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| The quiet pool |
Date: December 2008
Length: 1 week
Booking: via Expedia and Nolitours
INTRO:
I went to Sirenis la Salina in Varadero Cuba back in December 2008. I went in early-mid December, before Christmas holidays began to avoid both the rush of people and the higher prices. I didn't know what to expect as it was my first all you can eat all you can drink, one week all inclusive vacation ever. I'd heard you usually downgrade the hotel a star for Caribbean all-inclusive resorts, so I kept an open mind and didn't expect too much.
DAY 1:
Our booking was via Expedia and Nolitours, and man, these flights depart early (I believe in my case 6 am). Upon arrival in Cuba, you can see that it is a developing country by its airport's infrastructure. There was only one rudimentary luggage belt, and customs felt old and a little intimidating (as it is a Communist country after all). I was a little nervous going through without any knowledge of the Spanish language, but I simply paid a landing fee and was free to go. Given they had no instructions as to how to find the transportation for our hotel and all signs were in an unknown language, it was a bit overwhelming. Thankfully, we discovered buses right outside the exit, and employees from the various tour groups holding signs to pick up those arriving.
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| The airport (view from the plane). |
It was half an hour to an hour's bus ride from the airport to the hotel, and we received pleasant a mini introduction of Cuba along the way. It was an interesting drive from the airport to the resort as we passed by many local homes, of which house most of the people working in the tourism industry in Cuba. Given that cars are expensive, hitchhiking is the norm and we found lines of locals lining up for it. We were kindly advised by the guide that it would not be advised for foreigners. Haha. What's cool about the cars though, is that they are all antiques likely due to import restrictions. I felt like I was back in the 60s/70s, cruising down the street with my oldies music blasting and my Elvis hair slicked back.
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| A street in Varadero |
Upon our arrival, we were given a welcome orientation, a drink, and a bag of coffee beans and a bottle of rum per room which was excellent (free stuff!).
After that, they took us to our rooms. They actually have to use golf carts to transport you and your luggage to the buildings as the resort is huge! I consider myself a fast walker, and it took me 10 minutes to walk from one side of the resort to the other!
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| Sirenis la Salina resort. |
VARADERO:
Varadero is a long stretch of narrow land on the Northern side of the Cuban island, surrounded by beautiful and world famous white sand beaches and the ocean. It's pretty close to paradise in my opinion. A bus comes every half an hour, and stops by each hotel to pick up and drop off guests, then stops in various places around town including markets and restaurants. It is a pretty convenient way to tour Varadero.
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| The Varadero tourist double deckers. |
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| Beautiful white sandy beaches. |
THE RESORT:
At the time of our visit, Sirenis la Salina was the newest resort on the Varadero stretch, but there were new resorts in the midst of building right beside it, which is probably done by now. There are two pools (one quiet and a large one with a twisting slide), 1 jacuzzi, 1 sauna, 1 gym, 2 buffet dinners, and multiple a la carts.
During the day, there are lessons and games all happening next to the larger pool.
Surprisingly, the hotel looked better than the pictures they have online. Beautiful pools, wonderful landscaped greenery, and of course, what Cuba is famous for - its white sand beaches were truly stunning.
All beaches in Cuba are public space, but you won't see many locals in the beach resort area. Many resorts catering to tourists are right by the beach, but some resorts are built closer to each other than others as well as varying in size. In my opinion, Sirenis la Salina had ample beach space for its guests, without any other people from other resorts crowding into your space.
A money exchange is available on site, as well as signing up for excursions.
Different shows are on daily by the theatre. I tried to attend every single one, including acrobats, a Michael Jackson impersonator, a musical with song and dance, a magician, and even a synchronized swimming show by the pool!
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| Synchronized swimming show. |
Free water activities are available including pedal boats, canoeing, and even a ride on a catamaran (book in advance)! At a cost, you can get a banana boat ride which I paid for but it was quite fun!
THE FOOD:
I was only able to try two of the a la carts, of which I chose Cuban and French, but Cuban cuisine won hands down!
I can't say the same thing for the buffets. There were two buffets - the main buffet that is larger and more formal, and the more casual one by the beach. They try to make the food North American style, but they are obviously missing some ingredients because it tastes a bit off. With time though, I figured what I liked and didn't, and survived on a diet of fresh pasta, beans and carrots (which were by the way delicious). To ensure there was variety, every night at the main buffet featured a theme night, which meant different featured foods.
