It was visited by Admiral Christopher Columbus on November 27, 1492, and then founded by the first governor of Cuba, the Spanish conquistador Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar on August 15, 1511.

The municipality includes the villages of Barigua, Boca de Yumurí, Cabacú, Cayogüín, Jamal, Jaragua, Los Hoyos, Mabujabo, Mosquitero, Nibujón, Paso Cuba, Sabanilla, Santa María, Vega de Taco, and other minor localities.

According to tradition, Columbus put a cross called Cruz de la Parra in the sands of what would later become Baracoa harbor.

As a result, several remains of the Spanish occupation can still be seen here, such as the fortifications El Castillo, Matachín and La Punta and the cemetery.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, its isolated location made Baracoa a haven for illegal trade with French and British merchants.

During the War of Jenkins' Ear, Luis de Unzaga, an officer in the newly organized Fixed Regiment of Havana, was appointed as chief commander of Baracoa in 1744 and managed thanks to a network of confidants, Irish merchants and French military personnel to be warned of possible British attacks.

[6] At the beginning of the 19th century many Saint Dominicans fled here from the Haitian Revolution, who started growing coffee and cocoa.

Although it has been carbon dated to approximately that period, it is made from a local type of wood, which means at least part of the story is not correct.

The only official and easiest approach to climb it starts at campismo El Yunque (simple lodgings for Cubans only), where a guide is obligatory (about 15 euro).

Salto Fino is the highest waterfall in the Caribbean, located in this municipality, is produced by a sudden drop in the Arroyo del Infierno (Hell's stream), a tributary of the Quibijan river.

Baracoa has typical dishes, such as cucurucho, a mix of coconut and much sugar and other ingredients like orange, guava and pineapple and wrapped in a palm leaf.

Located west of the bay near the Hotel Porto Santo and about 4 km (2+1⁄2 miles) NNW of Baracoa.