Hola everyone.......I'm back.
Haven't been to Cuba in 4 years (been going to DR)...but I'm going to Marea del Portillo in September. I was going to take a Cubana who is from Manzanillo (living in Canada now) with me......but we're not "speaking" at the moment(jajaja)
. I've offered to take letters for her to family and friends in Manzanillo. I contacted the Guacanayabo hotel there for room rates (36cuc per night) but wonder if anyone knows of other accomodation options. Also, I'll have to find a ride to Marea the next day. Is there a bus going in that direction? I think a taxi might be very expensive.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Gracias
Hi Dwight. Sorry you and your friend aren't talking...but you don't have to 'talk' in Cuba, right... to have a good time..anyway....
I was with my boyfriend (not Cuban, btw) last summer in Cuba. I used to visit Marea del Portillo alot, because I made many friends there, but there were no casas, and even though I stayed on a farm for a week on my 3rd trip, they were paranoid about tourists staying in their homes.
I recently saw a pretty bad review of Marea del Portillo on Debbies Travel Forum. I agree, that the food is not good at all, and if Farallon del Caribe is open, maybe you can consider getting upgraded to that hotel or trying a place down the road from Marea hotel, called Punta de Piedra. I liked the resort and the staff, and we had a nice couple of days, mainly we went to see my friends.
If you PM me, I will give you names and you can visit them, some live close to the hotel. They are amazing people, and you can get a decent meal with them, perhaps.
There is a bus from Manzanillo airport that takes tourists to that resort, but I don't know the schedules...maybe check online or ask travel agents.
If you live in eastern Canada, there are more flights to that area, none from the west coast of Canada. I went 5 times there from 1996 to 2001, and always had to get to Toronto first.
There are many lovely areas there, the Sierra Maestra mountains on one side, Caribbean on the other, Niquero, Los Colardos, lots of Revolution history there. They have day trips to Bayamo (love that place), so it is not a bad choice.
Yanet
Yanet Wrote:Hi Dwight. Sorry you and your friend aren't talking...but you don't have to 'talk' in Cuba, right... to have a good time..anyway....
I was with my boyfriend (not Cuban, btw) last summer in Cuba. I used to visit Marea del Portillo alot, because I made many friends there, but there were no casas, and even though I stayed on a farm for a week on my 3rd trip, they were paranoid about tourists staying in their homes.
I recently saw a pretty bad review of Marea del Portillo on Debbies Travel Forum. I agree, that the food is not good at all, and if Farallon del Caribe is open, maybe you can consider getting upgraded to that hotel or trying a place down the road from Marea hotel, called Punta de Piedra. I liked the resort and the staff, and we had a nice couple of days, mainly we went to see my friends.
If you PM me, I will give you names and you can visit them, some live close to the hotel. They are amazing people, and you can get a decent meal with them, perhaps.
There is a bus from Manzanillo airport that takes tourists to that resort, but I don't know the schedules...maybe check online or ask travel agents.
If you live in eastern Canada, there are more flights to that area, none from the west coast of Canada. I went 5 times there from 1996 to 2001, and always had to get to Toronto first.
There are many lovely areas there, the Sierra Maestra mountains on one side, Caribbean on the other, Niquero, Los Colardos, lots of Revolution history there. They have day trips to Bayamo (love that place), so it is not a bad choice.
Yanet
Hi Yanet
I've been to marea a few times (actually my friend used to work there) so, I know my way around. I won't be getting on the bus taking the tourists to the resort when the plane lands. I want to stay in the CITY of manzanillo for one night and am looking for a casa particular or hotel there. I know there are 2 or 3 of them but have no idea where they are. Then, the next day I will go to Marea. Maybe astro bus?
I'm just trying to line things up from here so I won't waste too much time when I get off the plane.
Thanks
I think there probably are only 2 or 3 casas in Manzanillo.
The hotel is on the outskirts, but as the town is so small, that isn't far.
Here is one I stayed in Tell tony Peter Pan sent you;
Casa Adrian & Tony Esquina Calle de Caridad & Martires de Vietnam #49 Manzanillo.
Tel 23-53028
The resort bus leaves the Manzanillo airport each Tuesday at +- 3PM - If you are staying at the Marea buy your land from Sunwing in Canada and save over 50%. My family and I will be at The Marea resort Sept. 2/9. Uor house Niquero the second week. Gordon "Cubaking" Robinson
Cubaking Wrote:The resort bus leaves the Manzanillo airport each Tuesday at +- 3PM - If you are staying at the Marea buy your land from Sunwing in Canada and save over 50%. My family and I will be at The Marea resort Sept. 2/9. Uor house Niquero the second week. Gordon "Cubaking" Robinson
Thanks for the reply Cubaking.
I guess I made my request as clear as mud.....so, I'll try again from the beginning. I bought a "package" from Toronto with Sunwing vacations and will be staying at the Marea del Portillo resort. However, I want to stay in Manzanillo the first night and will NOT be getting on the bus that transfers the tourists to the hotel. I'm trying to find accomodations for that first night in Manzanillo......and then the following day I will need to find transportation (on my own) to take me to Marea del Portillo so I can enjoy the rest of my vacation.
Thanks
Dwight
Lots of road blocks on that highway !!!
Cubaking Wrote:Lots of road blocks on that highway !!!
..???????????? What the hell is that supposed to mean?
Dwight Wrote:Cubaking Wrote:Lots of road blocks on that highway !!!
..???????????? What the hell is that supposed to mean?
Gordon has eaten Salmon again.
He means the highway is in bad shape with lots of mud slides blocking it.
All from the rain of TS Fay last week, all true too, not to mention the pot holes that can swallow a car.
Hurricane Gustav is going to dump more water in that region as well this weekend, not a good time to go to Cuba right now.
In some areas of Cuba you can ride in a private auto with no problems but from Manzanillo to Marea there are many road blocks - they may make you walk and take the car away from driver !!!
Sorry, but I don't understand the attraction the Marea area. Apart from all the problems we had with the hotel there, the place sucked, especially the beach. Of course, most of Cuba sucks, so maybe it wasn't that much worse than the rest.
And yea, the road was pretty bad getting there, but the views were really nice. Maybe we should have just skipped Marea, and just driven around in the mountains for a few days.
Cubaking Wrote:In some areas of Cuba you can ride in a private auto with no problems but from Manzanillo to Marea there are many road blocks - they may make you walk and take the car away from driver !!!
Thanks Cubaking......I'm aware of those "rules" haha. What I'm looking for is this..... There must be a scheduled bus service that passes through or leaves directly from Manzanillo on the way to Santiago de Cuba. I would like to buy a ticket on that bus and have the driver drop me off at the entrance to Marea del Portillo....as he passes by. I've heard that there
is a bus station in Manzanillo...I would just like to find out how to contact them about rates and schedule. Does anyone know the name of the "local" bus company.....the one that isn't just for tourists?