Marea
del Portillo, well known because of its black sand, extends over 2 km.
It lies 108 km. south of Manzanillo Airport, in Granma. Besides the peculiar
coloring of the sand, it also owes its charm to its location within a
bay sheltered by the Sierra Maestra mountains and bordered by coconut
and palm trees.
Visitors
can enjoy horse rides, walks along ecologic paths (leading to waterfalls
such as the ones on Cilantro and Las Yaguas rivers), motorboat rides,
visits to neighboring keys and sea sports.
The nearness of the beach to a coral reef and the sunken ships at Santiago de Cuba waters, makes diving a tempting activity for tourists. That’s why the Cuba Albacora Scuba Diving Center, operating on the very beach, has 17 diving spots offering immersions down to the coral reef (from 10 to 35 m. deep). In the area there is a varied presence of tropical fish, including red snapper, barracuda, morays, mollusks, trumpet fish and lobster.
An ample fauna is represented by enormous sponges of different species, colonies of black coral, gorgonias, soft corals, brain and fire coral among others.
Other
interesting sites are the steep sloping of the seabed at Cayo Cruz and
Cristóbal Colón ship: one of the battleships belonging to
Spanish Admiral Cervera’s fleet, who lost a sea battle against the
American fleet at Santiago de Cuba bay