After the Isla Grande, la Isla de la Juventud is the second most important Cuban island of the Canarreos Archipelago, located south of the capital of Cuba and approximately 100 km from the coast by the Batabanó Gulf. Its territorial extension is more or less 2205 km2, with 54 km (86 miles) north-south and 58 (92 miles) east-west. Along its history, it has received several names: Camarcó, Siguanea, Reina Amalia, Isla de los Piratas, Isla de las Cotorras e Isla del Tesoro.

The island is separated in two by la Ciénaga de Lanier (Lanier Swamp) which runs from east to west, with forests that shelter more than 20 endemic species, among them las cotorras (kind of parrots). Its soil is calcareous and its coasts are regular. There are several inlets that have the names of pirates and have a great number of medicinal waters, caves, many beaches and excellent scuba diving spots.

Due to the fact that it was strategically located near the maritime routes that the Spanish fleets full of richness followed, the Island called the attention of the pirates that marauded the area, making it their home and shelter for their operations. It is said that at that time, Latrobé pirate buried –90 feet deep- a great cargo of gold and jewels. In 1919 several gold bracelets and other valuable objects that had been hidden in trunks were found, which are still traced by expert treasure hunters of the area and of the world. In fact, there are several hypothesis that confirm that la Isla de la Juventud was Robert Louis Stevenson´s inspiration to write his Treasure Island.

In the Island, there are interesting caves as Punta del Este and Los Indios in la Sierra de las Casas, where some burials of vases and marine conch boxes have been found, which speak about its primitive inhabitants. In the capital of the island, Nueva Gerona, there are several museums: el Museo de Historia (the History Museum), la Galería de Arte Universal (the World Art Gallery), el Museo de la Clandestinidad (the Secrecy Museum), and el Museo de Ciencias Naturales (the Museum of Natural Sciences). It is interesting to visit el Vapor Pinero (the Pinero Vessel), built in Philadelphia in 1901 and declared National monument because it brought to the Island the young men that assaulted the Cuartel Moncada, among them, Fidel Castro. El Presidio Modelo (the Model Prison) is another place with historical values in la Isla de la Juventud, an impressive jail where many Cubans were imprisoned in the thirtieth, and el Museo Finca El Abra (El Abra Farm Museum), where the young José Martí (National Hero of Cuba) spent 6 years in jail.

La Costa del Tesoro (the Treasure Coast) in the eastern part of the south coast of the Island, has two wonderful beaches: Playa Blanca and Playa Punta del Este, separated between them by an abrupt reef being 4 m high and 8 km long. The palm trees of the coast and the uvas caletas (fruit of the uvero) are their main vegetation, refuge of jutías (West Indies rodents) and a spawing place for chelonians.

RECOMMENDED HOTEL

Colony Hotel:**** Located in Siguanea inlet only five minutes from the local airport by ground transportation and a 35 minute flight from the “José Martí” International Airport in Havana. The rooms overlook the sea and have air conditioning, private bathroom, international telephone service, radio, and satellite TV. Restaurant, cafeteria, bar, grill, room service, swimming pool, nightclub, nautical river base, marina, game rooms, recreation park, hard court tennis, squash, basketball and volleyball, bike, moped, horseback riding, catamaran and boat rental, and water sports (windsurfing, water skiing).

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