My wife and I agree with all of the previous reviews praising the place ie. great snorkelling, above average food, excellent scooter excursions and trips to Havana, fantastic staff and resort.

A few words of advice though:

1) Book a la carte restaurants as soon as you can. We waited a few days and were only able to get a reservation at Martinos. Same goes for masseuse. You can only book one dinner at each restaurant for the week.

2) I'd go back again in the summer. We were there in February and the first couple of of days were too chilly (4-5 degrees) and windy to enjoy the beach. Jelly fish resulted in red flags on the beach for few days.

3) We went to Veradero to visit and found that the sand was softer. Although if you go down the beach at Jibacoa past the Italian resort, you'll find the sand softer at the public Cuban beach. The coral reef a few feet from shore is a definite plus for the resort.

4) I'd recommend Veradero if you're single or into the nightlife. After the resort's evening show (which we enjoyed) there isn't much to do after 10:30 since the disco was always empty. However, we did hear from others that the piano bar was very enjoyable.

5) Tours to Trinidad (very cool colonial UNESO World Heritage site) in the south only leave from Veradero early in the morning. This resulted in a very early departure from Jibacoa (5:30) to get to Veradero ($50 taxi ride) to catch the tour bus.

The above are the only negatives I can think of. I would still recommend it as we had a great time and would return. The staff are superb and the people you meet from Canada and the U.K. are fantastic.

We picked this resort to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary and it definitely exceeded our expectations. We were there from February 14th-21st. We would definitely recommend this resort to couples who are looking for something more secluded. This is right between Varadero and Havana and it takes about an hour to get to either place. You can do as much as you want in terms of activities/tours or as little as you want in terms of just lounging around the pool or on the beach. There is something here for everyone!

The scotter tour to Santa Cruz was very worthwhile and gives you a good look at the Cuban lifestyle. Our guide Javier was excellent and very knowledgable. You tour places like the ration store, the Catholic church, the museum, an outside pub, and the cemetary. The scooter to the Bellamar Caves is also definitely worth going to. It takes about an hour to get there but along the way you go through another town called Mantazas and that is also a good look at the Cuban lifestyle. The hike up the mountain with Erik is also an awesome experience. Eric has a great sense of humor and makes the hike enjoyable. The view from the top is phenomenal!

The snokelling was as great as previous reviews stated. The one thing we would recommend it going out early in the morning so that you don't get disappointed by the windy weather in the afternoon.

The food at the resort was very diverse. There is something there for everyone. The selection of food is overwhelming at the buffet. Again you can have as much or as little as you want. The Italian restaurant was fantastic from beginning to end.

We had an oceanview room and it definitely is worth the upgrade. It only costs about $100 more, so go for it. I promise you won't regret it.

All of the Cubans from maids to bartenders to receptionists were very friendly. They all treated us like we were family.

This was our first trip to Cuba and I am postive we will be back! We relaxed for the first few days and then toured around the remaining days, so it perfect.

P.S. Thanks to our friends, Jeff & Sherry, for joining us and making this vacation an awesome experience!!

I stayed at this resort on Feb 10 - Feb 17th, 2005. The experience was memorable, and I wish I could've stayed longer. Cuba is a wonderful country, and the people are very friendly.

Resort:
The resort is secluded, it's about an hour away from Havana, and an hour away from Varadero. So if you're hoping to leave your resort to do some shopping, I would pick a resort in Varadero, or Havana. The scenery is beautiful, there are mountains with lush greenery, and the ocean is a beautiful blue, and the sand is white. The hotel was clean, and so were the rooms, I was very impressed. The hotel staff was hit and miss, some of them were really nice and very helpful, but others I found especially at the Lobby bar, were very rude...that was the only downside. The maid service was very good, and they were very friendly, and I did not have anything go missing in my room. The staff at the beach grill, and the walking tour guides were the friendliest I found. Also the entertainment staff try really hard to get you involved! Try the dance lessons, and the spanish lessons, they're really fun, so get involved...you are in Cuba afterall, and nobody knows you...so go for it!!!!

