Beaches | Cayo Ensenachos, Cuba

The Beaches

Cayo Ensenachos boasts two of the most beautiful beaches in Cuba, Playa El Megano and Playa Ensenachos. They are made of powdery white sand, with crystal-clear turquoise waters. They both slope very gently to calm and shallows waters, making them very safe for swimming, with a green flag practically throughout the year. Playa El Megano is 1 km long (0.62 mi), and Playa Ensenachos is 1.33 km long (0.83 mi). The fine and conpact sand makes them perfect beaches for taking long and pleasant walks without having your feet sink too much into the sand.

Playa El Megano is located on the east side of the hotel (to your right when facing the sea). It’s the beach closest to the Spa-Suite and Park-Suite sections of the hotel. There are two accesses to this beach, the first one is a long raised footbridge in front of the main building (in the middle of the Park and Spa sections), the other one is a path starting near bloc 40 in the Park-Suite section. There’s a restaurant (ranchon) and bar at the beginning of Playa El Megano, this is where also they do most of the beach activities. The rest of the beach (further east) in front of the Spa-Suite section is more quiet.

Playa Ensenachos stretches from the nautical point up to the Grand-Village section of the hotel which is located at the western point of the cayo. There are two accesses to this beach, the first one is a path located at the west-end of the Park-Suite section (the same path that leads to the nautical center), the other access is from the Grand Village section. This beach is very quiet, there are no buildings over the major part of its length, until reaching the villas of the Grand-Village section where a snack bar can be found.

Please note that since the summer 2014, naturism is no longer allowed on Playa Ensenachos. The only Clothing Optional beach in the Cayos de Villa Clara is in Playa Cañon.

Click to know more about Clothing Optional beaches in Cuba.

The guests of hotel Iberostar Ensenachos have access to both of these nice beaches. They provide lots of palapas, sun shelters and beach chairs. The all-inclusive package also include a beach towel service, and non-motorized water sports. The nautical center is located on a short beach section between Playa Ensenachos and Playa El Megano.

Between the two beautiful beaches, there’s a short rocky section (near the nautical center) where small coral heads can be seen very close to the beach, making the area a nice little place for shore snorkeling. And also, in front of the east-northern end of Playa El Megano there’s a partially sunken boat which is lying on the sandbar about 230 meters from the shoreline. The wreck has become a habitat for a wide variety of sea life.

Note that there’s no ocean view rooms at the hotel Iberostar Ensenachos because the buildings are only two storeys, and it has been built a little back behind the dune leaving a strip of native vegetation between the hotel and the beach. This provides a nice and natural setting, and the dune also serves as a natural protection in case of tropical storms and hurricanes.

We had the chance to visit Cayo Ensenachos a few times in 2002 when it was still virgin. Accessing back then this tiny island truly felt like finding a private little piece of paradise! The two pristine beaches were almost desert, only a very few locals were enjoying the place. But we were not surprised when we learned that a 5* hotel was going to be built there; it's such a perfect setting.