Memories | Cayo Largo, Cuba

Memories and souvenir photos

You'll find here souvenir photos of the early days of Cayo Largo as a new tourist destination, as well as a few of the events that have taken place over the years. At the bottom of the page, you'll find links to picture albums of facilities that have either been closed, abandoned, or destroyed by hurricanes.

Souvenir photos from 1982
This is the year of the opening of Cayo Largo as a tourist center. These photos are courtesy of Danielle Payette, first representative of Champagne Tours.

Souvenir photos from the 1980's
At the time when there was only one hotel in Cayo Largo, the Hotel Isla del Sur. These photos are courtesy of users of our Forum: Jedab and Largo86.

Letter from Tolly Reviv to his customers (1984)
Mr. Reviv, president of Champagne Tours and passionate about Cuba, was the first foreign tour operator to offer organized trips to Cayo Largo in 1984. He died in 1996, his ashes were scattered near the beautiful Playa Sirena.

Cayo Largo, the All-Inclusive Island
From the mid 1990's to the year 2000, Cayo Largo was "la isla toda incluida"; Guests could eat and drink at any hotel. At that time there were 7 hotels on the island: Hotel Pelicano, Hotel Isla del Sur, Villa Lindamar, Villa Iguana, Villa Capricho, Villa Coral and Villa Soledad.

Photo album of Cayo Largo workers
These pictures were taken between 1999 and 2004. You will recognize many friendly faces, most of them are still working in Cayo Largo today.

Hurricane Michelle (November 4, 2001)
Learn about the strongest and most devastating hurricane to hit Cayo Largo since the beginning of its tourist development: a detailed timeline, aftermath, pictures, and the valiant efforts undertaken to revive Cayo Largo.

20th Anniversary celebrations (2002)
On February 20, 2002, founders, government officials, workers, VIP's and loyal guests join in the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of Cayo Largo as a tourist center.

Tribute to Tolly Reviv (February 20, 2002)
A tribute was paid to the late Tolly Reviv by the founders, long-time workers and loyal clients, during the celebration of the 20th anniversary of Cayo Largo as a tourist center.

Ceremony in honor of Tolly Reviv (February 2003)
On the occasion of the 21th anniversary of the tourist center of Cayo Largo, a cemaric plate depicting Tolly was put at the bottom of the sea, in the "Los Ballenatos" coral reef, where Tolly loved to dive.

Celebrating St-Jean-Baptiste Day (2003)
On June 24, 2003, a small celebration was held at the Villa Lindamar Hotel to celebrate Quebec's National Day. Quebeckers have always been loyal visitors to Cayo Largo since the opening of the island to tourists.

Celebrating 1 million visitors (2003)
On June 29, 2003, a celebration was held at Hotel Villa Lindamar to mark the millionth visitor to Cuba so far that year. We were invited to cut the cake :-)

Hurricane Gustav (2008) disaster relief project
In August 2008, Category-5 Hurricane Gustav strikes Isla de la Juventud (where most Cayo Largo workers live). Help was organized via our Forum in order to send containers of supplies. Click to find out more about the involvement of the Canadian "Dubois Charitable Foundation", and a fundraiser made through the sale of a solidarity T-shirt and donations.

Closed, abandoned or destroyed facilities :

Hotel Villa Capricho (before 2001)
The charming Villa Capricho was damaged beyong repairs by Hurricane Michelle on November 4th, 2001. This small hotel with individual huts was a favorite among naturists.

Hotel Villa Iguana (before 2001)
This hotel was almost entirely destroyed by Hurricane Michelle on November 4th, 2001. It was eventually rebuilt and expanded, and it reopened in 2016. These pictures are of the former Villa Iguana.

Cayo Largo Delfinario (dolphinarium)
This modest facility was located in Playa Sirena (a gorgeous beach located at the west end of the island). It was in operation between 2010 and 2017.

Disco "El Torreon"
This ancient stone building was once a reservoir that contained fuel for the marina. It was later converted into a restaurant, and then a discotheque. It is now closed for an indefinite period; we heard that the roof had become unstable.

Piggery
Some years back, there was a small piggery close to Playa Luna (northwest of Cayo Largo), we can still see the abandoned facilities. On our trips to Cayo Largo, we used to always visit the piggery workers who didn't see tourists often.

Photo flight in an Antonov An-2 biplane
This excursion was offered until the early 2000s. You could get onboard an Antonov-2 from the Cuban airline Aerotaxi and fly over Cayo Largo at low altitude to take pictures.

Visit our HISTORY page to learn about the history of Cayo Largo from centuries ago (indigenous people, pirates, slaves, etc.) until it becomes a resort island in the early 80's.

Visit our LATEST NEWS section for updates on hotel openings, changes in name and management, new tourist facilities, temporary hotel closure, etc.