Colorados Archipelago

The Colorados Archipelago (Spanish: Archipiélago de los Colorados, also called Archipiélago de Santa Isabel and Archipiélago de Guaniguanico) is a chain of isles and cays on Cuba's north-western coast.

Location of Colorados Archipelago in Cuba

The sea surrounding the islands is used mainly for fishing, with commercial captures of lobster, sponge, oysters, red snapper and tuna.^[1] Tourism is also developed on cays such as Cayo Levisa, where white sand beaches, as well as snorkeling and diving sites attract tourists.

Geography

Colorados Archipelago is developed on a reef barrier located off the northern coast of the Pinar del Río Province, facing the Gulf of Mexico, between the Honda Bay (north of the homonymous Bahia Honda community) and Cape San Antonio on the Guanahacabibes Peninsula.

The archipelago is approximately 100 km (62 mi) long and is composed of small cays such as Cayo Levisa, Cayo Arenas, Cayo Jutias, Punta Tabaco, Cabezo Seco, Cayo Paraiso, Cayo Buenavista, Banco Sancho Pardo, Cayo Rapado Grande, and Cayo Alacranes.^[1] The sea surrounding the islands is open to the north, while to the south it is bordered by bays and estuaries such as San Felipe, Honda, Limones, Nombre de Dios, Santa Lucía, Playuelas, Verracos, Tortuga, Catalanes and La Mulata. A navigable corridor exists between the reef barrier and the coast.^[2]

Table of Islands

Nr. 1)	Island	Capital	More Islands	Area (km2)	Population (Census 2012 official)
1	Banco Sancho Pardo			0.1	0
2	Cayo Alacranes	Punta Casiguas	Medano, Punta Alcaranes	4.4	0
3	Cayo Buenavista	Punta Del Oeste	Punta del este	14.9	0
4	Cayo Ines de Soto	Playuelas	La Pasa de la legua, Punta Brava, cayo redondo, Cayo Legua, cayo Pescador, Punta Hicacel, Cayo Prieto, Punta Boquerones	6.23	0
5	Cayo Jutías	Playa Santa Lucia		4	0
6	Cayo Levisa	Cayo Levisa	Punta Bailarina, Playa Sur	2.5	5
7	Cayo Rapado Grande	Playa Cedro	Punta Vinagrera, Punta Remagillal, Punta Perche, La Playita	5.47	0
8	Cayos Punta Tabaco	Cayo diego	Cayo De Limones	2.21	0
9	More Islands	Cayo Curoita	Cayo Catalanes, Cayo Dios, Cayo Arenas, Cayo Cabezo Seco, Cayo Paraiso	3.4	0
	Colorados Archipelago	pueblo Cayo Levisa	Cayo Jutias	43.3	5

¹⁾ The Islands area and population data retrieved following 2012 census.

See also

• Geography of Cuba
• Antilles