Twelve Leagues

Of his tour of the archipelago Jardines de la Reina, the Spanish chronicler Antonio Perpina: in the midst of the spell to contemplate from the those practically Virgin, elegant and spectacular landscapes of the Queen of the West Indies, published more than one hundred years (1889): country, las Palmas, las brisas and perfumes .the foliage of its forests, the beauty of its birdspicturesque mountains, the surprising thing about their caves, and enjoyable, its estuaries and its oasis planted in their seas forming archipelagoes, delectable, beautiful and charming. Those same charms remain today the twelve leagues Cohiba explored also in 1508, by Sebastian de Ocampo, Galician and bred pilot of Queen Dona Isabe. From its bojeo by the then Island Juana or Cubanacan, could inform, Governor Nicolas de Ovando, Hispaniola, that Cuba is an island, and not a continent, as Columbus believed. The keys of the twelve leagues is located 50 kilometers from Playa Bonita, Santa Cruz del Sur, is characterized by difficult navigation. Covers one-third of all Jardines de la Reina and it can be considered as one of the most beautiful areas of the 70 000 square kilometres of the submerged platform of Cuba. Las Doce Leguas labyrinth extends over 135 kilometres of splendid sites for underwater contemplation, with colonies of sponges and large gardens of reefs. Tens of kilometers in length in his coastal South, of high quality beaches by the wide strip of fine sand, between five and twenty kilometers of excellent aquatic landscapes wallpapers make up Las Doce Leguas labyrinth. Black coral and various species of marine fauna, which constitute natural relics of a meticulously preserved ecosystem can be seen on the edge of the ridge. Nature is impressive across the waters covering the underwater platform of this beautiful area. A large area comprising 661 cays and cayuelos gives US this archipelago of crystalline waters of almost perfect beauty, which in some of its keys can be find freshwater, as a result of seepage of precipitation in the Hollows of the rocks of some pigeon, mainly in the loggerhead, and mangroves that serve as a filter to the water of the tide and the rain.