cobre and their shipment to Havana, the trumpets they blew to initiate the operations made the sound "TA-RA-RA”. Thus, the locals named the land and the river Tarará.

At the entrance to the town, there is a cave where aboriginal remains were discovered in the 1940s.

The fate of the land changed when Royal Sylvester Webster, an American chief engineer who oversaw the construction of railroads in Mexico, moved to Cuba, decided to stay there, married, and had six children. Webster bought the land of Tarará to settle there with his expanding family.

 

Another rumor about where the town's name comes from is that the name, Tarará, was taken from the refrain of a song the Chinese workers used to sing during the days when Webster worked on the railroads.

In the 1940s, Tarará developed considerably thanks to the efforts of Webster, and transformed into a true beach town with the Santa Elena church named after his wife, the Tarará Yacht Club, more than 400 residences, stores, a movie theater, a marina, a public park, and beach facilities.

Webster and his wife died before the Revolution, but their children continued to live here until their home was confiscated after the Revolution. Most of the residents of Tarará emigrated to the United States.

After Havana was captured by rebels, Fidel Castro persuaded Che Guevara, whose asthma was flaring, to rest near the sea and benefit the mild climate. Thus, Che settled in Tarará in late January 1959 and stayed there for three months. There, he founded the Tarará Group, which held heated debates and proposed solutions regarding Cuba's social, political, and economic development. In addition, Che began writing his book, Guerrilla Warfare, while resting in Tarará. When Che married his second wife, Aleida March, in June 1959, he again chose Tarará for his honeymoon.

During the peak of relations between Cuba and Soviet Russia, many Russian officials resided in Tarará.

After the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in April 1986, Tarará was allocated to children affected by radiation. The first group, consisting of 139 children, arrived in Cuba on March 29, 1990, being welcomed by Fidel Castro Ruz. Thus, the Cuban Program for the Care of Chernobyl Children was started, sponsored completely by the government. Cuba was preparing for the impending collapse of its main partner and economic supporter, the USSR. This was the most difficult period the Cuban economy had ever experienced. Despite these hardships, Cuba provided free medical treatment to 25,170 Ukrainian, Russian, and Belarusian sick children in its lands for 20 years. Doctors, translators, and healthcare workers dedicated themselves day and night to caring for these sick children, who became an essential part of their lives.

 

Tarará, with its hotels, private clubs, and residences, resembles a resort town today and is also a popular destination for its Marina Internacional Tarará and the Museo Martires de Tarará.

 

The Museo Martires de Tarará is dedicated to the memory of three Interior Ministry combatants and a security guard (Orosmán Dueñas Valero, Rafael Guevara Borges, Yuri Gómez Reinoso, and Rolando Pérez Quintosa), who were murdered by a group of counterrevolutionaries on January 9, 1992, while attempting to steal a boat illegally to flee the country to the United States. The members of the armed group, who tied the security guards, shot them with automatic weapons after a short discussion and killed all four security guards.