bioparque rocazul

I had the opportunity to take the reef fishing tour from the bioparque which was lots of fun!We were greeted with a welcome cocktail and then back on the bus up and down some pretty steep hills. We got to a little spot where some locals were getting our fishing rods all rigged up.We hopped into the boat, we were 5 plus our guide and captain. We went quite a ways out to a reef. The water was deep blue. We fished with shrimp pieces. The guide always had an extra rod in the water so that if someone got snagged, he would give you a fresh line.I caught 8 fish -- they were small, however it was a great experience.We then finished our trip at a local restaurant on the shore where they cooked up the fish we caught. The chef was also a musician and would come out and play some songs after food was prepared. It was pretty neat.I would highly recommend this trip to anyone looking to head out on the water.

Lots to do here! Horseback riding along a seaside trail, visiting a typical farm with crops and animals, Cuban rodeo, topped off with a delicious meal in the shaded, outdoor restaurant.

Nice horseback riding... The scenary is just OK. This is a large park, be prepared for 2 hours horseback riding.

Went here for an hours horse riding, nice little trek through some nice countryside very informative guide who chatted to us about the park , the horses Cuba in general and more than happy to discuss and inform us on anything else we asked.Made a nice change of scenery from the pool and the beach. Well worth the trip out.

The horseriding experience was amazing - the guide was very knowledgeable - the horses were well kept

After getting sunburned on the beach, a trip to the zoo is worth seeing. Very inexpensive, 5 CUC I think, a guide will show you exotic animals, normally not kept as pets in Cuba, such as Rabitts, pigs, monkeys, aligators, crocodiles, birds etc. An exceĺlent outing for the family

