An airport on the cays
The Jardines del Rey — the 'Gardens of the King' — are a chain of low coral islands off Cuba's north-central coast, reached from the mainland by a long causeway. Rather than land travellers at Ciego de Ávila and drive them out, the CCC airport was built on Cayo Coco itself. For a resort guest that means a short transfer of minutes to perhaps half an hour, not the hour-plus haul common at other beach gateways.
What the cays offer
Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo are almost entirely given over to all-inclusive resorts fronting long, pale beaches and shallow turquoise water. Cayo Guillermo's Playa Pilar is among the most celebrated beaches in Cuba. The appeal here is the sea and the sand; the cays are a self-contained holiday zone rather than a place to encounter everyday Cuban life. Seasonal international and charter service feeds them directly.
Beyond the resorts
If you want more than the beach, the mainland town of Morón and the colonial city of Ciego de Ávila lie south of the causeway, and the birdlife of the cays — including the flamingos that give Cayo Coco its name — rewards a quiet dawn. But most CCC arrivals come for a straightforward beach week, and the airport's on-cay location is built precisely to make that as frictionless as Cuba allows.
The best season for the cays
The Jardines del Rey shine in the dry season from late November to April, when the water is calm and clear and the resorts run at full tilt with matching flight frequency. Summer is hotter and wetter, and the Atlantic hurricane season from June to November can occasionally disrupt travel to low-lying cays. Birdwatchers keep their own calendar: the flamingos and migratory species that haunt the shallows are most abundant outside the peak heat, rewarding an early-season or shoulder visit.