Varadero Beach, Caribbean beach in Matanzas Province, Cuba

Varadero Beach is a Caribbean shore in Matanzas Province that stretches along a narrow peninsula with shallow salt water and fine light sand throughout. The coastline is interrupted by natural rock formations that create separate beach sections and frame different views of the surroundings.

Varadero's first settlement was founded in 1887 by ten families from Cárdenas, who built houses on the peninsula. In 1910 the Du Pont family and other investors began developing it as a resort, and the first hotel opened in 1915. The road link to the mainland, built in the 1930s, opened the beach to wider tourism.

The name Varadero comes from the Spanish varadero, a place where boats are careened or beached for repair, recalling the peninsula's early use as a shipyard. Visitors today see that working past in the name itself, while the sand is given over to swimming, sunbathing and family gatherings.

The beach lies on the narrow Hicacos peninsula in Matanzas Province, about 110 km east of Havana. The sand slopes gently into shallow water, and thatched umbrellas with wooden poles shade clusters of blue-and-white lounge chairs. The peninsula is served by a single road, so allow time for transfers along its length.

Varadero Beach lies on the Hicacos peninsula in Matanzas Province, about 110 km east of Havana, a low strip of sand facing the open sea. The peninsula is only a few hundred metres wide at this point, so the water is visible from both sides of the beach road.