Baconao Park

Baconao is a UNESCO biosphere reserve covering the coast and hills east of Santiago, and it is an odd mixture: genuine dry forest, coastal cliffs and a lagoon on one hand, and on the other a set of built attractions from the 1980s that have aged into curiosities. The Valle de la Prehistoria holds around two hundred concrete dinosaurs at life size, made by prisoners, standing in scrub. There is a museum of a thousand model cars, an aquarium, a coffee estate and a Caribbean beach at Playa Daiquiri.

What you actually see

• Valle de la Prehistoria - around two hundred life-size concrete dinosaurs standing in open scrub.
• The car museum - a collection of model cars alongside a few real ones, oddly extensive.
• Laguna Baconao - a coastal lagoon with crocodiles kept in enclosures at one end.
• The dry forest and coast - the actual biosphere reserve, cliffs and scrub along the shoreline.

When to go

November to April is drier and cooler. The sites are spread along thirty kilometres of coast road so a full day and transport are needed. Weekends bring Santiago families out to the beaches.

Honest expectations

The built attractions are dated and several are in poor repair, which is either charming or depressing depending on the visitor. Entry is charged separately at each one and it adds up. The natural parts of the reserve have almost no visitor infrastructure.

Nearby

La Gran Piedra is on the ridge above, and Santiago de Cuba is an hour west.