Wreck Diving

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Cayo Piedras del Norte

Varadero


Located 5km north of Playa las Calaveras (one hour by boat), Cayo Piedras del Norte has been made into a 'marine park' through the deliberate sinking of an assortment of vessels and aircraft in 15m to 30m of water, done during the late 1990s.

Scuttled for the benefit of divers and glass-bottom boat passengers are a towboat, a missile-launching gunboat (with missiles intact), an AN-24 airplane and the yacht Coral Negro.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Varadero attractions

1. Marina Gaviota

5.4 MILES

At the peninsula's eastern tip, state-run Gaviota's impressive marina, built in the early 2010s, encompasses a wide malecón (main street), luxury…

2. Reserva Ecológica Varahicacos

6.39 MILES

The Varahicacos is about all that's left of the 'wild' Hicacos Peninsula: hotel developers have been chomping away at its edges for years. There are three…

3. Cueva de Ambrosio

6.81 MILES

For something completely different in Varadero's tourist circus, decamp to this large cave 500m beyond the Club Amigo Varadero on the Autopista Sur. It's…

4. Mansión Xanadú

10.22 MILES

Everything east of Varadero's small stone water tower (it looks like an old Spanish fort, but was built in the 1930s) once belonged to the Du Pont family…

5. Parque Josone

12.93 MILES

If you're set on sightseeing in Varadero, ensconce yourself in this pretty green oasis. These landscaped gardens date back to 1940 and take their name…

6. Iglesia de Santa Elvira

13.39 MILES

Just east of Parque Central is this tiny colonial-style building resembling a displaced alpine chapel.

7. Arechabala Rum Factory

16.53 MILES

To the northwest of the center of Cárdenas, in the industrial zone, is this famous rum factory founded in 1878 by Spanish immigrant José Arechabala…

8. Flagpole Monument

16.58 MILES

No, not just any old flagpole. Follow Av Céspedes past Catedral de la Inmaculada Concepción to its northern end and you will see this flagpole is attached…