Waterfall El Nicho

Basic information

What: Waterfall El Nicho
Where: near Trinidad (ask around in Cienfuegos. The waterfall is on the way to Trinidad if you want to go there and most tourists take this route if they want to see the waterfall. You can also go solo from Trinidad, but it will be very expensive)
Opening hours: you will leave early and arrive to Trinidad in the afternoon/evening.
Fee: El Nicho itself costs 10 CUC for tourists (locals pay less, but once you’ve talked to them about their wages, you’ll know why. Still, it’s really expensive). The journey itself depends on your negotiating skills 😀 (I personally had a fantastic negotiator as travel buddy. That’s all I’m saying 😉)
Website: honestly, just ask. You’ll pay more if you book it. And negotiate!!!!!

El Nicho is a large, impressive waterfall surrounded by beautiful nature between Cienfuegos and Trinidad. As we were heading from Cienfuegos to Trinidad anyways, we asked around until we found someone who was driving several tourists from Cienfuegos to El Nicho and then on to Trinidad. The waterfall is closer to Trinidad, but the return trip (from and to Trinidad) apparently is not the usual route. Therefore from Cienfuegos.

Once there, you hike through a fairly large area and pass by a lake, various waterfalls, walk over bridges and along stone-paved paths. The natural surroundings at El Nicho are really beautiful, the place itself is very peaceful and, despite of the amount of people, it’s not too touristy.
The main waterfall is a big, pompous thing that barely fit on my camera. Because in the middle of nature you can’t always take a few steps back to get everything perfectly on frame. A little further up there were a few smaller waterfalls and at the end we were rewarded with a truly beautiful view. 😊

Go or not? Definitely go. The Nicho is really beautiful and to my mind one of the most remarkable natural sights I saw during my time in Cuba. I honestly didn’t expect much, but was pleasantly surprised.