Holguin Province: Cuba's fourth largest. The mountains of the region are home to deposits of nickel and cobalt which have been, and still are being, extensively mined. These industries play an important role in the productivity and wealth of the area, the main nickel mines and processing plants are situated around the town of Moa on the north coast, east of the city of Holguin.

Holguin City: 760km/495 miles southeast of Havana, is busy and not particularly attractive. But if you pass through, look in on the main square for its Art-Deco theatre, art gallery, and eclectic display of historical exhibits inside the Museo Provincial. The fine Carlos de la Torre Natural History Museum, just south of the square on Calle Maceo, in another colonial mansion, has a large collection of indigenous snail shells in dazzling colours.

Did You Know?... To the west of Holguin is a vantage point, Loma de la Cruz, which offers wonderful views over the city and across the province.

Guardalavaca: One of the most famous beaches in the province, offers tourists luxuriant coral reefs, interesting cliffs and amazing vegetation. Guardalavaca covers a 1,200 metre-long bank formed by shell-like beaches, creating intimate surroundings that are frequently enhanced by enormous cliffs. Guardalavaca is not far from Gibara, the place where Christopher Columbus first landed in Cuba.

Sight Seeing: Boca de las Esponjas, El Salto and Cañon de los Aguajíes are only a few of the best-known sites, all of them ideal for scuba diving, while Tanques Azules, in neigbouring Gibara, a grouping of unique flooded caverns, offer special challenges for speleodivers.

Guardalavaca: Its white sand beaches and rolling hills are indeed very beautiful and today it is home to a burgeoning tourist industry with package holidays now available from England, Canada, Germany and Austria.

Attractions: The attractions of the tourist industry in the province are made complete by the Saetía Key where the largest wild animals in the country can be found. A vast array of buffalo, antelope, deer and wild hogs can be hunted in this area.

Did You Know?... Potential tourist attractions include 34 rivers, six waterfalls—among them Guayabo, the largest in the country—and six dams, as well as five submarine areas, nineteen historical and cultural sites, 135 archaeological sites and about 60 kilometers of beaches composed of exquisite white sand.

Loma de la Cruz (Hill of the Cross): The hill is where the Romerios de la Cruz ritual occurs every year during the first week of May, first started by the Franciscan priest Antonio de Alegrias on May 3, 1790.

History: La Periquera, Museo Provincial de Holguin ("The Parakeet Building", Provincial Museum of Holguin) Built between 1860 and 1868, intended as the home of Francisco Rondan (at the time the richest man in Holguin). La Periquera housed hundreds of soldiers from Spain during Cuba's war for independence, all whom wore green uniforms with bright red and yellow ribbons (because of this, Cubans opposing Spain called the soldiers "Pericos" - "parakeets"). La Periquera is now a museum containing a great deal of historical artifacts, artwork, and marvelous antique furniture.

Casa Natal de Calixto Garcia (Birth Place of Calixto Garcia): This museum was once the house where Calixto Garcia was born. It is a tribute to the great Major General that led the Holguin Mambisa forces - Cuban militia fighting the Spaniards in the battle for independence - and it is a Museum of History for that war.

Sports: Estadio Calixto Garcia, Museo de Deportes (Calixto Garcia Stadium, The Sports Museum) Watch a Cuban baseball game, or stroll through sports history in the museum.

Trips: Mirador del Valle Mayabe (Observatory of the Mayabe Valley) Take your swimsuit! and spend a day on this hill above the city with a beautiful view of the Mayabe Valley. Olympic sized swimming pool, bar, billiard and pool tables, and "Panchito", the famous beer-drinking "burro" (mule).