You will become very skilled at the art of the line-up when choosing Playa Pesquero All-Inclusive Hotel/Resort in Cuba for your vacation destination. Once you’ve made it through the airport in Holguin, Cuba and passed the front desk check-in, however, most line-ups are avoidable. If not avoidable, they are at least tolerable with a steady stream of tropical drinks in hand from one of the nearby bars.

Playa Pesquero is located on the Atlantic Ocean side of Cuba in the east end of the island nation (using Google Earth, enter 21 05.53N 75 56.01W into the ‘fly to’ bar). The closest international airport is in Holguin, which is approximately an hour’s drive away by bus. The closest tourist town is Guardalavaca, ten kilometres away. The specialties of the resort include its massive swimming pool and the amazing snorkelling available right off the main beach.

The resort consists of 914 rooms scattered over nearly thirty hectares. The rooms are generally in two story buildings consisting of sixteen rooms per floor. Playa Pesquero is a large resort. You will have plenty of opportunity to burn off the food eaten at the buffet through constant walking. However, if you don’t want to put on the mileage, the shuttle system is one of the best of any all-inclusive resort I’ve visited.

The rooms are spacious, consisting of a sitting area, large and comfortable beds and a separate room for closets and sink with decent bathroom and shower area off that. The rooms are not without problems with door locks, safes, televisions and toilets often not working. However, a call to the front desk brings a serviceman promptly to get things on the mend, at least for a little while.

The resort features ten restaurants. Two restaurants serve as breakfast buffets, two as lunch buffets, one as a dinner buffet and six a la cartes. The ‘Beer Garden’ is open 24 hours a day serving snacks and, well, beer!

The buffets can only be explained as ‘Cuban’. The food is bland and unimaginative but it, unlike other southern resorts, will almost never make you sick. Vegans, vegetarians and anyone else who thinks that a tropical island would be the place to go for fresh tropical fruit should downsize their expectations. Practically every culinary concoction at the resort contains meat. Fresh fruit is limited to pineapple, oranges and guava, for the most part.

The one surprise restaurant even for the carnivores is ‘El Catuco’, the vegetarian a la carte restaurant. The term ‘vegetarian’ in North America is often associated with no meat but a heaping helping of eggs, cheese and other dairy products. ‘El Catuco’ is 95% vegan and delicious.

As mentioned above, the freshwater swimming pool is massive. The pool is broken into two separate halves by a walking bridge. The west end of the pool is quieter and more relaxed. The east end features the swim-up bar and all the loud and typical activities.

The beach has nice sand but has many rocky sections. It’s the rockiness, coral reef and crystal clear water that provide incredible snorkelling opportunities for guests. The number of fish to be viewed within four or five hundred meters from shore is amazing. Barracuda, lionfish, puffers, snappers and needlefish are just some of the many to be found.

If you plan to snorkel, I suggest taking your own equipment if possible. If you’re short on luggage space, take your own mask and snorkel and borrow flippers from the resort. Also, for a great experience, grab some buns from the buffet and with them in a zip-lock bag, swim out to where the fish density starts to build. Holding the bread above the water, break it into little pieces and throw it into the water around you. Tropical fish will come from nowhere to crowd you. It can be a little intimidating as the fish run into you and get into your face but it’s a great experience.

Of course, there are several excursions available to visitors. Most popular are the ‘Swim with the Dolphins’ and the Jeep tours. Overnight tours to Santiago, Baracoa, Trinidad and Havana are also available. There are horse and carriage rides right from the front entrance of the resort any time of day. For relatively little money, you can have anywhere from a one to three hour ride. For a real treat, tell the driver you don’t want to go to the touristy Guardalavaca. Tell him you want to see the Cuban countryside and you will get a close-up glimpse into the ‘real’ Cuba.

As mentioned at the start of this review, line-ups can be a way of life in Cuba. Arriving at the airport in Holguin, you need to wait in line several different times before finally making it out of the building. At the resort, the worst and most constant line-up visible during your stay is the queue to book the a la carte restaurants.

It is suggested to get to the buffet restaurants as they’re just opening for each meal. The restaurants fill up soon, bus staff is limited and there is a very slow table turnover resulting in more line-ups.

Line-ups are truly the resorts only major flaw, though. The staff is incredibly friendly and accommodating. Exercise facilities and equipment are modern and maintained, unlike a number of resorts in Cuba. The nightly entertainment is good but you won’t miss anything if you decide to stay at the ‘Beer Garden’ instead.