Cuba, Cayo Machos de Fuera – The sign says Cayo Iguana

We are still making our way North West towards Cienfuegos. We had a lovely short day sail from Cayo Zaza de Fuera to Cayo Machos de Fuera. Our first sight of the Cay was very promising as she looked to have lots sandy beaches and mature palm trees. Getting into the lagoon on the North end of the Cay was not easy. The end of the cay is almost completely surrounded by reefs and sand bars giving it protection, but making it difficult to maneuver into. We needed to get the entrance right as the shallowest sections were 2.1m, and our depth is 2m.

One of our cruising guides said that there was an entrance on the south side of the lagoon, but the other said ‘Don’t attempt it. It is littered with coral heads’. So we went for the safer, but shallower, Northern entrance channel. Most of the stakes, that are supposed to mark the reef edge around the entrance channel are gone, but we did our best to follow the suggest way points. We saw some spots as shallow as 2.1m at low tide, near the end of the channel, but if you stay in the middle you are passing over ‘soft’ grass and sand. Once you are over the shallowest spots the depth increases quickly in the lagoon.

We headed for the dock off the beach, but do be careful if you follow suit. There are coral heads that rise right up to the surface from the lagoons depths scattered about. You need good light to maneuver around in this lagoon and find yourself a nice big sandy spot with lots of swinging room for the shifting winds. We rounded a group of coral heads and found a large 5m deep sandy hole right off the dock and beach. You need to dive on your anchor and make sure it is well set in this lagoon. Although the reefs surrounding it make it sheltered, it is a lee shore when the strongest winds hit during the night. We have been experiencing 20-30 knots of wind each night well into the late morning hours.

All the coral heads and the surrounding reef make the place great for snorkelling. We found the best diversity on the outer reef, especially around the north end. The place is pretty cleaned out by the fishermen coming up from the mainland, but you get large schools of smaller fish with the occasional larger target or conch. Enough to find lunch and dinner.

I did not get the Humans to come here for the snorkelling. No, I got them to come here for the beach. Cayo Machos de Fuera has some lovely beaches with the nicest on the Northern shore. This beach has not escaped the attentions of the tourist day boats running out of the mainland town of Casilda. They have planted lots of palm trees, cleared paths to walk around the Cay, put sun loungers on the beach, build a thatch roofed shade and dinning area and topped it all of with a solar powered restaurant. To give the tourists the whole ‘tropical cay’ experience they have also tamed some of the local iguana and jutia population who now hang out around the dinning area looking for scraps.

You can join the tourists for a 15CUC/person fish and lobster paella lunch or wait until they leave and have the amenities to yourself. Well not quite to yourself. Jose the islands caretaker and cook is left behind. It is times like this the human’s suffer not speaking any Spanish, as it seems clear Jose would love to have someone to chat with. His only company is the occasional fisherman dropping by with his catch. He would have loved a baseball cap from us, but my human did not want to part with the Mountgay Rum cap he received in Antigua. We will have to find something else for him.

The Cay is so pretty and the snorkelling so good the humans decided to skip out the next Cay and instead take a day off before the long sail to Cienfuegos. Cayo Blanco offers little protection during these strong winds and only knocks off 9nm from the journey. With 55 nm to cover to get to Cienfuegoes we will have to get an early start to make it there in daylight. The harbour there is well buoyed and lit at night, but we would prefer to enter a strange port in daylight. The humans have decided that it is prudent to use the light and a rising tide to leave the lagoon and anchor out on the lee side of the cay the evening before departure.

We are racing to get to Cienfuegos because one of the human’s Visas is running out, but really we do need to stop on the mainland soon anyway. We were out of fresh fruit and veg long ago and the humans have eaten their way through most of the reserve cans and frozen stock. There is little more then spices, condiments and a handful of rice and pasta left. Fish, lobster and conch are fine, when we stop long enough to get some, but even I am starting to have dreams about a fresh salads. Guess I am going to have to trade my beach for a shopping trip to the mainland.

We heard from our sister boat, passing the other way, that there is something resembling young cheese available in Cienfuegos. We have not had cheese since George Town in the Bahamas. And I do love cheese. You do not know how lucky you people are with grocery and convenience stores at your finger tips. We are starting to miss some of civilizations luxuries. But don’t worry, as soon as we can get a few fresh things in Cienfuegos we will get over it.

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Photos, charts and information once we got some internet. See link below:

Review of Southern Cuba Part 2 -including the pictures you missed