Playas del Este - Guanabo
	Mercedes León Calle 490 #5C08 e/5ta C y 5ta D Guanabo Tel. +53 (7) 796 28 43 Price: 20-25 CUC a room Note: Mercedes rent two nice rooms - each with a double bed, air condition and an independent bath room. The two rooms are independent of the family rooms. At the disposal of the guests there is also a living-room and a kitchen. You can enjoy for a few money a breakfast with frish fruits, eggs, fruit-juice, coffee, milk and so on. If you're interested in deep-sea fishing the neighbour can give you good informations because he's working at the "Marina Tarara", the place where you hire the boat for diving or deep-sea fishing. Reservation: Also possible by e-Mail (Spanish or English).

The Playas del Este are some tropical beaches (El Mégano, Santa María del Mar, Boca Ciega, Guanabo, Jibacoa) with white sand situated along the cost between Bacuranao (15 km to Habana) and el El Trópico. The Playas del Este are an excellent place if you want to enjoy nice beaches and staying nearby the fascinating city of Habana. A part of the beaches you will enjoy here also good food because there are some good Paladares. So - Playas del Este are a good place to enjoy the beach, eat good food and staying at a place where you enjoy all this with a lot of Cubans (specially in July and August).

Beach and diving

• If you will stay at the house of Mercedes you have a nice part of Playa del Este's beach at only two minutes by foot. You can walk some also some miles along the beach to untill you reach the hotel Tropicoco. Because Guanabo is a place where people are staying for enjoing the beach you can go out of the house of Mercedes and cross the street just with your bathing clothes - nobody will look you in a strange way because of this.

• Personally I think the beach nearby a place cold "Mi Cayito" is one of the best at Playas del Este. It's a quiet place with some nice palmtrees. The palmtrees will protect you from the sun. But if you want to you can also rent your own beach bed and umbrella. At the street, nearby the beach you can buy some simple food and cold drinks. Behind this snack bar you will find a small lake with a very small Island (= "mi cayito") with a restaurant where you can eat something more delicious. You reach this part of Playas del Este walking from the house of Mercedes along the beach in about 45 minutes. With a taxi you will get there in a few minutes and you want pay more than 2 or 3 CUC. If you're enjoying Estrella's house, then the taxi will be a better bet to reach "Mi Cayito". You will also pay about 2 or 3 CUC

• If you want to be very far from the croweded beacht (actually "Mi Cayito" isn't crowded, too), then I suggest you to enter Marina Tarará. Actually it's a place for people which want to dive or do some deep-see fishing. But maybe you're lucky and you can enter just for enjoing the small private beach there... If not you can enjoy it after diving... And if we're talking about diving, have also a look at the spanish section of Cuba-Individual because my friend Juan Carlos Enrique informe you there about the best diving places in Cuba.

Delicious food

Who doesn't want to use the Kitchen of Mercedes house and don't want them to cook, neither, then I've got here some good suggestions for delicious food:

• Cuban and internacional food: Paladar Maeda. Calle Québec #115 e/ 476 y 478, Bello Monte Guanabo, Ciudad Habana, Cuba. Open every day between 12:00 and 23:00. For reservation call at (7) 796 26 15. It's a very nice place, the food tastes really good. You can eat for about 5 CUC, the house suggestions will cost about 10 CUC. To get there you need to catch from the center of Guanabo or also from Estrella's house a taxi. This will cost 2 CUC each way. Don't miss it!

• Cuban food: in the same street where Mercedes's living (Calle 490) you will find a Paladar with good Cuban food. You can eat there for about 4 CUC. The Paladar also works as a take-away if you prefer to eat at an other place.

• Italian food: In Guanabo you can taste real Italian food. Eat a good pizza or "Pasta al dente" at the Paladar "El Piccoli". It's a crowded place but it's worth to wait some minutes for a table, because if you don't wait you will miss the best Italian food you can eat in Cuba. Be aware, that's not so a cheap place. A pizza will cost you about 5 to 8 CUC, pasta 3 to 5 CUC and for fish or meat plats you pay more than 8 CUC.
  The Piccoli is located at 5ta Avenida between the streets/calle 502 and 504.

How to get to Playas del Este - Guanabo

• BUS from La Habana. Bus-route 400, bus-stop for example at the corner of the street "Gloria" and "Agramonte" - nearby the main train station of Habana. The bus service is rather bad and you have to make a long queue. It's easier to get the bus from Guanabo to Habana than in the other direction. Don't try to take the bus in summer time and at weekends.

• VIA AZUL also offers three times a day a bus Habana-Guanabo-Habana. Price: 3 CUC one way.
  The new tourist bus service, T2 connect's every Habana with some places at Playas del Este.
  

• TRAIN. Only in July and August there are trains from Habana to Guanabo. I recomendo to get some information at the local train station.
  

• TAXI. A taxi is certainly an easy way to do the journey Habana-Guanabo. A Cubataxi will cost you about 15 to 20 CUC one way - maybe you get with the driver to to an agreement on a special price - this will be normally about 10 CUC, one way.