Another Newbie!!!!

[Clover]

Hello to all!! 

I am a newbie here, I go by the name of Clover.  I look forward to gaining and sharing as much info as possible on my favorite vacation destination...Cuba!!!
We have been to Cuba three times now, so I am not an expert by any means, but look forward to sharing stories and experiences!! 
Just a bit of background on my "Cuba" knowledge, resort related. We have been, as I said, three times, and are looking at making our 4th trip this fall to Cayo Santa Maria.  This will be an new area for us, we have been twice to Playa Pesquero, on our last trip we were married there, and what a fabulous experience!!!  Our last trip to Cuba was in October 2006 to Breezes Jibacoa we enjoed that as well !!!
Look forward to corresponding with all of you!!

Clover 

[mojitomiss_cuba]

  Clover

Cayo Santa Maria is a beautiful area. What resort are you going to be staying at?
We're a friendly bunch and love to chat about our vacations and just about anything in general as I'm sure you've noticed

[JohnnyCastaway]

Welcome to Paraidse Clover!   

We haven't been to Cayo Santa Maria, but we were at Ensenachos last September, which I beleive is just around the corner from there, it's a beautful area.   

jump right in and join the mayhem, as Mojitomiss says, we are a friendly bunch.   

If you look on the menu bar up top, you'll see links to our trip reports section and Photo gallery, feel free to browse through, there's a lot of good information and pictures there.

Enjoy. 

 

[Bulldog]

 

To 7 Days 

[flopnfly]

  to Paradise Clover.

We have been to Pesquero and loved it.  Also been to Varadero a few times and Royal Hideaway Ensenachos.  OMG the beach there is amazing!!!

[Jammyisme]

Welcome  :icon_thumright:Clover! Pleased to meet you

So is clover a laddie or a lassie name? 

[Clover]

Thanks for such a warm welcome!!! 

mojitomiss_cuba...we are torn between resorts right now, Melia Cayo Santa Maria and the Melia Las Dunas, because we will be traveling with kids, the Hideway is out. 

Its a tough decision as both look great, price will probably be the determining factor - great deal out of Pearson came up today for MCSM for our dates..just have to convince the rest of the crew that we are going with!!!  The isolation of that area, is of concerns to some, but I'm sure it will be just fine!!!

Thanks again...Clover (a lassie name!!!) 

[Gambitt]

Welcome to the Site...

Dive right in and join the fun!
 

[mojitomiss_cuba]

clover, what dates in the fall are you looking at?

I think with the kids in tow, the Las Dunas would be a better choice. I've heard rumours that the Melia may be going adults only and from what I've heard is a more "adult-oriented" resort than the Las Dunas. Since you've already been to the Pesquero, the size of the Las Dunas wouldn't put you off. The layout of the resort is actually very similar to the Pesquero
We stayed at the Sol CSM in November 2005 and had a good time there. I wandered over to the Melia and although very, very beautiful, seemed a lot "quieter" and didn't really see many (not sure if I saw any in fact) kids.

[Clover]

 Hi mojitomiss_cuba 

We are looking at going October 6-13, we always travel the same week, for a couple of reasons, one that it is the off-season, so resorts tend not to be as busy as say Feb. or Mar - thus the prices are great!!!  As well, we go to celebrate our anniversary!!

I have heard the MCSM will be going Adults-Only in November, we are torn with the two resorts, and I think price might be a determining factor, right now out of Toronto, Las Dunas is around $1150-$1200 taxes in. and MCSM is just over $850.00 - so a savings of $300.00 per person, may sway us!!!
We still have quite a bit of time, we typically don't book much in advance of about 1 month prior, but we will wait and see!!

The size of Las Dunas does not bother us at all, the bigger the better!!!  If you do enough research on the particular resort, there should be no suprises!!!
I do have a question....the remoteness of Cayo Santa Maria is slightly putting my husband off a bit, he will go wherever we chose, but is it true that in the immediate area, there is absolutely nothing to do, unless you travel over the causeway to the mainland??  Do the resorts offer scooters to explore on your own a bit??  Or anything like that at all, or are we looking strictly at organized tours??

Thanks for all of your input, its appreciated!!
Clover

[mojitomiss_cuba]

clover, this area is quite "remote" but yes there were scooters to rent to toot around the cayo. There's a virgin beach near the Melias called Playa Perla Blanca that is absolutely breathtaking. Nothing on it, no vendors, no ranchons etc. The only footprints in the sand were mine!
They also have the catamaran tours etc from the hotel, but to really see any of cuba, towns, cities etc, yes you do have to go across the causeway

Take a day and go into Santa Clara. The Che Memorial is there and Santa Clara is a very nice city. The town square is a lovely area too.
Remedios is across the causeway - you will pass through it on the way to the resort as well.
Caibarien is pretty much the first village you hit when you come across the causeway onto the mainland, but there's really nothing there, unless you are arranging for any kind of donations and don't want to go any further than that

I do recommend Santa Clara though.

You should have great weather at that time of year. I went in mid November and wouldn't go at that time of year again. Water was rough and it pushed a lot of seagrass onto the beach. 3 weeks before I went, a coworker went and the water was so calm, the beach was clear of seagrass and they had fantastic weather. We had nice sunny days, but once the sun started to go down, it felt kind of cool by the water.

[Clover]

Thanks again for the info !!!!! 
Much appreicated!! 
Clover