It was practically 11 years ago to the day that I took a trip to Camaguëy city in Cuba. I will post some fotos of that trip (never my best photos) and hope you all do not get bored.


Rooftop foto towards the stadium






The gal that I was staying with at the time, that was from Santiago, studied ballet in Camaguëy when she was young. I think she had a connection to this place. Perhaps she performed there at one time.


Like other places in Cuba, Camaguëy has its own Beatle bar. I seem to have a lot of video of Cubans singing Beatle/Lennon songs from this trip. It must have been around the time of the anniversary of Lennon's death.

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The Lonely Planet section on Camaguëy might not be updated since then. I remember Thorntree member DonTomas finding it peculiar that Camaguëy was described as ... "easily the suavest and most sophisticated after Havana."

Camaguëy - Lonely Planet
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Fuego en la ciudad!

I won't post fotos of myself, JohnAbbotsford's wife, or Ginger and her friends but man I sure looked a lot younger in 2014.
I did seek info about Camaguëy on the LP Thorntree Cuba forum at that time. DonTomas and Johnabbotsford were a help and I remember some chatter with CCO (TerryandYudith) as well. Not sure about GengenCuba of Fodors and TA though.

More to come at a later date... Certainly leave a comment if you wish to.

Don’t know if we will ever get to Camaguey/playa Santa Lucia until flights resume to there. We have looked into going there in past before the pandemic. If Camaguey is the third largest city in Cuba, it must be worth exploring. I am sure Camaguey like everywhere else in Cuba has not changed much since you went there. Would you go back there Cubanwaters?

Great fotos of Camaguey city, CW. Aaaaa yes! The baseball stadium. Price for a ticket to a ballgame there back when you last visited was only 1 cubano peso. But due to inflation, it's now been 3 cubano pesos for the last 4 years. 3 pesos! That's outrageous! jaja Can't drink cervezas in the stadium anymore either... won't let me bring my cooler full of cans of Bucanero on ice in anymore, so what me and my cubano amigos do is keep the cooler in the trunk of the carro and take turns in pairs racing down the stairs back out to the parking lot between innings to chug a can each as fast as possible before racing back up - the others saving our seats for us.

Never been to the Beatles Bar... although I love the Beatles, of course. My Cuban family members too! But that place just seems a bit gimicy to me - a tourist trap perhaps. CubanWaters, if you ever get to Cam when I'm there, me and my Cuban friends will take you on a bar crawl around the city, and perhaps to a ball game too if the Toros are playing at home at that time. We can shoot pool outdoors at the Copa in the Casino barrio close to the ballpark while pounding a few before we go to the game. I taught Maikel everything he knows about shooting pool and now he's as good as I am - we have fun challenging others to a game - the losers buy the beers. Maikel and I tend to spend very little money on beer when we're there. jijiji

Wess, the biggest change to Camaguey city is the complete refurbishment of the downtown core as a UNESCO world heritage site. Many streets in the downtown have now been completely closed off to motorized traffic - including the main drag, Republica. Much of the downtown is only for walking now instead of dodging carros, motocicletas, y bicicletas like many years ago. The streets have been either all redone in modern cobblestones, or have been covered over in super smooth and artistically sculpted coloured concrete patterns. Camaguey city is quite cosmopolitan looking now. Beautiful really. It's a pain to get there now - YES! But once there, there's lots to do and see to make it worth the journey. Terry

Wessislander, I would not make a point of going back to Camaguëy, especially since there are no direct flights but if I happened to be passing by I would definitely want to make a stop in Camaguëy.

Well. at least the average José in Cuba can afford to go to the ball game!

Now that is criminal!!! I went to a baseball game in Santiago many years ago. I was surely hung over because the game started at some obscene hour like 10 am. The folks in the stands were wild though. I remember there being a price for Cubans and another for foreigners. No that it made much of a difference.

Yeah those Beatles bars in Cuba can be tacky but I always got a kick out of Beatle songs being sung with a thick Cuban accent. Jjjj.

Cuba is full of old hotels in old buildings that go for a rather cheap price. We stayed at the Hotel Colón on República before moving on to a casa.


Hotel Colón front


Lobby model boat


Hotel corridor


Hotel inner courtyard


Looking down Calle República from hotel Colón


Oh my and here is my review of Hotel Colón. Camaguëy does have better hotels but this one did the job nicely.
Colón hotel review by CubanWaters

My old stomping grounds was the old Hotel Plaza just up the road and around the corner from the Colon. I used to stay in the room at the Plaza where the very first radio broadcast in all of Cuba was held back in the 1920's - the old metal microphone used at that time and on full display within that room too. I've only spent a few hours in a room at the Colon on 1 occasion many years ago... say no more. What I use the Colon for more so these days is if I can't find Bucanero cerveza anywhere else for sale in the city, I know that I can always go to the Colon and have them sell me 2 or 3 cases out the backdoor if necessary. I've had to do that a number of times.

CW, in your photo from the balcony, I can see that Republica was already converted to just a walking street and closed to all traffic when you were there. Funny story... I remember when Republica was still a main thoroughfare with cars, trucks, motorcycles, and bicycles to navigate around. I remember walking down the side of the road with my then novia cubana at the time because the sidewalks were so choked with other people, and an oncoming Cuban guy on a bicycle heading directly for us and expecting us to jump out of his way back up on the sidewalk - unwritten rule of law in Cuba - if it's bigger than you, you need to yield right of way. Well, being the size that I am, and having played hockey all of my life, I just wasn't going to move from my lane. The guy had plenty of room to go around me too, but instead came directly at me. I just lowered my shoulder - and BOOM! The guy went out of control and crashed into a parked truck and while spilling his salchicha on a bun that he had in one hand all over the road. I came running over to him to see if he was OK... the guy looked at me as if he wanted to kill me. But then I began speaking to him in English and the expression on his face immediately changed. His look went from extreme anger to fear instantaneously. That stuck with me, and the reason why I fear no one in Cuba... so much so that my Cuban friends describe me as being "muy guapo"... which translated from Spanish means "very handsome"... but not in Cuba - in Cuba it means "afraid of nothing".

About them not allowing beer and rum in the ballpark anymore... apparently the reason why they made that change is because there were too many drunken fights in the stands happening during the games, although I had never seen a fight breakout whenever I was there with my Cuban friends enjoying a few "pops" and chasing down chugs of rum straight from the bottle. I can remember one time when my Cuban wife - then only my novia cubana - was sitting 3 bench seats down from us guys drinking champagne from a tall fluted wine glass all by herself and just playing games on her cell phone not even watching the ball game in front of her. Que rrrrrrico! But I asked her why she wanted to come to the ball game with us guys if she's not interested in the game on the field, and she said - "to keep the other chicas away from YOU!" jajajaja I almost wet my pants laughing. But she was serious - and rightfully so. Now that we're married, she doesn't worry about that anymore and no longer comes to the games with us. Terry

Hotel Plaza; former headquarters of CCO

Hotel Plaza Camaguëy brought to you by Islazul





A gardener's wheelbarrow...


City centre church


I think this was taken while in plaza del Carmen (?)

Fun facts; Cuba has 9 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The historic center of Camaguey was designated such in 2008.

This is a very good thread to read and look at about Camaguey a place that we have looked into going to before. Playa Santa Lucia.

I have never been to Playa Santa Lucia and never did plan to go there.

A few more...


A good day to do the wash

This must be the train station

Plaza del Carmen studio gallery

Playa Santa Lucia was popular and cheap. I would consider going there and Camaguey because we have never been. Definitely an option consideration when the current mess is over