9 Enlightening Things To Do In Holguin, Cuba

Visiting Cuba? You’ve more than likely envisioned walking down Havana’s pastel streets and sipping coconut on Guardalavaca’s beaches. But is Holguin on your Cuba itinerary? There’s a litany of things to do in Holguin Cuba that will allow you to learn about the country’s local culture and have a lot of fun.

Located in the north, the province of Holguin is the third largest in the country, and it’s where Columbus first stepped ashore. The city itself has plenty to offer tourists and travellers alike – whichever label you identify with.

Whether you’re staying in a ‘casa particular’ or an all-inclusive hotel in the Guardalavaca area, make sure you get out and experience the reality of life in Cuba by exploring Holguin’s top cultural attractions.

The 9 best things to do in Holguin, Cuba

Here are some things to do in Holguin. We visited all of these places on days out from our hotel in Holguin. We stayed at Playa Pasquero and couldn’t fault the resort for a relaxed family holiday. Most of the ideas in this list are places we visited on day trips from Holguin.

1. Visit a Cuban farm

We stopped by Nino’s plantations and followed him through the leaves as he hacked off pieces of fruit for us to try. This guy is a fourth generation independent farmer, and he chewed on a big fat Cuban cigar the entire time we were there.

He pointed out coffee plants, chamomile, lemon leaves and ‘donkey bananas’, which are traditionally eaten boiled or fried. At the farm, we tasted foods straight from the earth: guava, Cuban plum, sugar cane, avocado and almonds, plus two kinds of coconut: Indian and Creole.

At the end of our tour, we were directed to rub the sap from an aloe vera plant on to our sunburned skin as our guide reminisced about being made to swallow a pill of the extract every morning as a youth to ward off parasites.

Once we were done eating him out of house and home, we drank Cuban coffee with Samara, the farmer’s wife. Served very strong and sweet in minuscule cups, this is the real taste of Cuba.

The farmer’s brother dropped by while we were drinking up to show us his big yuca. No, really.

Tom even got a souvenir of our day there: a smelly Cuban cigar from the farmer’s pocket!

2. Visit Boca De Sama Fishing Village

Boca De Sama is one of the best places to visit in Holguin. It’s a place where you can learn about real life in the small communities within Holguin.  

I visited a doctor’s surgery, a school and a local shop, where I learned about Cuba’s socialist system and how people survive on basic food rations. The best bit was chatting to the locals!

I wrote a whole post about my time about this day trip in Holguin. Read my account of our trip to Boca De Sama.

3. Set sail to Cayo Saetia, aka ‘Paradise Island’

Hop onto a yacht and set sail to this beautiful island which is not far from Holguin. To the east, Cayo Saetia is located near the broad Bay of Nipe. It is 16 square miles (42 square km) in size, and 65 percent of it is covered with forests. It’s the perfect laid-back day trip from Holguin.

You’ll dock at the beach and have some time to swim and relax on the powdery white sand before eating lunch in the restaurant.

We tucked in to a huge buffet of wild boar and other unusual meats, rice and fruit while a kind of huge iguana type creature crawled around under the tables.

4. Go on safari

I definitely didn’t expect to have a safari experience when I booked my holiday in Holguin, but that’s what I got. After our feast on the island we paid around 9 Convertible Pesos each, piled into monster trucks and headed onto a dirt track.

Soon, we were trundling through wild expanses of parched golden earth and grazing wild horses.

We passed a hugely pregnant camel, elk and antelope but the most memorable moment was my encounter with a big bird.

The truck rounded a corner and we were faced with a huge ostrich striding proudly towards us, bang in the middle of the dirt track. We stopped and I held my breath as it passed us, peering curiously from her beady eyes.

We were told that there had been giraffes on the island the year before, but the drought which we caught the tail end of had caused their deaths.  Soon, we saw vultures circling high above the trees, and came upon the carcass of a horse.

On my return home, I realised that I was incredibly naive to believe these tales of natural deaths when I read that the site is actually a privately held wild game reserve where people pay to hunt imported animals. We were never offered the option to hunt, so I’ll let you decide for yourself what they’re up to there and whether you want to do the safari.

5. Climb Loma de la Cruz

‘Hill of the Cross’ is the best place to go in Holguin for a bird’s eye view of the city, at 261 meters above sea level. I don’t recommend you climb the 458 steps at midday though. That’s what I did, and by the time I reached the top I was gasping for a sip of water.

There was a cafe bar at the top, and I was almost hallucinating at the thought of a cold drink to take the edge off the intense heat.

