Santa Lucía is also known as the “Hidden Eden” and the tourist exploitation of its beaches begins some time after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution.

The resort witnessed many naval battles between Pirates and the Spanish Fleet of the island, besides ships  from the Gold Route supplied at Nuevitas’ Port, remaining as witnesses nearly 27 sunken ship  pieces in  its waters.

It was in Santa Lucía and Sabinal Key’s waters that the North American writer, Ernest Hemingway mostly wrote his novel The Old Man and the Sea, which granted him the Nobel Literature Prize, also his famous autobiographical novel. Hemingway also participated in the hunting of submarines and fascist ships surrounding the zone, helping to sink two of these crafts on board his yacht El Pilar.