If you don’t know already, Cayo Coco is an island off the northern coast of Cuba. The island is part of the greater Jardines Del Rey archipelago. On the island, there is the original main resort area and a smaller area with resorts to the west. This area to the west is called Playa Flamenco. Even further to the west are the resorts of Cayo Guillermo.
Playa Flamenco contains three all-inclusive resorts. The Melia Jardines Del Rey is the furthest east and the Memories Flamenco Beach Resort is the furthest west. In between is the Playa Paraiso Resort (formerly the Pestana). A short distance to the west around a point and in a different bay are the Hotel Playa Coco and the Memories Caribe Beach Resort.
We have stayed at two of the three in the past six months. The third, the Melia, I was able to tour and grab some video. Videos of all three resorts can be found below.
Where Is This Place?
Why Playa Flamenco (And Cayo Coco In General)?
Cayo Coco is not for everyone. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the area and the resorts. All hotels are of a fairly high level of quality. Service, in general, seems at a higher level through Cayo Coco, compared with other resort hot spots in this Caribbean island country.
What’s Good?
A short transfer from the Jardines Del Rey International Airport.
Unlike Holguin, Cayo Santa Maria, Santa Lucia or Cienfuegos, there is no hour and a half bus ride from the airport to the resort. The airport is right on the island and can be as close as ten minutes to some resorts. For the Playa Flamenco resorts, the drive is more like 15-20 minutes.
Amazing beaches.
The beach in front of the three resorts at Playa Flamenco is nothing short of amazing. The sand is soft and the rocks are few. The depth goes down very slowly so you can lounge in the bath temperature water for quite a distance before getting in over your head. Also, the beach is of an excellent length so there’s lots of room for walks, jogs or meandering along on a seashell hunt.
No crime.
Yes, crime is creeping into some locations in Cuba where it didn’t exist anymore. I miss my old cell phone that was most likely stolen on a visit to Holguin a few years ago. Hopefully, the person that stole it benefited and needed it more than I did.
However, Cayo Coco is still a restricted access location for Cuban citizens. Locals must be bussed in everyday to work at the resorts. No one officially lives on the island. All must pass a check-point before crossing the causeway from the mainland to Cayo Coco.
What’s Bad?
No culture.
Because of the restricted access, you will not really get a taste of the real Cuba. Sure, you can talk to the employees but that doesn’t compare to immersing yourself into this country that is so close to us geographically but yet so very far away.
In order to get to the real Cuba, you must take a taxi or pay for an excursion to the mainland. Regardless, it will cost, both in money and time. A return trip by taxi to Moron, the nearest main city, will cost $80 convertible pesos ($120 CAD or more). However, that price is for the car and not per person. Excursions start at around $55 per person. You see a lot but have very little personal freedom to explore.
Lack of scenery.
What?! How could there be a lack of scenery on a tropical Caribbean beach? Yes, the waterfront is beautiful. The sunrise and sunset can be nothing short of amazing. But, that’s all you’ll see. Other areas of the country (Cienfuegos, Holguin Province, Trinidad, Santiago de Cuba) have inland scenery, as well, with mountains and farmland.
The Resort Videos
Below are video tours of each of the three all-inclusive resorts at Playa Flamenco. If you like what you see, please give these videos a ‘Thumb’s Up’ in YouTube. For more travel and photography related videos, please subscribe to our YouTube Channel!
Melia Jardines Del Rey
Playa Paraiso Resort
Memories Flamenco Beach Resort