Imagine my dismay when I got up there to find the cafe was closed. They were painting it in preparation for the Pope’s visit. No liquid saviour for me.

It was worth it for the view though! This is one thing to do in Holguin that you can’t miss.

You can drive up if you don’t fancy the worst leg day in the world. If only someone had told me that.

6. Eat in a local restaurant

‘Paladares’ are privately owned restaurants in Cuba, and they were only recently legalised. This is thanks to Raul Castro’s economic reform programme, which intends to move Cuba away from some aspects of its socialist system.

Now that people are allowed to open their own restaurants, the food landscape in Cuba has come on leaps and bounds and these eateries are a fantastic alternative to state-run restaurants for people who want a more authentic Cuban food experience.

This stunning bright pink building is a restaurant called Maragato. We stopped there after Loma De La Cruz. Parched from our mammoth climb, we gratefully drank the kiwi cocktails we were offered on arrival, and settled down to refuel.

We took our guide for lunch and asked her to order us a traditional meal. Our curious appetizer was mashed banana stuffed with ham, mayonnaise and cheese. Looked a bit like vol-au-vents to me.

For the main course? Roasted chicken, brown rice and banana chips.

As we ate, a torrential rainstorm roared outside. We piled down the steps and threw ourselves onto the leather car seats, but we were already soaked through! It was the first rain after a worrying drought in Cuba and honestly felt like the heavens had opened.

We also ate dinner at a small private restaurant one night, which some friends had discovered accidentally on a previous trip when the restaurant they had planned to go to was closed. The taxi driver took them to his friend’s house, where he had set up a restaurant in his back garden.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the food was delicious and the chef was really excited because he had just managed to obtain some Indian spices. My prawns were covered in spice!

7. Go to the Chorro de Maita Museum Village

Learn about Cuba’s tumultuous past by spending an hour or two at Chorro de Maita cultural museum. I bet you’re wondering what’s going on in this photo, right?

We had a really interesting talk while gazing into a pit of skeletons at the Aboriginal cemetery, then entered the cultural village, where we watched some hilarious re-enactment which almost took away the enormity of the ills that Cuban’s native Indians experienced at the hands of the Spanish.

Then I got ‘healed’ by a naked guy and did some chanting in a circle, so there’s that. Read the full post about my eat pray love moment.

8. Party on the beach at Guardalavaca

The stunning beach at Guardalavaca is heaving with locals at the weekends. Music pumps from a speaker system further up the beach and people bob in the water with beers in their hands.

I really enjoyed the fit boys who putting on some impromptu entertainment in the form of wrestling on the edge of the water. Can’t promise they’ll always be there though, sorry.

The name of this town is a throwback to a time where ships docked there and these foreigners came on to the land and wreaked havoc. They slaughtered the locals’ cows, and ‘Guarda la vaca’ translates to ‘hide the cow’, which was the warning everyone would shout to each other when unfamiliar ships appeared on the horizon. Now, it’s illegal to kill a cow in Cuba. You can get ten years in prison!

The market stalls at Guardalavaca are the perfect place to shop for souvenirs from your trip. You can buy quirky presents like clocks shaped like Havana rum bottles.

 9. Explore Holguin in a classic American car

This was my favourite day out in Cuba: driving around Holguin in a clapped out old ‘Yank Tank’. The photographs were too good not to share, so you can see my whole adventure around Holguin in my post dedicated to the day.

10. Visit one of Holguin’s museums

The Museo de Historia Natural is another of the best things to do in Holguin. This atmospheric building has a collection of artefacts that will enlighten you about Cuba’s past.

Entry is very cheap!

Cuba travel tips

Book tours and excursions in Cuba

Safety and insurance

You will absolutely need travel insurance for your holiday to Cuba. Get a quote using the World Nomads box below.

Currency

The locals use Cuban peso, which can’t be converted. As a tourist, you should take US dollars and change them to convertible pesos.

Everything is cheap (except, weirdly, crisps at the hotel). Remember to tip – it will be hugely appreciated and is very necessary.

How to get to Holguin

You can find book a direct direct to Holguin’s airport then get a bus to your hotel.

Alternatively, you can fly to Holguin from Santiago de Cuba or Havana if you’re already in the country. Search for the best deals on Skyscanner.

Exploring Cuba? A Lonely Planet guidebook will be very handy for navigating around, because internet access is patchy to say the least.

Use my Travel Resources page to find great deals on your trip.

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