Named the Blue City of Mills (Villa Azul de los Molinos), Puerto Padre spreads over 180 square k's and was shown on 16th century maps as Portus Patris. Legend has that a sailor aboard one of Christopher Colombus' ships, seeing the port for the first time said to the man next to him, a priest : " Que puerto, Padre ! " (What a port, Father !). We don't make 'em up, we just copy and paste. The ciudad reminds one of some coastal towns like Trinidad, Gibara and Remedios : not enormous, relatively calm, with colonial architecture, an industrial port, Puerto Carupano (largest sugar port in the world in its heyday) and an access to the sea. That large water mass is made up of two bays, Bahia de Puerto Padre or Cascarero and Bahia de Chaparra with tiny Cayo Juan Claro and Cayo Puerco and beaches Las Bocas and La Llanita nearby as well as a large reef off Covarrubias. N.B. During most of 2009, the town slowly got back to its normal state after the enormous damages caused by the passage of Hurricane Ike on September 8 2008. MAPS & LINKS Map - Detailed street map of historic centre Map - Detailed coast from here to Banes Map - Roads to Las Bocas and Herradura Our page on nearby Playa Las Bocas Map - The province of Las Tunas Weather (Wunderground) Daily currency exchange rates All things natural in the province of Las Tunas DISTANCES Amancio, 87 Bayamo, 138 Camaguey, 195 Chaparra, 28 Delicias, 15 El Socucho (ferry), 16 Gibara, 83 Holguin, 59 La Habana, 600 Las Tunas, 56 Playa Covarrubias, 42 Playa Las Bocas, 16 or 71 Playa La Herradura, 47 POPULATION 93,660 in the regional township (municipio) in 2007 KNOW Birthplace of Latin Jazz precursor, Emiliano Salvador (1951-1992) and of many magazines and papers from 1896 (Localista, El Noticiero, Madrugada and Alborada Villazulina). One still can find remnants of wide avenues and colonial buildings, the La Premiere library, El Cucalambé printer, a cinema, a concert stage, the Rivoli theater (originally the Aldana). The port of Carupano supplied the sugar mills (centrales) of Chaparra and Delicias and their 10,000 laborers during the zafras. At its peak, it was the largest sugar port on the planet. SEE The small Statue of Liberty imitating those in Paris and New York in • The parque de la Independencia • Museo Fernando García Grave de Peralta • The buste in homage to Cuban mothers, Busto de las Madres • The parque Marti and its Iglesia Catolica • The casa de la UNEAC (Unión de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba), the 17th in Cuba, inaugurated in September 2006.

The Malecon, the seaside promenade •|• Parque Marti in front of the catholic church, Iglesia Católica © radiolibertad.cu

Parque de la Independencia : Statue of Liberty and the museum Fernando García Grave de Peralta •|• Don Quichote on the main avenida © radiolibertad.cu

Town is a 2.5 hour bus transfer from Holguin airport © dtcuba.com Enlarge (town is top left-hand corner), •|• Get street map here

Covarrubias, its beach and coral reef are 42 km west •|• Main street — avenida Libertad — leads directly to the once-industrial Puerto Carupano.

Los Jimaguas — Jacobo and Isaac — twins who were so identical that one day (so the story goes) Jacobo who was in prison was replaced for the night by his bro without the jefe de policia noticing... © Casals •|• Casa de la Trova at night on calle N © von Esmarch panoramio

PLAYAS
Superb and almost deserted in winter, packed by Cubans from Holguin in summer : Playa Las Bocas (see our page here) and neighbouring Playa Las Llanitas are 16 km or 20 mins. away by guagua to El Socucho, then by mini ferry (lancha). By car the whole way, via Delicias and Lora, it's 71 km.

Playa Covarrubias, 42 km northwest is where the 180-room Hotel Club Covarrubias — Tel. (31) 51-5530 — offers, since 1998, 3-star all-inclusive only lodging and scuba diving on a 6 km-long coral reef 1.5 km offshore. The resort, with its lovely flour-like white beach sits beside a coral reef so fascinating that some compare it with Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Non-guests can spend the day all included from 10am to 6pm for 20cuc. ••• But getting there is apparently murder on your bum as the road is supposedly pock-holed from constant running of water tankers to/from the hotel. The only "public" transportation, the employees guagua, takes 90 mins. From town, tip the driver 2cuc and he'll let you on. Hotel details here.

HEED THE HINTS IN THIS FINE PRINT
::: Make sure that in your first email or phone call you specify that you want to book a room in that particular casa and that you will reconfirm your booking on arrival in Cuba. Unless you only want a room in any house which may be of the same quality, not the specific casa you booked through photos on these websites ::: So as to not abandon expecting owners with empty rooms, reconfirm (or call ahead to cancel) your booking by phone as soon as you can after arriving in Cuba ::: Please write or phone a casa owner to cancel a booking. As late as it may seem, it allows them a chance to rebook. ::: Children under the age of 16 may share a bedroom with adults for free. Specify the child's age when booking. ::: Since October 2010, maximum bedroom capacity is not limited to two adults ::: Also, large casas are not limited to renting only two bedrooms per night. ::: At the end of the casa name, the V signals the casa was suggested by travelers or owners but not verified by the website staff. If you try it and like it, write us about it. ::: Unless otherwise mentioned, the average room rates and service prices are : 20-25cuc per bedroom per night [up to 40+ for 4 in a room]; breakfasts 3-5cuc, dinners 7-10cuc. ::: Note : monthly taxes have increased 15-50% for owners; this may be reflected on the aforementioned rates. ::: Any casa particular anywhere in Cuba must have a hot water shower, otherwise it cannot have a permit to rent.

::: On certain occasions in the past year, overbooking may have inadvertently hurt some travellers, some casa owners and some webmasters more than would appear and this prompted this webmaster to overreact by generalizing about individual realities; having hurt most casa owners, this webmaestro's self-righteous attitude [all action, no talk] was uncalled for. Lo siento mucho I am truly sorry and apologies given, Marcos 070112 ::: Please share your Complaints, comments & suggestions webmaster [@]cubacasas.net

CARLOS y NUIRIS V
Calle Maceo 5, near avenida Libertad and a few moments' walk from the sea.
Tel. (31) 51-28-20

VILLA MARIA
Calle Mártires de la Herradura No. 90, entre Vicente Garcia y Antonio Maceo. Tél. (31) 51-36-66

JULIO VALLADARES VALLADARES
Avenida Libertad Edificio 6, Apto. 6.
Tél. (31) 51-33-09