Veradaro is a small oasis away from the chaos and confusion that is Cuba and is unfortunately where a huge chunk of tourists spend 100 percent of their time. Which means a huge chunk of people who go to Cuba, never actually go to Cuba.
Veradaro is essentially one 10km narrow stretch of land which thrusts out into the ocean and is bordered by the the softest sand beaches I have ever felt. It is filled mostly with luxury hotels, resorts, restaurants, markets, mini golf, and even a small amusement park.
Everything here is the exact opposite of the cuba we have experienced so far, except for the prices of course which are inflated even more. All Cubans here appear to speak English (one woman even laughed in my face when I asked “Hablas Inglis?”). The bus station is clean, organised and open at convenient hours. The buildings and houses are in great to immaculate condition and there are tourist information points on almost every corner.
As a result the taxi drivers increase their prices even more so and because the day was too miserable to spend at the beach as intended we decided to get a taxi to a nearby cave that you can swim in. The cave os only a 15 minute drive which would only cost about $5 in any other city, however the first few taxis would not negotiate lower than $30! Eventually we found a driver willing to take us for $15 but when we left the outskirts of the city we had to lay down in the back seat so the police didn’t see him taking us outside the city.
The cave was packed with a tour bus when we arrived but after 20 minutes they left and we essentially had the entire cave to ourselves for an hour or so. The light wasn’t so great in the cave so I couldn’t get any great photos. So after returning from the cave I took a walk to photograph this great old wooden house on the beach.
