A man and woman enjoy the warm water on a deserted beach at Varadero, Cuba's nature reserve, Aug. 1, 1998. This is probably the finest beach in the world that Americans are not supposed to visit. White sands like sugar give way gradually to a gentle, clear sea as warm and comforting as a Jacuzzi. All along the 12-mile isthmus, towering palms sway in the light breeze.
Sailboats dot the horizon.
Although Varadero is sprinkled with vacation homes of American millionaires of years past, a U.S. embargo has made it and the rest of communist Cuba off limits to American tourists since the early 1960s. The steadily multiplying luxury hotels are populated mostly by Italians, Spanish, French and Mexicans. And, despite the embargo, more and more Americans. Although spending money in Cuba is illegal for most U.S. citizens, many are flying to Canada, Mexico or the Bahamas and transferring to planes to Cuba, hopeful that U.S. immigration authorities won't notice the small, generic stamp Cuban authorities sometimes mark on American passports. They say the risk is worth it.