About thirty kilometres east of Baracoa, the Yumurí river cuts a dramatic canyon through limestone cliffs before reaching the Atlantic at a wide pebble beach. Local boatmen pole flat-bottomed rowing boats upstream into the gorge, where the river is so clear you can see the stones at four metres' depth and the cliffs rise on both sides in walls of fig trees and lianas.
The trip costs a few CUC per person and takes about forty minutes upstream and back. Combine it with a swim at the river mouth and lunch from the simple food stalls on the beach. The drive out along the coast road is itself spectacular, with bays, palms, and indigenous Taíno place names at every turn.