Cayo Coco (''Cays'') or (''The Keys)'' is an island in central

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, known for its

all-inclusive resort An all-inclusive resort is a holiday resort that includes at a minimum lodging, three meals daily, soft drinks, most alcoholic drinks, gratuities, and possibly other services in the price. Many also offer sports and non-motorized watersports and ...

s. It lies within the

Ciego de Ávila Province Ciego de Ávila () is one of the provinces of Cuba, and was previously part of Camagüey Province. Its capital is Ciego de Ávila, which lies on the Carretera Central (central highway), and the second city is Morón, further north. The provinc ...

and is part of a chain of islands called

Jardines del Rey Jardines del Rey ( en, Gardens of the King) is an archipelago off the northern coast of Cuba, in the northern parts of the provinces of Ciego de Ávila and Camagüey. Overview Jardines del Rey developed on the coral reef system that lines Cuba's ...

(''King's Gardens''). The

cay A cay ( ), also spelled caye or key, is a small, low-elevation, sandy island on the surface of a coral reef. Cays occur in tropical environments throughout the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, including in the Caribbean and on the Great ...

is administered by the Morón municipality, has a surface area of 370 km², and is named after the white ibis, locally called ''coco ''(coconut)'' birds''. The island is known for its long beaches and many resort hotels.

History

Used as a hideout by

buccaneers Buccaneers were a kind of privateers or free sailors particular to the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. First established on northern Hispaniola as early as 1625, their heyday was from the Restoration in 1660 until about 1688, ...

in the early colonial period, the island was home to a small settlement of fishermen and

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...

producers until 1955, when the freshwater supply was exhausted and the market for charcoal ended with the spread of electrification after the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in cou ...

. A

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tra ...

connecting the island to the Cuban mainland opened on July 26, 1988, and resort construction began. The first resort, Guitart Cayo Coco (now the Hotel Colonial Cayo Coco), opened in 1993. The

Cuban exile A Cuban exile is a person who emigrated from Cuba in the Cuban exodus. Exiles have various differing experiences as emigrants depending on when they migrated during the exodus. Demographics Social class Cuban exiles would come from various eco ...

group

Alpha 66 Alpha 66 is an anti-Castro paramilitary organization. The group was originally formed by Cuban exiles in the early 1960s and was most active in the late 1970s and 1980s. Its activities declined in the 1980s. Historian Alan McPherson describes it a ...

attacked the resort with machine guns in 1994 and 1995, but there were no injuries. Cayo Coco and the neighboring

Cayo Guillermo Cayo Guillermo is a cay of the Jardines del Rey archipelago. It is located on the northern coast of Cuba, between the Bay of Dogs (''Bahia de Perros'') and the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Ciego de Ávila Province, and lies in the Morón mun ...

provided settings for

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century fic ...

's '' Islands in the Stream'' and ''

The Old Man and the Sea ''The Old Man and the Sea'' is a novella written by the American author Ernest Hemingway in 1951 in Cayo Blanco (Cuba), and published in 1952. It was the last major work of fiction written by Hemingway that was published during his lifetime. ...

''. On September 9, 2017, Cayo Coco was hit by

Hurricane Irma Hurricane Irma was an extremely powerful Cape Verde hurricane that caused widespread destruction across its path in September 2017. Irma was the first Category 5 hurricane to strike the Leeward Islands on record, followed by Maria two ...

, causing devastation to the strip of hotels that it hosts, including the Jardines Del Rey Airport and the nearby towns of

Ciego de Ávila Ciego de Ávila City () is a city in the central part of Cuba and the capital of Ciego de Ávila Province. The city has a population of about 497.000, in a municipality of 756,373. Geography Ciego de Ávila lies on the Carretera Central highway ...

, and Morón

Tourism

The causeway linking Cayo Coco to the mainland is long and runs across Bahía de Perros (''Bay of Dogs''). It took 16 months to build and required of stone. The causeway caused concern among environmentalists because it disturbed the

tidal flow Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

, thus changing the

salinity Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensionless and equal ...

and temperature of the water. A number of gaps were created in the causeway to restore some water flow. Wild

flamingos Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas (including the Caribbean) ...

still live in the shallow waters of the bay and can often be seen from the causeway, albeit less frequently. Two short causeways link Cayo Coco to

(to the west) and

Cayo Romano Cayo Romano is an island on the northern coast of Cuba, in the province of Camagüey. It is the largest cay of the Jardines del Rey archipelago with . Overview Administratively is part of Nuevitas, but the closest municipality on Cuban Mainland ...

(to the east). Still largely wild with swamps and scrubland populated by wild cattle, the islands boast about a dozen large international hotels currently offering approximately 5000 rooms: the Jardines del Rey project plans to eventually offer 32,000 rooms. Beaches are attractive for tourists and the enormous coral reef off the north coast attracts divers from around the world. The island has its own international airport, the

Jardines del Rey Airport Jardines del Rey Airport ( es, Aeropuerto de Jardines del Rey) is an airport situated on the island of Cayo Coco, part of the Cuban province of Ciego de Ávila. It takes its name from the Jardines del Rey archipelago, which includes Cayo Coco. ...

(Aeropuerto Jardines del Rey; airport codes IATA: CCC, ICAO: MUCC). Since 2005, tourists can fly directly in to the airport on Cayo Coco. An earlier airport, the

Cayo Coco Airport Cayo Coco was an airport in Cayo Coco, Cuba that served as the main airport of the island until it was superseded by the Jardines del Rey Airport, which opened in 2002. The former runway of the airport was incorporated as the new route of a hig ...

has been reclaimed as a small natural park called Parque Natural El Baga. Prior to the construction of the Jardines del Rey Airport, tourist flights for area resorts landed at the

Máximo Gómez Airport Máximo Gómez Airport is a regional airport in the Ciego de Ávila Province of Cuba which serves the city of Ciego de Ávila. History It is named for Máximo Gómez, a Major General in the Ten Years' War (1868–1878) and Cuba's military comm ...

(Aeropuerto Máximo Gómez; airport codes IATA: AVI, ICAO: MUCA) near Morón on the Cuban mainland.

Thomas Cook Group Thomas Cook Group plc was a global travel group, headquartered in the United Kingdom and listed on the London Stock Exchange from its formation on 19 June 2007 by the merger of Thomas Cook AG — successor to Thomas Cook & Son — an ...

was a major tour operator for Cayo Coco, transporting holidaymakers from

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and

London Gatwick Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after Hea ...

from 2007, until its collapse in 2019.

References

External links

*All about Cayo Coco, Cub
www.cayocococuba.net

Tryp Cayo CocoMemories Caribe Beach ResortMemories Flamenco Beach Resort
{{Municipalities in Ciego de Ávila Populated places in Ciego de Ávila Province Morón, Cuba Coco Beaches of Cuba