The Bay of Buena Vista is a bay

Bay

A bay is an area of water mostly surrounded by land. Bays generally have calmer waters than the surrounding sea, due to the surrounding land blocking some waves and often reducing winds. Bays also exist as an inlet in a lake or pond. A large bay may be called a gulf, a sea, a sound, or a bight...

 on Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

's northern Atlantic

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

 shore. It is located in the northern part of the provinces

Provinces of Cuba

Administratively, Cuba is divided into 15 provinces and one special municipality not included in any province. The last modification was approved in August 2010 , splitting Havana province into two new provinces: Artemisa and Mayabeque...

 of Sancti Spíritus

Sancti Spíritus Province

Sancti Spíritus is one of the provinces of Cuba. Its capital is the identically named Sancti Spíritus. Another major city is Trinidad.The southern coast of the province is flat, but the western portion of Sancti Spíritus province is mountainous. The southeast has numerous mangroves and swamps...

, Villa Clara

Villa Clara Province

Villa Clara is one of the provinces of Cuba. It is located in the central region of the island bordering with the Atlantic at north, Matanzas Province by west, Sancti Spiritus by east, and Cienfuegos on the South. Villa Clara shares with Cienfuegos and Sancti Spiritus on the south the Escambray...

 and Ciego de Ávila

Ciego de Ávila

Ciego de Ávila is a city in the central part of Cuba and the capital of Ciego de Ávila Province. The city has a population of about 86,100.Ciego de Ávila lies on the Carretera Central highway and on a major railroad. Its port, Júcaro, lies south-southwest on the coast of the Gulf of Ana Maria in...

, between mainland Cuba and the archipelago that lines its northern coast.

The many cay

Cay

A cay , also spelled caye or key, is a small, low-elevation, sandy island formed on the surface of coral reefs. Cays occur in tropical environments throughout the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans , where they provide habitable and agricultural land for hundreds of thousands of people...

s that define the bay's northern limits include Cayo Francés, Cayo Fragoso and Cayo Santa Maria of the Sabana-Camaguey Archipelago

Sabana-Camaguey Archipelago

Sabana-Camagüey is an archipelago that lines Cuba's north-central Atlantic coast. It is located off the northern coast of the provinces of Matanzas, Villa Clara, Sancti Spíritus, Ciego de Ávila and Camagüey, and is bounded to the north by the Atlantic Ocean, specifically by the Nicholas Channel ...

, and past them, the bay opens in the Nicholas Channel

Nicholas Channel

Nicholas Channel is a strait off the northwestern coast of Cuba. It lies east of Havana. It separates Cuba from the most southwestern of the islands of the Bahamas....

 to the north-west and in the Old Bahamas Channel to the north-east.

The southern edge lies in the municipalities of Caibarién, Yaguajay

Yaguajay, Cuba

Yaguajay is a municipality and city in the Sancti Spíritus Province of Cuba. It is located in the northern part of the province, and borders the Bay of Buena Vista to the north....

, Chambas and Morón

Morón, Cuba

Morón is one of ten municipalities in province Ciego de Ávila in central Cuba. It is the second in importance and the oldest. Morón is the closest city to the tourist resorts on Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo.- Geography :...

 as well as the Bay of Dogs (Bahia Perros). To the east it is bordered by Cayo Coco

Cayo Coco

Cayo Coco is an island in central Cuba, well known for its luxurious all inclusive resorts. It lies within the Ciego de Ávila Province and is part of a chain of islands called Jardines del Rey . The cay is administered by the Morón municipality. It is named for the white ibis, locally called Coco...

 and Cayo Guillermo

Cayo Guillermo

Cayo Guillermo is a kay of the Jardines del Rey archipelago. It is located on the northern coast of Cuba, between the Bay of Dogs and the Atlantic Ocean..It is part of the Ciego de Ávila Province, and lies in the Morón municipality...

 of the Jardines del Rey

Jardines del Rey

Jardines del Rey is an archipelago located off the northern coast of the island of Cuba, in the northern parts of the provinces of Ciego de Ávila and Camagüey. It is developed on the coral reef system that lines Cuba's shore, between the Atlantic and the Bay of Buena Vista and Bay of Jiguey...

 archipelago and the Bay of Jiguey.

Conservation

Caguanes National Park

Caguanes National Park

Caguanes National Park is a national park in Cuba. It is located in the Yaguajay municipality in the northern part of Sancti Spíritus Province, on the northern coast of Cuba....

 is established on the southern shore. The bay itself is a Biosphere reserve

Biosphere reserve

The Man and the Biosphere Programme of UNESCO was established in 1971 to promote interdisciplinary approaches to management, research and education in ecosystem conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.-Development:...

 and a Ramsar Convention

Ramsar Convention

The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, i.e., to stem the progressive encroachment on and loss of wetlands now and in the future, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural,...

 site.. The strictly protected area extends for 313.5 km² (121 sq mi) into the bay. Other ecological reserves are established on Cayo Francés, Cayo Santa María, Cayo Guillermo and Cayo Coco, while a fauna reserve is set up on Cayo Las Loras. Buffer zones are established in the form of further protected areas in Jobo Rosado and Boquerones on the mainland.

The cays contain more than 20 endemic species.