Activities:
Although we didn't make it to any of the scooter tours, I heard the Sunset one is a must! They take you out to this lookout and you can watch the sunset...and the scooter tours are very reasonably priced. Probably about $12 CUC.
The red flag was up for most of the time that we were there. If you're looking to do some snorkelling (the coral reef is right in front of the resort, you don't even have to take a boat out) I would suggest you do your snorkelling earlier in the day because I noticed it was yellow flag (which means caution) up to about noon and then it turns to red flag. The reason for the red flag is that it gets windy and the jelly fish puff up and get washed up towards shore. I heard of a couple people getting stung by the jelly fish.
The morning and afternoon hikes are a must. The morning hike takes you up one of the hills behind the resort and you can get a view of the entire resort and the ocean from a lookout point. Eric (the guide) is great! He's very funny, and informative. The afternoon hike is a lot less strenuous, and will take you to the surrounding farms so you will get a good look at how real "Cubans" live...
We did the Jeep tour and that was fun, although I was a little hung over to thoroughly enjoy it. And the Havana tour was very interesting. We didn't do the Tropicana, but I heard it was definately worth the money.

Food:
I read past reviews before going, and was little weary about the food, because a lot of people found it to be very bland. But I really enjoyed it. Not bland at all and there were alot of variety. The italian restaurant was very good, was not very impressed with the cuban restaurant though...
Also if you're a white meat person, there are NO CHICKEN BREASTS! Only the dark meat was available...I don't know what they do with the white meat...

Overall the resort, and the country was great! I would definately go back to Cuba. The only regret that I have is that I wish I would've brought more gifts to give to the people, stuff that they really need as supplies are very limited there. For the men I would suggest razors, shaving cream...anything small like that. For the kids, some books, pens, pencils, erasers, stuff for school. And for the women, razors, stockings. And in general, some medications like Tylenol, Advil, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and any old clothing that you don't wear, and if you have room in your suitcase.

P.S. In the market, and at the airport you will have a lot of people approach you for cigars, or helping you with your bags (airport)...you have to say no...especially to purchasing cigars on the street because when you leave the officials can confiscate your cigars if they are counterfeit (made out of banana leaves instead of tobacco - ha!).

Ola! Back from Jibacoa, 2nd year in a row and it was just as lovely! We were there Feb 12-19, 2005 and the resort was PERFECT: food, accommodations, weather, nothing could be better.

Ocean was warmer this year (as we went in Jan last year) but there were Portuguese Man O' War (Jellyfish) in the ocean/on the beach for the first few days. They are dangerous and should be avoided. They look like clear/blue plastic sacks when beached but are hard to see in the water as they float along the surface. They cleared up for the last few days so we went in the ocean as much as possible because the snorkelling is excellent!

One thing I would have found helpful (before my trip) is more information on the money situation so I will pass on what I've learned. I didn't know what currency to take or what to tip in (tips are not expected but I like to give a little one here & there). So here we go: take CANADIAN money. Do NOT take US money. Exchange your Canadian money for Convertible Pesos at the hotel's front desk (cashier is open 10am-10pm). If you would like to tip, you may do so in the Convertible Pesos or Canadian. The hotel staff really appreciate any tips (but their service is definitely not affected by no tips... it's always excellent and they are always smiling).

A new question at the Cuba airport this year was "what do you do for a living?". I found this odd since they never asked before. I had no problem answering but others in our group (and other people we talked to later) were detained for 15-20 minutes behind closed doors (separated from the rest of the group) for "further questioning". This was a little scary and un-nerving not to mention unwelcoming. It tainted our view of Cuba a bit... will probably go somewhere else next year.

Overall though, Breezes Jibacoa is the BEST place in Cuba. Don't hesistate to go! Feel free to email me with any questions.