Gibara

Gibara was a substantial sugar and cattle port in the nineteenth century and kept the buildings after the trade went elsewhere: a walled seafront, a plaza with a church, tiled and columned houses in ochre and blue, and remnants of the town wall. Behind it stands the Silla de Gibara, the flat-topped hill that Columbus is traditionally said to have described on his first voyage. Since 2003 the town has hosted a film festival, originally for low-budget cinema, which is the one week a year that it is crowded.

What you actually see

• The seafront - a walled malecon with the fishing boats and the bay in front of it.
• The colonial centre - the plaza, the church and streets of columned houses.
• The Silla de Gibara - the flat-topped hill behind the town, walked in a morning.
• The caves - Los Panaderos, a cave system on the edge of town, visited with a guide.

When to go

November to April is the dry season. The film festival, usually in the spring, fills every room in town and needs booking well ahead. The north coast is exposed to hurricanes from August to October.

Honest expectations

The town is very quiet outside festival week, with few restaurants and limited transport. The beaches nearby are stony rather than the white sand of the resorts along the coast. Power and water interruptions are common.

Nearby

Holguin is half an hour south, and Guardalavaca and the Bariay bay are east along the coast.