Guanaroca Lagoon

Cienfuegos - Cienfuegos City

The lagoon is formed by the Arimao River before it flows into the bay. It is declared a protected area and includes the Labyrinths of los Naturales, Cayo Ocampo, and other smaller keys towards the inside of the bay.

Its coastal environment is very attractive because of its mangrove swamps and natural refuges of autochthonous and migratory avifauna. Amongst the noteworthy is a colony of more than 2,000 pink flamengoes and more than 7 types of heron.

There are important archeological sites of past aborigine and of Spanish colonization. Cayo Ocampo was visited by the Spanish navigator of the same surname, when he sailed around Cuba, and by Diego Velásquez, in 1515. Very close to the lagoon was a site where el Padre de las Casas, Protector of the Indians, settled.