The best sport spots and adventures in Cuba – travel tips, packing lists and first-hand experience from DOMISPORTS.
Camagüey · Scuba Diving, Snorkeling · Best time: Nov–Apr
A protected reef archipelago far off the south coast, reachable only by liveaboard: Caribbean reef sharks and nurse sharks on almost every dive, healthy corals, crocodiles in the mangroves. Numbers are strictly capped — which keeps the reefs intact and bookings tight. Liveaboard-only destination — 5-day trips from Júcaro.
Pinar del Río · Cycling, Climbing, Hiking · Best time: Nov–Apr
Karst domes above tobacco fields: cycle quiet lanes through the valley, climb the overhanging mogote walls and hike between farms and caves. The climbing scene is small and familial — better bring your own gear. Cuba's most relaxed outdoor base. Rent a bike (~€5/day) and cycle through the valley — tobacco fields and mogotes.
Sancti Spíritus · Hiking, Cycling, Horse Riding · Best time: Nov–Apr
A colonial town with sport on its doorstep: hike to waterfalls with turquoise pools in the Escambray mountains, cycle out to Playa Ancón, and ride horseback through coffee and sugar country between the valleys. Salsa on the steps at night — recovery, Cuban style. El Nicho waterfall — swim in turquoise pool.
Isla de la Juventud · Scuba Diving, Snorkeling · Best time: Nov–Apr
A flat Caribbean island with reefs right offshore: dive coral gardens and small walls, snorkel over starfish fields and have kilometres of beach almost to yourself. Not a place for programme junkies — here it's about water, reef and quiet. Playa Sirena — Cuba's most beautiful beach, almost empty.
Guantánamo · Hiking, Kayaking, Cycling · Best time: Nov–Apr
Cuba's green, humid east: climb the table mountain El Yunque through cacao plantations and rainforest, paddle up river mouths and cycle the coastal roads. Far from the beach tourism of the west — and closer to the Cuba hardly anyone sees. El Yunque hike (580m) — Cuba's table mountain, 3h ascent.
Pinar del Río · Scuba Diving, Snorkeling, Hiking · Best time: Dec–Apr
At Cuba's far western tip, at the end of the Guanahacabibes peninsula, sits the island's most laid-back dive base: around 50 sites with sheer walls, black coral forests and swim-through caves like the Yemayá wall. The Bahía de Corrientes is sheltered and usually glassy — perfect for two or three dives a day. In the evening there's nothing but the sunset, and that's exactly the point. The drop-offs start just a few hundred meters off the beach — boat rides to the roughly 50 sites rarely take more than ten minutes.
Matanzas · Snorkeling, Scuba Diving, Swimming · Best time: Nov–Apr
In the Bay of Pigs you snorkel and dive straight from shore — the reef wall drops off just meters from the beach, with 20 to 40 meters of visibility. Highlights are the deep-blue Cueva de los Peces cenote in the coastal forest and the walls and wrecks at Punta Perdiz. Nowhere in the Caribbean gets you onto a reef cheaper or with less hassle. Cueva de los Peces is a roughly 70-meter-deep cenote right on the coastal road — pack a mask and just jump in.
Santiago de Cuba · Trekking, Hiking · Best time: Dec–Apr
At 1,974 meters, Turquino is Cuba's highest peak — the trek through the Sierra Maestra means around 19 kilometers and 1,300 meters of climbing each way, usually done as a two- to three-day tour with a hut overnight. You hike through cloud forest full of giant ferns and orchids, past Castro's revolutionary headquarters La Comandancia de la Plata. Sweaty, muddy, glorious. No going solo here — the permit fee at the park entrance includes the compulsory guide and your bunk at the Aguada de Joaquín hut.
Ciego de Ávila · Kitesurfing, Snorkeling, Fishing · Best time: Nov–Apr
At Playa El Paso you stand in hip-deep, flat water over a sandy bottom — with steady 11 to 15 knots of trade wind, it's one of the Caribbean's best spots to learn kitesurfing. Cuba's first kite school opened here, and the range runs from your first water start to full freeride sessions. No wind? Go snorkel the reef or deep-sea fish in Hemingway's old hunting grounds. Launching is only allowed in the marked kite zones by the hotels — expect a flat fee of about 25 dollars per stay.
Artemisa · Hiking, Zipline, Swimming · Best time: Nov–Apr
An eco-village in the Sierra del Rosario biosphere reserve, 80 kilometers west of Havana: marked trails between 3 and 6.4 kilometers lead to coffee plantation ruins and viewpoints like Loma El Taburete. Add Cuba's first zipline — six cables, 1.6 kilometers in total, soaring over the village and lake. Doable for everyone, with 117 bird species thrown in for free. The six lines of Cuba's oldest zipline cross the lake twice — cool off afterwards in the natural pools of the Río San Juan.
Isla de la Juventud · Scuba Diving, Snorkeling · Best time: Dec–Apr
At the far southwestern tip of Isla de la Juventud sits a marine park that only dive boats reach: 56 sites with sheer walls, canyons, wrecks and caves — inside Cueva Azul, tarpon hang in the dark. The water in Bahía de Siguanea is sheltered and usually crystal clear. Getting there means the ferry from Batabanó or a domestic flight to Nueva Gerona plus a ride out to El Colony — and in return the reef is practically yours. The only way into the protected area is on the dive centre's boat at Hotel El Colony — no booked dive, no access.
Camagüey · Scuba Diving, Snorkeling · Best time: Sep–Jan
At the mouth of Nuevitas Bay the guides hand-feed bull sharks: the so-called Shark Show plays out on a sandy bottom at around 25 meters, with three to fifteen animals over three meters long cruising calmly past you. The same dive takes in the century-old timber wreck of the Nueva Mortera, its bow sitting at just five meters. One of the Caribbean's best shark spots — and no place for freshly certified divers. From September to January the pregnant females gather in the Nuevitas channel — outside those months the dive can come up shark-free.
Holguín · Hiking, Swimming · Best time: Nov–Apr
On the pine-covered highland plateau of Pinares de Mayarí, 546 meters above sea level, Cuba's tallest waterfall drops in two tiers of 85 and 127 meters. From the mirador a steep path runs down the eastern flank to the basin — roughly an hour and a half down and back, with a natural pool waiting at the bottom. The approach is half the adventure: the mountain track up from Mayarí is pure 4x4 terrain. You won't get up there without a jeep — Ecotur runs safari tours to the falls from Guardalavaca and Holguín.
Cienfuegos · Scuba Diving, Snorkeling, Swimming · Best time: Nov–Apr
About 18 kilometers south of Cienfuegos the reef wall drops into the blue just a few strokes from the beach. From the Faro Luna dive centre you can reach 30-plus sites with walls, tunnels, gorgonian gardens and several well-preserved wrecks, plus a pillar coral everyone here calls the Caribbean Lady. Cheap, hassle-free and exactly the right place to earn your first certification. The reef edge sits only about 60 meters offshore — mask and fins get you over it without a boat.
Villa Clara · Hiking, Fishing, Swimming · Best time: Nov–Apr
This reservoir on the northern edge of the Escambray is deep, clear and pleasantly cool by Cuban standards — and counts as the country's best largemouth bass water: you fish from a motorboat with a guide, arranged through Hotel Hanabanilla. Prefer walking? Take a boat across and hike one kilometer from the jetty to the Arroyo Trinitario waterfall, where you can swim. No ocean, no crowds — just mountains, pines and quiet. The trails are on the far shore — book the boat over at Hotel Hanabanilla, there's no other way across.