My wife and I just returned from Breezes Jibacoa which we found to be a great place to spend our vacation. If you are looking for a ‘beer keg and shot-glass bandolier’ party atmosphere, then Breezes may not be the ideal resort destination for you. However, if your main goal is to have a relaxing and memorable vacation then please read on and I will do my best to share with you what this friendly resort has to offer.

While there are several reasons why we found this to be a great resort, the main reason would have to be the quality of the people who worked there. The hotel staff was extremely friendly and accommodating - clearly making an effort to see that their visitors had a great vacation. As with any group, there were the mandatory few employees who were a little bit grumpy, indifferent, or unclear on the whole notion of customer service, but by and large the resort staff as a whole were a friendly and outgoing bunch that I would award a 5 star rating for their attitude.

The resort itself is clean and attractive. The grounds are well kept and rooms are spacious and furnished attractively. Our room was comfortable and clean with a great view of the mountains and the beach. The only negative thing I can say about the room was that as some other reviewers have mentioned you occasionally got a strange odour in the washroom, which was a very minor issue.

The food was better than expected. You always hear horror stories about Cuban cuisine (or lack there of…), but we were pleased to find that in this case the stories proved to be false. The selection of food was reasonably good, and the quality while not exceptional was nothing to frown about. I enjoyed my meals here, especially the great omelettes that they make to order and the delicious fresh squeezed orange juice which I am missing already… The coffee is also excellent. Although they do not serve it with cream, you can have it with warmed milk which I found to be surprisingly good.

The two specialty restaurants each have a very nice ambiance and good service. While the food at the Italian restaurant was only so-so (An off night perhaps?) the meal at the Cuban restaurant was delicious. Reservations for these restaurants are required and fill up extremely quickly, so do yourself a favour and book them the same day you arrive.

The pool was very clean and well maintained. There were always an abundance of pool chairs so you never had to fight to find a good seat like you do at many other resorts. The beach was also great. Unlike other resorts I have been to where you literally have to get up at 7:00 in the morning to go and stake a claim to secure a beach chair, we found that we could always get chairs, even with shade cabanas, and at any time of day! They also have many great shade trees on the beach that are just perfect for sitting under when you need to get out of the direct sun.

The resort also has a very comprehensive reef just off shore which is well suited for snorkelling. Snorkelling equipment is free, of good quality, and in abundant supply. When in the dive shop to pick up your gear, be sure to either look at the wall map or talk with one of the staff to get some tips for the best places to snorkel. One great spot is directly off of the beach restaurant – about 50 meters out you find a well developed reef with very interesting coral formations and an abundance of fish. Be sure to take some bread or a banana along with you to feed them - the fish will flock to you and follow you around for the duration of your swim!

The beach is only shared with one other hotel so you never feel crowded or sandwiched in between a crowd of fellow tourists. And while there is public access to the beach there were virtually no vendors hounding you constantly for your money like I have found at some other locations.

Another great feature about the beach here is that you are relatively safe while swimming in the water - from man or beast. Some resorts I have visited have masses of tourists and locals constantly screaming by in jet skis or power boats where the driver is usually drunk or in ‘vacation mode’. In these types of settings, swimming in the ocean feels about as safe as trying to suntan in the middle of a busy highway. Fortunately here this was not the case. During our one week stay I did not see a single motor boat or jet ski, which made swimming much safer and a lot more peaceful. There are also no sharks in this area. You have to go several miles off of shore before you are in danger of running into any. The only things to watch out for are the occasional jelly fish or sea urchin.

And while the sand is not the pure white that you find in the Dominican or at the beaches of Varadaro, this is probably the only negative comment I can make about the beach… there really are only positive things about this beach to be said.

The bars are all pleasant and I especially recommend checking out the piano bar above the lobby. They have a wonderful air conditioning up there and a well stocked bar that doesn’t get a lot of traffic as its location tends to make this bar get overlooked.

If you like taking your drinks to the pool or the beach then I will definitely affirm what so many other reviewers have suggested – bring your own insulated mugs. The ‘to go’ cups are surprisingly small. When I read the other reviewers comments on this I thought ‘how small can they be’? The answer is ‘very very small’ – one and one half gulps and you find yourself heading right back to the bar. I am not much of a lush, but it is nice to get comfortable in your chair and be able to sip your drink without having to get it refilled before you even make it back to your seat, so bringing your own mugs is a great idea.

There are also several great tours available, of which we tried two. There is an organized tour to Havana (a fascinating city) for $70 per person, but we instead found a great cab driver named Ulysses with very good English that for a flat total of $60 agreed to drive us to Havana and act as our guide for the day. I think this was definitely the way to go. Not only was it much cheaper but you also got your own personal guide and could set your own agenda as to what you wanted to see. Ulysses was a charming and insightful guide and really made the trip one to remember.

The other tour we went on was the ‘Nature Tour’ – a trip by jeep to many of the local sights including two huge underground caves (fantastic) including one that was half full of water that we got to swim in with the locals. This was an incredible experience which I highly recommend. The trip also included snorkelling at a local reef (very worth while) lunch and horseback riding at a local ranch, and some other sights along the way. This was about $70 per person and was money well spent.

There are also many free things to do at the resort – you can take out bikes, go sailing with an instructor, guided nature walks, Spanish lessons, dancing classes and a host of other activities available every day. I guess everyone has their own idea of how to best enjoy their vacation, but I urge you to take advantage of these opportunities as for my wife and I and so many other couples, they really added to the enjoyment of our trip.

I will close with one last thought which I realize is very subjective. I respect that some people will disagree with me and that’s ok. Please just skip it if you are not interested. My thought is this… when I was at this resort, I found that by taking the time to get to know the people that worked their as real people instead of just ‘that guy who brings me my drink’ or ‘that person who cleans my room every day’ that my experience was greatly enriched.

These people are by and large incredibly interesting with a great outlook on life and a very unique culture. I took the time to ask them about themselves as in who they were and what mattered to them, and I feel that I got much more out of my vacation as a result. I found it remarkable that even though most Cubans only earn only $20 a month in wages and have very little in terms of the material possessions that most of us take for granted, many of them will really open up to you and share with you their fantastic sense of humour and great outlook on life. Breezes as an all inclusive resort does not require tipping and I never felt that I had to tip someone in order to receive good service. But I did tip frequently and I enjoyed leaving a peso for a friendly and hard working staff member.

As a case in point, we once gave $20 to one of our guides who was had been incredibly friendly and really went out of his way to make our tour interesting and memorable. At home we frequently blow $20 on a bad movie or a mediocre lunch without thinking twice about it. But in this case this was probably the best $20 we have spent in a very long time – it was a small gesture of appreciation to an exceptional individual that cost us almost nothing but almost made him fall out of his chair. I know some people don’t like to tip and I absolutely respect that and wouldn’t dream of telling anyone what they should or shouldn’t do. I guess I am just observing that on this trip I personally found it to be a rewarding experience to be able to leave a tip for some really great people.

I hope you have a great trip. I know my wife and I did, and will definitely return to this resort in the future.