Getting Around, Cayo Guillermo Travel, Transport and Car Rental
(Cayo Guillermo, Ciego de Avila, Jardines del Rey, Cuba)
There's a tiny airport on Cayo Coco if you want to get to the beach in a hurry. This also happens to be the easiest way to reach the cays, with direct flights from Havana as well as a number of international destinations. Otherwise, coach transport and taxis are your choices for land travel. Cayo Guillermo and Cayo Coco are bigger than they feel, so you will need to rent a bike, scooter or car to move around. Every hotel rents scooters and bicycles.
Taxi transport is also readily available in Cayo Guillermo if you prefer to let someone else do the driving. Taxi OK is a popular choice for guests already on the cays. There is even a special tourist bus, the Jardines del Rey Bus Tour, that travels in a loop around both of the cays every hour and a half.
Jardines del Rey Airport (CCC) / Arriving by Air
Address: Carretera a Cayo Coco, Cayo Coco, Cuba, CU
Tel: +53 033 30 9165
By far the most convenient way to reach Cayo Guillermo and Cayo Coco is by plane. The local international airport (Aeropuerto Internacional Jardines del Rey) opened in 2001 and receives two daily flights from
Havana on AeroCaribbean, as well as a handful of flights originating in the UK,
Canada,
Germany,
Spain and
Mexico. Every hotel offers an airport pickup service for their guests, so make sure you prearrange this with your accommodation. If you arrive without transportation, there are always a few state-owned taxis on hand. From Jardines del Rey Airport, Cayo Coco can be reached in around 15 minutes, while Cayo Guillermo is a little further away, with a journey time of just over 30 minutes. Further afield, Morón is around 50 minutes' drive away, and Ciego de Avila is roughly a one and a quarter hour drive.
Car Rental
It is easy to drive yourself to the cays in a rental car. From Ciego de Avila, head towards Morón and follow the signs to Cayo Coco. You can rent cars at a number of places in Ciego de Avila and Morón, with the Cubacar outlet between the Tryp and Melia complexes being one of the most popular options. There are also car hire companies on both Cayo Guillermo and Cayo Coco, as well as Cubacar offices in most of the hotels. Rental rates are more expensive than usual on the cays.
Buses and Coaches
The only buses that are allowed to travel to Cayo Guillermo belong to official tour companies such as Cubatur, Havanatur and Cubanacán. Package trips are available from every major town in
Cuba, dropping you off right at your hotel. This is a popular way to arrive if you are already in Cuba and don't want to rent a car or hire a private taxi.
Transtur provides a useful hop-on / hop-off minibus service geared towards tourists and offers several buses per day, which travel between the Playa Pilar and Melia Cayo Coco. Along the way, the bus stops at hotels and El Parque Baga.
Taxis
Cuba is small enough that you can feasibly hire a taxi to transport you to Cayo Guillermo from almost anywhere on the island. However, it is much more common to hire taxis in Ciego de Avila or Morón, the two towns of note nearest the cays. Cubataxi and Turistaxi are two reputable companies that regularly run passengers across the bridge to the cays.
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