I had the most relaxing time going to the beach buffet in the mornings, to hear the waves while eating breakfast, or to grab a cappuccino and spike it with some rum. The beach buffet also featured BBQ for lunch. The only downside is that all the live chefs worked at the main buffet, where you can request for menu items cooked freshly in front of you including eggs cooked to your choice, pasta , grilled fish, and Spanish coffee.
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| Fresh fish for the night! |
Note that most people go to Cuba for the beach not for the food!
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| The view of the larger pool from the snack bar. |
Partially to "get my money's worth" at an all-you-can-eat-all-you-can-drink and the fact that I woke up early to the sound of birds chirping, I would go for a leisurely breakfast at the beach buffet, followed by a drink and a walk on the beach. Next, I would go for a second breakfast at the main buffet with my friends for a fresh omelet. This would be followed by lunch either by the beach buffet or the main buffet. To satisfy any afternoon cravings, I would have a mini pizza or fries at the snack bar, and end it with dinner at the main buffet.
THE ROOM:
We got the standard garden view room, but lucky for us, it was close to the beach! Our room was on an upper floor, with a decent sized balcony. We also had a good sized washroom. My only complaint is that in my room, the tap was slightly misplaced (due to design) from the sink, so water would flow all over the counter. We rectified this problem by placing towels around it.
Overall, maid service was good and clean. They came every day to replenish our supplies, as well as decorating and making our towels into nice shapes as we come back.
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| My bed! |
EXCURSIONS:
MATANZAS
There were a variety of excursions we could sign up with, including horseback riding by the beach, Havana, dune buggy riding... but we decided to go to Matanzas which was a smaller historical town. In Cuba, there are two different currencies - one used by locals and another by tourists. The one used by tourists is the CUC (Cuban Convertible Peso), where one USD is less than one CUC. Given as such, buying anything was generally very expensive. Given that Havana was double the cost of Matanzas, and both had colonial historical buildings, I stuck with the latter.
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| Matanzas |
Perhaps the tour company wasn't very good, but they basically drop you off at various bus stops around Matanzas and from there you are on your own (at least until they pick you up)! My friends and I stuck out a lot as foreigners, and without a map I felt nervous to say the least. We met a friendly local who offered to take us around with his broke English, but my city instincts unfortunately said do NOT trust strangers and so we ditched him. Sadly for us, without him we did not know where to go for anything given stores do not even have signs to indicate it is a store, most store windows are tinted, and everything is in Spanish! So... we ended up just waiting around for the bus to appear and take us back to the resort.
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| Another view of Matanzas |
SNORKELING:
Being near the ocean, I really wanted to check out the fish and corals so I signed up to go snorkeling for half a day. Little did I know this would become a full day field trip. The first site they drove us to close to Varadero was littered with jellyfish, which would be dangerous if they stung. So instead, we headed 3 hours down toward the the southern part of the country. Upon arrival, we found that their equipment was old, which was fine except the water was murky making it difficult to actually to see the fish.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Overall though, Cuba was a pretty fun place, and just when you relax, you find out that it's already time to go home already. I will probably come here again, though this won't happen until I've gone to the Dominican, Mexico, Hawaii, the Bahamas, and any other Caribbean island that catches my eye. ;)
SOME PERSONAL TIPS:
1. Bring multiple sets of swimming trucks/bikinis! You don't want to be wearing your wet one from the day before!
2. If you want a chair by the beach or pool under an umbrella, be ready to wake up early and stake your claim with your trusty blue towel (provided by the resort). They go fast in the mornings!
3. Fresh towels are available for exchange during the day in a hut between the beach and the pools.
4. Do it yourself spiked coffee is delicious.
5. Do buy rum and cigars as it is cheap! If you can buy it from the supermarkets/stores outside the resort, they are even cheaper!
6. You can choose to tip your maids in the form of makeup/old clothes as they are hard to come by in Cuba and expensive.
7. Do go to the multiple markets in Varadero. They have some very intricate and beautiful handicrafts. Remember to bargain with sellers!
8. Take a golf cart from one end of the resort to the other where possible to save time. They drive by pretty often dropping off and picking up guests all around the resort, and you can usually hop on if there's space.
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| One of the craft stands. |
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