On this group the first is that fine deep land locked deep-water harbor of Bahia Honda (deep bay), sixty miles west of Havana, that was first selected by the Government of the United States as a coaling station, but afterwards surrendered for Guantanamo on account of the latter’s proximity to the Panama Canal and the Pacific, to which it gives entrance. Bahia Honda has a deep, rather narrow and fairly straight channel that leads from the Gulf into a beautiful sheet of water, extending some five or six miles into the interior, where good anchorage may be found for quite a fleet of vessels. A twelve mile light is located on the western entrance of the harbor, while two fine range lights enable shipping to leave or enter at night. The little town of Bahia Honda, three miles back, is connected with the port by a fine macadam highway. Owing to the fact that this section of Pinar del Rio, although rich in minerals, has not been brought under development up to the present, most of the commerce is confined to the local trade between Bahia and Havana, sixty miles distant.
Twelve miles further east and forty-eight miles from Havana, we have the beautiful harbor of Cabanas, a large, double-purse-shaped, interior bay, that extends some ten miles from east to west and furnishes one of the most picturesque land-locked harbors on the north coast. A small island in the entrance, on which is located one of the old time forts of the 17th century, obscures the bay itself from passing vessels. The shores of Cabanas are covered with extensive sugar cane fields that furnish cane to the surrounding mills, while its commerce is at the present time almost entirely local.
Located in the same province, some 18 miles further east, and only 30 from Havana, is the harbor of Mariel, a single-purse-shaped bay, that from its narrow entrance opens out to a broad picturesque sheet of water extending southward some four or five miles, while several prolongations extend out towards the southwest, bordered with rich sugar cane plantations. The little fishing village of Mariel is located at the extreme head of the bay and connected with Havana by automobile drive, as are the two harbors previously mentioned. A high table land extends along much of the eastern shore of this harbor, on the summit of which stands the Cuban Naval Academy. Near the entrance, on the eastern shore, is located a new cement factory with a capacity of a thousand barrels a day. On the western side of the entrance is the quarantine station, to which all infested vessels are sent, and where delightful accommodations are found ashore for both passengers and crew, who may be detained by sanitary officials of the central government.
The fine deep-water harbor of Havana, which boasts of a foreign trade excelled in the western hemisphere only by that of New York City, is, of course, the most important commercial gateway of the Republic of Cuba. It is one of those deep, narrow-necked, purse-shaped harbors, so characteristic of the Island, and furnishes splendid anchorage, with well equipped modern wharves, for handling the enormous bulk of freight that comes and goes throughout every day of the year. After passing the promontories of El Morro and Cabanas, that stretch along the eastern side of the entrance for a mile or more, the remainder of the shores of the Bay of Havana are comparatively low, although high ridges and hills form a fairly close background in almost every direction. Within the last ten years a great deal of dredging and land reclaiming has taken place in this harbor, increasing greatly not only the depth of water but also the available building sites. A series of magnificent modern wharves have been built along the western shore of the harbor, furnishing splendid shipping facilities for incoming and outgoing vessels. The upper portions of these buildings are occupied by the Custom House and Quarantine authorities. The southwest extension of this bay, recently dredged, furnishes access to deep draft steamships up to the site of the old Spanish Arsenal, that in 1908 was converted into the freight and passenger yards of the United Railroads. Along the docks, where steamers of the P. & O. SS line are moored, were built and launched many of Spain’s ships that centuries ago fought with Great Britain for the dominion of the seas. On the broad topped promontory that lies along the eastern shore, southeast of Cabanas, is located Trisconia, a splendidly equipped detention camp for immigrants and passengers coming from infested ports in different parts of the world. Excellent accommodations are there provided during the period of detention, which may last anywhere from five to fifteen days. This is the “Ellis Island” of Cuba, and has been a credit to the Republic since the first year of its installment in 1902, during which time it has been under the able direction of Dr. Frank Menocal, who takes great personal pride in having Trisconia, with its floating population, running sometimes into the thousands, one of the best appointed stations of its kind in the Western Hemisphere.
The harbor of Matanzas, sixty miles east of Havana, is a beautiful wide mouthed bay, or open roadstead, facing on the Gulf Stream as it sweeps between northern Cuba and southern Florida. This picturesque sheet of water reaches back into the land some six or eight miles, and although not noted for its depth, nevertheless furnishes safe anchorage for the fleet of tramp steamers found there during the larger part of the year, loading sugar from the many centrals scattered throughout the Province of Matanzas. Into this harbor, from the west, opens the Yumuri gorge, through which runs the river whose waters in ages past carved out the famous valley of the Yumuri, whose beauty was extolled by Alexander Von Humboldt during his travels in the western world. Covering the western shores of the bay, that slope down from the top of the hills to the water’s edge, lies the city of Matanzas, while off to the east and south may be seen great fields of sugar cane and henequen, that form two of the important industries of the Province.
Forty miles further east we find the beautiful landlocked bay of Cardenas, whose northwestern shore is formed by a long sandy strip of land extending in a curve out into the sea and known as the Punta de Hicacos. Cardenas Bay is some thirty miles in length from east to west, by ten or twelve from north to south, and is protected from the outside sea by a chain of small keys or islands, through which a deep ship channel was dredged during the first decade of this century. This furnishes entrance to one of the largest sugar exporting points of Cuba, the City of Cardenas.
East of the harbor of Cardenas lies Santa Clara Bay, also protected by outlying keys, but without deep water anchorage. These island dotted bays, separated from each other only by islands, and connected by comparatively shallow channels, extend from Punta Hicacos, some 300 miles eastward, to the Harbor of Nuevitas.
Seventy-five miles east of Cardenas we find the bay of Sagua, very similar to the others, and with a depth not exceeding twelve or fifteen feet. This harbor is located on the northern shore of the Province of Santa Clara, and its port, Isabela de Sagua, is the shipping point for a large amount of the sugar produced along the north coast of the province. The rivers emptying into the bay of Sagua, as well as the bay itself, are noted for their splendid fishing ground, tarpon being especially abundant; also for the small delightfully flavored native oyster.
Still further east we have another important shipping port known as Caibarien, located on Buena Vista Bay, that unfortunately has an average depth of only 12 or 15 feet, necessitating lighterage out to the anchorage at Cayo Frances, 18 miles distant, where ships of the deepest draft find perfect protection while loading.
On the north shore of the Province of Camaguey we have but one harbor of the first order, the Bay of Nuevitas, but this harbor may easily lay claim to being one of the best in the world. Its entrance is narrow, resembling a river, some six miles in length and with a rather swift running current, depending upon the flow of tide, as it passes in or out. The Bay itself is a beautiful sheet of water of circular form, with an extension of deep water reaching out towards the west some 15 miles, and connected with the Bay of Carabelas, Guajaba and Guanaja, forty or fifty miles further west. Along these quiet landlocked lagoons are located the American colonies of La Gloria, Columbia, Punta Pelota and Guanaja.