Cuba Guide
Cienfuegos and Villa Clara
Castillo de Jagua
Opening time: Daily 8am–4pm
Price: Castillo $1CUC; ferry 50¢
Half the fun of a visit to the seventeenth-century Spanish fortress at the mouth of the Jagua Bay, known as the Castillo de Jagua, is getting there. A local passenger ferry leaves Cienfuegos five times a day, approximately every two and a half hours from 8am onwards, from a wharf next to the junction between Calle 25 and Avenida 46, where it'll cost you 50¢ to climb on board or $1CUC with a bike. There's a small outdoor waiting area with benches and a noticeboard with the ferry timetable, though this is not always up to date. A rusty old vessel looking vaguely like a tugboat, the ferry chugs across the placid waters at a pace slow enough to allow a relaxed contemplation of the bay, including the tiny, barely inhabited cays where the ferry makes a brief call to pick up passengers. The deck is lined with benches but the metal roof is the best place to sit, allowing unobscured views in all directions.
After a little less than an hour, the ferry docks just below the fortress, on the opposite side of the channel to Playa Rancho Luna, from where a dusty track leads up to the cannon guarding the castle drawbridge. Overlooking a rustic little collection of bayfront shacks and patched-up villas, the fortress isn't particularly engaging once you get inside. It contains a small museum detailing the history of the fort, originally built to defend against pirate attacks; a couple of tables in a sunken courtyard where you can get something to eat and drink; and steps winding up to the top of the single turret from where there are modest views. Before heading back, take a peek at the cramped and dingy prison cell and the chapel on the courtyard level.