Where is Cayo Guillermo ?

Cayo Guillermo is a tiny island of thirteen square kilometers, which is part of a group of several islands called « Jardines del Rey » (King's Gardens) and which itself is part of the largest archipelago called « Sabana-Camaguey ». Moreover, Cayo Guillermo is itself surrounded by a dozen islands, and the nearest is Cayo Media Luna located North of Playa Pilar.

This archipelago counts over 2,500 islands and islets (cays) located off the Atlantic coast of Cuba in the provinces of Ciego de Avila and Camaguey. The island of the Jardines del Rey which saw the first tourist development is Cayo Guillermo in 1992 with the opening of the Hotel Gran Caribe Club Villa Cojimar, followed by the Guitart Cayo Coco (now Blau Colonial) on the neighboring island Cayo Coco, in 1993. Visit the Hotel's section of our site for more information.

At that time, there was no international airport on the island. Tourists had to use the airport located in the capital of Ciego de Avila. The construction of the dam « Pedraplen » long of 27 kms connecting Cayo Coco to the big island of Cuba in 1988 began the era of tourism on both islands of the King's Gardens. A seven-kilometers dike, which ends with a 1.5 km bridge, connects Cayo Coco with Cayo Guillermo.

Another island of this archipelago is booming, Cayo Santa Maria, located about 25 kms as the crow flies from Cayo Guillermo. Like Cayo Coco, Cayo Santa Maria is connected to the island of Cuba by a dike 48 km. There are about 4,000 rooms in Cayo Santa Maria and several projects are underway. If you want to know more about this sunny destination in Cuba, visit our website dedicated to this destination by clicking the following link: www.cayosantamaria.info

Some of the islands of the archipelago of Jardines del Rey in the provinces of Ciego de Avila and Camaguey.

Cayo Coco is connected to the island of Cuba by a dam 27 km (one section of 17 kms is in the sea) with fourteen bridges to limit the impact on the environment. This dam was inaugurated in 1988 after only 16 months of work. A toll booth was installed at the entrance to the dyke (2 CUC per car payable only in CUC).

Here are few satellite photos of Cayo Guillermo with annotations to help you figure out where are the services ...

Overview of Cayo Guillermo	The hotels of Cayo Guillermo	The marina and the « Boat Adventure »	Playa Pilar and Media Luna

It takes more than 30 kilometers of the road between the main island of Cuba and the center of Cayo Coco. Once past the section in the sea, the road is winding between small islands and eventually to join the mainland to Cayo Coco. There is only one road to connect Cayo Coco to Cayo Guillermo. Besides a section of this road is the former runway of the first airport of the island (local flights). The beach hotels in Cayo Guillermo stretch for about five kilometers and is considered one of the most beautiful of the Caribbean.

It is a beach of white fine sand, with calm seas and shallow water. What surprise most in Cayo Guillermo is the beach width that varies a lot with the tides. The range can extend over more than forty meters at low tide. Very impressive and safe for young children because the sea is shallow.

Click HERE to see the position of Cayo Guillermo in Cuba with the help of the excellent positioning software Google Earth. If you do not have this software installed on your computer, you may download a free copy of Google Earth from Google's website.

Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo are located in the province of Ciego de Avila. The nearest village is Morón, where the employees working in the hotels live. As for Cayo Santa Maria, the government is working to build houses (4,000 rooms), near the entrance to the causeway for employees of hotels. This will facilitate the transfer for those who must borrow the dam every day.

The province of Ciego de Avila, who previously was paired with the neighboring Camaguey, has an area of 6.783 km2 with more than 420,000 inhabitants and its capital is the city of Ciego de Avila, founded in 1840.

There is a project for a new hotel in Cayo Guillermo, in the western sector of the island, Playa Pilar. Fortunately, no construction has started yet and hoping that this project will never happen, because Playa Pilar is a beautiful unspoiled beach. There are also planning to build a dolphinarium near the Marina of Cayo Guillermo (right past the bridge). This type of attraction is always very popular for children and even adults, and represents a significant input of funds for the country, considering the high price of this tour.

Revisit us to follow the development of Cayo Guillermo!

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