Cuba, Varadero, Iberostar Playa Alameda

 Cuba, Varadero, Iberostar Playa Alameda - Dec 23, 2023  - Jan 02, 2024

During our previous trips to Cuba we had a lot of fun twice celebrating the New Year’s Eve. This being our 10^th Cuban trip, we decided that for the first time to also spend Christmas here. Varadero was never our first choice of Cuban destination but because of the high demand season and limited offers from Vancouver, we settled for Iberostar Playa Alameda.

Being late December, Vacouver Airport was ready for holiday season

Iberostar Playa Alameda is a typical all-inclusive Cuban resort and like the trips before, we don’t care too much about accommodation and amenities but mainly about the beaches and atmosphere. Like previous resorts, there were daily live shows during the day and in the evening, beach and pool side activities, dance lessons and games.

We’ve seen many beaches across the world during our treks but very few can compete with the ones in Cuba. We enjoy long strolls along the beach, looking for seashells, wildlife and natural beauty in general. At this resort we had over five kilometers of beaches to explore which we did daily even on the cloudy days when the sea actually has a different kind of beauty compared to the usual sunny days. It was also a good setup for Angela's morning runs, something she especially enjoys to do during our beach vacations.

Christmas was very different than what we normally know. Santa came by paraglider directly on the beach and offered candies to everybody. Shortly after his arrival, a beach foam party started of course with traditional Cuban music. The celebration continued in the evening with live shows.

Later in the evening there was a Christmas Dinner with a lot of special foods, live music, dancers and entertainers. One of the Cuban traditions for Christmas is roasting piglets which were served during the gala dinner.

New Year’s Eve also had a special dinner with many Cuban and international specialties, too many to sample them all

After dinner there were various live shows and as the midnight approached, the party started. There was a big champagne station refilling glasses. Everybody received confetti poppers which at midnight covered the whole place in gold shinny confetti.

All in all it was a good trip, we didn’t have the best weather at times but we enjoyed the vacation nevertheless. Not sure if and when we will return to Varadero but we already have plans to come back to Cuba in a few months.