Cuba, which is strategically located in the Caribbean region, is a tourist destination par excellence, due to its exuberant nature, patrimonial values and history.

In the Cuban archipelago, traditional sun and beach options are complemented by recreational attractions designed to meet the demands from vacationers.

Cuba also offers more than 70,000 square kilometers of insular platform and some 5,000 kilometers of coasts, which are bathed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

Three dozen diving centers operate throughout the country, where divers can take initiation courses and dive in coral reefs and caverns following international standards for that nautical activity.

Nearly 6,500 varieties of fish, crustaceans, sponges and mollusks, and an 850-kilometer coral reef in perfect state of preservation turn the island into one of the best-preserved underwater ecosystems in the Caribbean region.

In addition, divers can visit hundreds of sunken ships from the Spanish colonial period to date, as evidence of Cuba's major role in the traffic of fleets from the Caribbean to Europe.

Cuba also offers medicinal waters and mud whose properties are excellent to treat a wide range of diseases.

In addition to international clinics, pharmacies, optician's shops and specialized institutions in major tourist resorts, Cuba also has a broad infrastructure made up of more than 280 hospitals, 400 polyclinics, 116 dental clinics and 1,500 establishments of different kinds that can meet the most complex demands from human health.

Thousands of Cuban health professionals, hi-tech equipment and dozens of specialized centers are available for tourists, who can also benefit from programs on traditional and natural medicine.

Cuba has also inherited the Spanish architectural wealth and the European influence that followed the colonial period.

Precisely, that element turns the Cuban capital, one of the first seven villages founded by the Spanish conquistadors and initially called San Cristóbal de La Habana, and especially its historic heart, into a key element in many tourist programs.

Called at the time the Fortified City of the West Indies and the Key to the New World, Havana is at present a living museum showing a wide range of architectural styles, as a result of the different stages of the development of the city.

Old Havana holds most of the city's museums, churches, cultural centers and buildings from the Spanish colonial period, including 33,000 buildings, most of which were built from the 18th to the 19th centuries.