Cuba, Niquero – You are not really supposed to stop here

We read about Niquero in a free guide book we found on line. A couple stopped here, and despite officials originally telling them they could not come ashore, they had a wonderful visit and dinner at a restaurant. We could not resist trying our luck.

Niquero is only 10nm north up the mainland coast of the Golfo de Guacanayabo from Las Colordas. We had favorable winds as we sailed through the deep narrow channels between the shallow sandbars that litter this part of the bay. All the channels were well marked and we found the depths on the charts to match our observations.

When we rounded into the bay we were surprised to see fishing boats and homes backed by a huge factory chimney belching smoke. We could find no one who spoke any English to tell us what the factory was. We had difficulties deciding the best place to anchor. Our Nigel Calder guide book recommended anchoring in the south east corner off some old piles that used to be a dock. It is at the end of the concrete fishing pier that the Guarda Frontera would be found. Careful though, as we almost hit a submerged pile head here and you do not want to block access for the big fishing boats. In the end we anchored out a bit and to the south of the old piles and pier in about 3.5m of water.

Once the boat was settled I sent the humans off to find the Guarda Frontera to get permission to go ashore. They turned out to be exactly where Nigel Calder said they would be. At the fishing dock. The officials did not seem very happy the humans wanted to come ashore. The humans tried, in their best rubbish Spanish, to explain they needed to buy food. A rubbish excuse to get a look around town. The officer made some lengthy phone calls, and in the end he agreed to let only one human ashore. On top the human had to be escorted by the neighboring bicycle taxi driver. He would keep the passports and despacho (cruising licence, but you get it signed at each of your stops) until the human returned.

I am told the bicycle taxi wound through gravel streets lined with homes. All simple, well kept and clean. Neighbours called greetings to the taxi cyclist and to it’s occupant as they passed. The gravel streets finally turned to paved as they entered the town centre. Here there were parks, department stores, restaurants and even a hotel that catered to international guests. The cyclist took the human to the agricultural market where the only supplies for sale were onions (which they still had plenty of), tomatoes, cucumber, green onions and chilly peppers. The cyclist took the human to the liquor store as the free case of beer they were given at Hog Cay, Jumentos, was almost done. And finally to a grocery store. There was little on the shelves here but soaps and a few jars of stuff. No canned meats, but she did pick up a jar of olives as a treat. They also caught a baker, shouting up and down the street as he walked, that he had fresh baked bread for sale.

There were few cars on the towns streets. My human said she saw only three on her trip. Instead everyone was traveling by bicycle or horse drawn carts. Even the taxis are horse drawn here. The town was clean, well laid out and everyone was friendly. Winding back through the residential area to the Guarda Frontera station my human said she would have gotten lost without her chaperone. The officials back at the pier gave back the passports and, as we were leaving the next day, asked they return in the morning to pick up the signed despacho. The officials said it was fine for me to come ashore for a walk. The taxi cyclist did not want to charge for his time, but the human slipped him a tip. He was especially surprised that all the food and drink was going onto a kayak.

We wiled away the evening watching the fishing boats returning to port. Very few had any engines. The majority were rowed or sailed with patchwork sails in a variety of colours. Men gathered out on the points to cast nets and teen agers horsed around in the waters off the beach. Inviting drum music and singing rose up from the shoreline, but we did not have permission to go and find the source. There is a part of me that wonders why we can not just go ashore and explore, but the other wonders if tourism will destroy the harmony here.

Photos, charts and information we added once we got WiFi. Link below:

Review of Southern Cuba Part 1- including the pictures you missed