Matanzas is the second largest province in Cuba and is largely flat, spreading from the north to the south coasts of the island. Located east of Havana, the province is home to distinctly cultural and historic city of Matanzas built between three major rivers and lying on the large Bay of Matanzas. If it is the white sand and crystal clear water that calls you, the beach resort town of Varadero is just a short drive from the city to the Hicacos Peninsula. Traveling inland toward the southern coast of Cuba, lies one of Cuba’s most distinctive features, the large swamplands of the Cienega de Zapata – home to the Bay of Pigs. The northeastern coast features a small chain of islands, many uninhabited, where you can snorkel some of the most pristine coral on Earth just off of the Bay of Cardenas, home to the city of the same name. One of the most outstanding aspects of this province is that it is the most industrialized province with petroleum wells, refineries, supertanker facilities and 21 sugar mills to process the harvests of sugarcane that grows there.