Cayo Coco

As cruise vessels cannot dock at Cayo Coco, passengers travel ashore by tender.

Cayo Coco, also called Coco Kay, is an island in central Cuba known for luxury all-inclusive resorts.

Despite its natural beauty, Cayo Coco offers little sense of everyday Cuba. The islands are separated from the mainland and linked only by a man-made causeway several kilometres long, with entry controlled at a security checkpoint.

A moped is the easiest way to travel around the cays, or choose a bicycle if you are particularly fit. Most hotels supply mountain bikes free to guests and rent mopeds for CUC$25 to CUC$35 per day.

A tourist bus completes the full route from one end of Playa Coco to the far side of Playa Guillermo. It runs approximately every 11/2 hours and costs CUC$5.

Official taxis can be quite costly over longer distances.

Strong demand and the cays' isolation make car hire comparatively expensive.

As in any third-world country, most goods for sale are aimed at tourists taking purchases home. Cuba's principal visitor exports are rum, cigars and coffee, available from state-owned shops or on the street. Buy genuine products at the official price in legal stores.

Be alert to the following:

All restaurants are state-owned and staffed by poorly paid employees, and Cuban food is notoriously bland. Within Cuba, the best meals are usually served in a casa particular or at paladares, locally owned restaurants inside private homes.

• Street sellers offering convincing-looking discounted cigars whose authenticity is uncertain.
• "Friendly" residents may invite tourists for a drink, normally a Mojito, or to a restaurant. The visitor is then billed two to three times the usual price, with the proceeds divided between the venue and the "friend".
• Bars or taxis may short-change customers, or return national pesos (CUP) instead of convertible pesos (CUC).

Most tourists in Cuba use CUC to pay for hotels, official taxis, museum admission, restaurant meals, cigars, rum and similar purchases. CUC can be obtained from exchange offices known as casa de cambio or cadeca, found in many hotels and throughout city areas. The Euro is widely accepted, but unfortunately the US$ is not.

ATMs are uncommon in Cuba, and credit cards have limited acceptance.

Spanish is Cuba's official language.

Call 116 in an emergency in Cuba.

In many cities, tourists can access the internet only at government communications centres operated by ETECSA. It is expensive, and there is a strong possibility that somebody is "watching" what you do on the PC.