cay
A cay ( ), also spelled caye or key, is a small, low-elevation, sandy island on the surface of a coral reef. Cays occur in tropical environments throughout the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans, including in the Caribbean and on the Grea ...
in
Pinar del Río Province
The Pinar del Río Province is one of the 15 provinces of Cuba. It is at the western end of the island of Cuba. The capital and largest city is Pinar del Río (191,081 pop. in 2022).
Geography
The Pinar del Río province is Cuba's westernmost p ...
,
Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
. Accessible only through boats from Palma Rubia, the white sand beaches on its north coast attract tourism. It has several
snorkeling
Snorkeling (American and British English spelling differences#Doubled in British English, British and Commonwealth English spelling: snorkelling) is the practice of human swimming, swimming face down on or through a body of water while breathing ...
and
diving
Diving most often refers to:
* Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water
* Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes
Diving or Dive may also refer to:
Sports
* Dive (American football), ...
coral reef
A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in group ...
and well known for its
black coral
Antipatharians, also known as black corals or thorn corals, are an order of soft deep-water corals. These corals can be recognized by their jet-black or dark brown chitin skeletons, which are surrounded by their colored polyps (part of coral th ...
.
Geography
The cay is roughly 1.5 km2 (150 hectares) in size and 4.2 km long. It is several hundred yards wide in most points, with a maximum width of 750 m and a minimum of 280 m. It is located roughly 150 km west of
Havana
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. Swamps cover more than three quarters of the surface of the island; the south side is inaccessible due to a forest of
mangroves
A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen and remove sal ...
.
Climate
The average temperature in Cayo Levisa is between 21 °C and 33 °C and the water temperature varies between 1 °C and 3 °C.
Coral reefs
The
Benthic zone
The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning "the depths". ...
of the coral reef was analysed in 2002 and 2003. Foliaceous and calcareous algae cover at least half of the substrate. Live coral cover was 30–40%, with ten dominant species of coral occurring more densely than sponges and gorgonians. Disease was identified in less than 3% of coral colonies, with white plague being the most common disease.
Tourism
According to ''
Rough Guides
Rough Guides is a travel company that offers tailor-made trips planned and arranged by local travel experts based in destinations around the world. Originally established as a guidebook publisher in 1982, Rough Guides expanded into customized t ...
'' in 2003, the island is more developed for tourism than nearby Colorados Archipelago islands like the Cayo Jutías. A boat leaves from Palma Rubia at 11a.m. and returns at 5p.m. There is a hotel facility on the island made up of 20 cabins, as well as a restaurant and a dive centre. According to a 2006 study, it is the only cay in the archipelago to offer diving, at coral reefs of depth 5m to 30m.
See also
*
Geography of Cuba
Cuba is an Archipelago, island nation in the Caribbean Sea. It comprises an archipelago of islands centred upon the geographic coordinates 21°3N, 80°00W. Cuba is the principal island, surrounded by four main archipelagos: the Colorados Archipel ...
*
Geography of North America
North America is the third largest continent, and is also a portion of the second largest supercontinent if North and South America are combined into the Americas and Africa, Europe, and Asia are considered to be part of one supercontinent call ...