We visited this stunning park during our recent stay at the Sol Rio De Luna y Mares when we went on the mangrove fishing trip. As my wife & I had been on this trip twice before on previous holidays, we had an idea of what to expect, but our two friends we had met at the hotel who came with us were complete novices to both the fishing & horse riding used to get to the fishing boats (not that we are in any way experts!!) - well done to both Leanne & especially her Mum Irene who was riding a horse for the first time in her 60s! . Although the trip was no longer advertised in the welcome pack, we were fortunate that when we went to ask our Thomas Cook rep about the trip, Orlando (who was to become our excellent guide) was in the hotel, and after Urli our Thomas Cook rep called Orlando over from the park desk opposite, the trip was quickly & easily arranged for us - thank you Urli & Orlando!We were picked up promptly from the hotel in an air conditioned mini bus and after a short, comfortable ten minute drive, arrived at the park. Following a refreshing welcoming drink, we were taken to our horses for the 20 - 30 minute ride to the rest area where we would be having lunch (if we managed to catch it!). The staff took great care in choosing which horse was given to which rider, and Orlando was always aware or our level (or lack) of riding experience: as Irene put it "no galloping, just a little canter!" The facilities at the rest area were spotlessly clean and well maintained, with separate male & female toilets, a well stocked bar offering soft drinks or cold cans of Cristal and Buccaneero (which were excellent value at only 1 peso for a can of beer), and the cooking area with an open fire grill where anything we caught would be prepared & cooked with fresh banana chips. During the horse ride Orlando pointed out many of the various plants and fruits growing in the beautiful park, including sugar cane, mangos, bananas, plums, plantin, yucca, guava and coffee to name but a few. We could not have wished for a better guide, and could not have been luckier that Oralndo was at the desk when we went to book. He was friendly, charming, informative, funny but above all attentive to our safety and well being at all times.The rule on this trip is your lunch is what you manage to catch. After a very relaxing two hours on the water and several bites, our catch consisted of only three small fish, two caught by Orlando and one by Leanne. Our table was beginning to look pretty bare, until Pablo, another of the fishermen who remembered us from our trip two years earlier, boosted our haul while Orlando wasn`t looking. I wasn`t surprised that Pablo remembered us, since he had been the guide for my step daughter & her boyfriend when she managed to hook a mangrove tree!As we returned to dry land, Orlando pointed out oyster traps in the mangrove trees where clusters of oysters dripped from the nets and grew naturally among the roots of the trees. As he rowed us back to shore, he pointed out holes in the banks of the lagoon which were home to birds and crabs, and the caves where the original Cuban aborigines had lived. We also saw a small bird fighting off a Cuban vulture several times larger than the plucky little bird, after the vulture had attacked the smaller birds` nest! On our return to dry land, our catch was prepared and cooked by Pedro, another of the excellent guides who we had fished with on our first trip. While our food was cooked, Orlando pointed out the best places to take photographs, and kindly acted as photographer with our cameras & smart phones, providing us with some fantastic pictures of the breath taking splendour of the park. I could only describe our lunch as excellent, the freshest possible succulent fish accompanied by delicious, hot, crispy banana chips and washed down by ice cold Cristal. In such a stunning setting, who could have asked for more? After finishing lunch, we chatted with the friendly guides over a cold beer, and if you go on this trip please make sure to offer the guides a cold drink - it will be gratefully received and certainly well deserved after acting as your boats propulsion! Soon the time came to ride our faithful steeds back to the reception at the park. During the ride, we chatted with Orlando about our time in Cuba, and families & work back home. (A quick hello here to Orlando`s partner Tieme, another superb guide we had gone fishing with two years earlier). As we waited for the bus to take us back to the hotel, we arranged to go horse riding with Orlando two days later from the stables opposite the Luna reception of our hotel. After we explained we were going home on the day he had originally suggested, Orlando kindly said he would change his day off so he could take us on the trip. This turned out to be another excellent excursion, superb value for money, great fun (I was able to expose my hidden inner cowboy) & a very enjoyable ride around the stunning park and countryside surrounding the hotel.To sum up, I cannot recommend a trip to this fantastic park highly enough. The stunning beauty of the countryside accompanied by our friendly, informative, charming and attentive friend Orlando is an experience I will never forget, and one I look forward to enjoying again on our next holiday to this amazing country. If you stay at the SRLM and want to try the fishing trip but it`s not advertised in the excursions offered, just go to the Biopark RocAzul desk opposite the Thomas Cook rep desk & ask for Orlando. If you stay at another hotel and want to go, just send me a message on Trip Advisor and I will gladly send you a contact number for Orlando.Thank you to everyone at Biopark RocAzul!!!

We did the full 'natural farmer' package at around £30 per person. This included bus to the bioparque, a drink, horse riding, a rodeo, mangrove fishing, another horse ride, traditional Cuban lunch, more horse riding, farmhouse visit then finally the mini zoo. The horses are well looked after (if a little slow they are clearly trained not to run off!) the rodeo is interesting they let us ride a very friendly bull. The food is nice, we met a friendly iguana greeding for a snack! The mini zoo does have small cages (it's a huge area why not just build bigger cages?) but the animals are well looked after, and all rescued and seized by the government from poor conditions. Some animals actually roam around, and the animal keeper Barbara aka Barbie certainly knows her stuff. You feed ostriches by hand, have a guide pig put on your head(?) at the farmhouse and feed pigs bananas, and the horse riders take photos of you. My least favourite was going out on the boat for mangrove fishing, it was nice but they didn't let me cast out myself and due to wind I needed to keep passing to the fisherman to do this. We caught a pufferfish though, no big fish.

I went to this wonderful place on a tour called 'Natural Farmer' very good price and the best of the tours we did. Horse riding, fishing, petting zoo and lunch. About 6 hours and only £30. I ride horses in Scotland and I enjoyed this so much I went back just for the horse riding another 6 times. The guides were top class, lovely people, Tieme and Daneilo. Those names are approximate as I don't know their right spelling but look them out. This place really made my holiday. Recommended.

It was great, we rented the farm house for the night, the farmer took us out fishing the next day. Our 6 year old stayed back with our friend the server and a farmer and she had a great day. We loved the Cuban Rat, and the guinny pigs are the friendliest I have ever seen.