Guardalavaca is a town in the

Holguín Province Holguín () is one of the provinces of Cuba, the third most populous after Havana and Santiago de Cuba. It lies in the southeast of the country. Its major cities include Holguín (the capital), Banes, Antilla, Mayarí, and Moa. The provinc ...

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 ...

. It is a

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity on ...

location due to its white sandy

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from Rock (geology), rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle beach, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological s ...

es and warm waters. Guardalavaca beach is protected by a large

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 is visited by both local Cubans and tourists. Most Cuban workers in the all-inclusive hotels are transported daily in buses from neighbouring cities like Holguin, Banes, and

Rafael Freyre Rafael Freyre is a municipality and town in the Holguín Province of Cuba. Overview The main municipal settlement (Rafael Freyre itself) developed around the sugar cane factory "Central Santa Lucía". The only middle school in the area, “ESBU ...

, as only a few Cubans live in Guardalavaca due to the small size of the resort. Between Guardalavaca and Playa Esmeralda are dry tropical forest where

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Cuban birdlife like hummingbirds Cuban emerald can be seen.

Endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Cuban knight anole lizards are numerous in these forest. A daily

flea market A flea market (or swap meet) is a type of street market that provides space for vendors to sell previously owned (secondhand) goods. This type of market is often seasonal. However, in recent years there has been the development of 'formal' ...

is popular for handmade Cuban

souvenirs A souvenir ( French for 'a remembrance or memory'), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and trans ...

and tourists from beaches further away from Guardalavaca centre like Playa Esmeralda and Playa Pesquero come here on excursion. A main tourist attraction is the Taino museum and museum village between Guardalavaca and Banes, and the wildlife trail at Bahia de Naranjo. Bahia de Naranjo also offers

swimming with dolphins The popularity of swimming with dolphins increased in the 1980s and 1990s, occurring in over 65 countries, both as a form of therapy as well as a tourist activity. Proponents of dolphin-assisted therapy (DAT) say that interacting with dolphins can ...

and a small

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...

. Frank Pais Airport is situated approximately 1 hour drive south of the resort and is a reason this area was developed for beach-

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

Ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of nature-oriented tourism intended to contribute to the Ecological conservation, conservation of the natural environment, generally defined as being minimally impactful, and including providing both contributions to conserv ...

and

Wildlife tourism Wildlife tourism is an element of many nations' travel industry centered around observation and interaction with local animal and plant life in their natural habitats. While it can include eco- and animal-friendly tourism, safari hunting and ...

trips to

Baracoa Baracoa, whose full original name is: ''Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Baracoa'' ("Our Lady of the Assumption of Baracoa"), is a municipality and city in Guantánamo Province near the eastern tip of Cuba. It was visited by Admiral Christopher ...

Tropical Rainforest Tropical rainforests are dense and warm rainforests with high rainfall typically found between 10° north and south of the Equator. They are a subset of the tropical forest biome that occurs roughly within the 28° latitudes (in the torrid zo ...

use the large mass-tourism all-inclusive resorts of the Guardalavaca area due to their convenient location near Frank Pais Airport.

Geography

It is located on the northern shore of Cuba, bordering ''Bahia de Naranjo'' (Orange Bay), and is part of the municipality of Banes. Beaches in Guardalavaca include the main Guardalavaca Beach, as well as a number of smaller beaches located west and east of the main beach. Several beaches west of Guardalavaca have also been developed for tourism but there is not abundant housing for local population and little infrastructure outside of the hotels. These beaches include 3 resort areas. Five km to the west is Playa Esmeralda, and several smaller beaches at Bahia de Naranjo

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

. Ten km to the west are Playa Yuraguanal and Playa Pesquero. All of these beaches feature

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

sand and are protected by coral reefs and feature all-inclusive hotels.

History

Naming

"Guardalavaca" literally means "guard the cow" in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

. There are several accounts as to how this name may have originated; one version maintains that ''Guardalavaca'' is a

malapropism A malapropism (; also called a malaprop, acyrologia or Dogberryism) is the incorrect use of a word in place of a word with a similar sound, either unintentionally or for comedic effect, resulting in a nonsensical, often humorous utterance. An exam ...

for its original name ''Guardalabarca'', meaning "guard the boat". The area was once heavily targeted by sea

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

s, and ''Bahía de Naranjo''Bahía de Naranjo at cubatechtravel.com
/ref> near what is now the town of Guardalavaca is a secluded shallow bay connected to the open sea by a narrow

inlet An inlet is a typically long and narrow indentation of a shoreline such as a small arm, cove, bay, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea. Overview In ...

, which made it a proper safe haven to guard ships against pirates. On the other hand, the name may have originated from pirates going after the cattle grazing in the area. As pirates were spotted, the local farmers would thus shout, "Guarda la vaca" - guard the cow. The Cuban government has attempted on several occasions to change the name of the area as they deem it not to be very appealing; they have so far been unsuccessful.

References

External links

* {{Municipalities in Holguín Populated places in Holguín Province Beaches of Cuba Banes, Cuba