Things heading from bad to worse on one-time island paradise

Regular readers of this column know that I have a special affinity for Cuba and the Cuban people. I have been to the Caribbean island eight times since 2017 and I even adopted a Cuban cat in 2018 named – appropriately enough – Havana.

So when Sunwing offered an all-inclusive one week stay to my favourite resort in Cayo Santa Maria for just $555 (fees and taxes included) it was impossible to say no.

In fact, I still don’t understand how it could be so cheap. Airfare alone to Santa Clara is usually $625-$675 on either Sunwing or Air Transat. If you do the math, $555 for a sevenday visit to Starfish Cayo Santa Maria, where I always stay, works out to roughly $80 a day and that’s without factoring in a flight. $80 a day ALL-INCLUSIVE.

Now, admittedly Starfish Cayo Santa Maria is only a 3.5 star resort, and it is June, or at least it was when I stayed there last month, but still $80 a day!

It was such a bargain, that I worked in a short visit to see my friend in Trinidad, Cuba, even before I went to Starfish.

Trinidad is a UNESCO World Heritage site located on the south of the island about midway between Havana and Santiago de Cuba. It’s also about a two-hour bus trip from Santa Clara where any excursion to Santa