Hello friends of the @familyandFriends community, today I want to share with you my experience visiting a beach that is statistically considered one of the best beaches in the world, and it is none other than Varadero. Despite being such a well-known and controversial beach in my country, I had never had the opportunity to visit it, so on this trip I tried to see as much of it as possible, despite the large area this place covers.

Varadero is a beach resort located in the province of Matanzas, Cuba, and has a geographical area of 20 km. Therefore, on this trip, as much as I wanted to visit it all, I was barely able to reach a third. A very distinctive feature of the place is the large number of tourists it attracts due to its beauty and shopping centers. First of all, when we arrived, the bus dropped us off in front of a shopping center called "Todo x 1," but we would go inside later, since our desire to visit the beach was greater.

The beach really surprised me. I could say it exceeded my expectations, since, based on the comments I'd heard, I was expecting a spot with no shade anywhere and a super shallow beach, but no. The entire beach was lined with umbrellas so families could spread out their belongings without having to stand in the sun, which was a bit strong. The sand was very white and extremely fine, so much so that walking on it was very comfortable. The ambient temperature was quite pleasant despite the sun. As soon as we entered the water, we noticed that the temperature was rather cool, and this surprised me a bit considering the sun was already quite strong at that point. I'd also venture to say that the beach was quite deep, since after walking a few meters into the sea, I no longer touched the sandy bottom.

After enjoying the beach, we considered walking around the nearby places to enjoy the sights and get to know a little more. One of the things I noticed was the cleanliness and care taken not only at the beach but also at the streets. It's like an independent city. I also noticed a large number of cafes, as well as stalls selling handicrafts, all with that Cuban stamp that characterizes us so much. We bought some coffee, had a snack, and returned to the beach where we found something resembling an old-fashioned stall, perhaps selling drinks, where there was shade and a cool atmosphere, so we stayed there to have lunch and take some photos.

In the afternoon, we went to the shopping center where the bus had dropped us off, and upon entering, I must admit that this time the experience wasn't as good. There were two stores, which didn't have a wide variety of items, more cafes, and a small park with several games. I really expected more from this mall, since it's one of the most talked about and most visited. Some of the people who were there commented that things used to be very different, they said it was much better and that over time they let the place fall into disrepair.

The truth is, I would have liked to have visited it at that time they mentioned so much, but despite this, I can't complain, since I loved the beach and the beauty of the entire place was incredible. Since we spent several hours exploring, we decided to spend the rest of the day enjoying the beach. Varadero was an experience I definitely enjoyed, and I hope to repeat it to visit other places.

All content is original, based on personal experiences.
All photos were taken by and/or belong to the author herself