Cuba - Anyone Visited in the Recent Past?

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  gaz3342 on 05/12/2016 - 11:07

  I spent three nights / four days in Havana in June.

  It is the most interesting and 'different' country I have ever been to (I have traveled quite a lot).

  I flew there from Cancun, Mexico (one hour flight) and stayed in a hostel, hotels are expensive.

  I would definitely recommend going but I don't think you need to spend anymore than a week there, unless of course you travel to different parts of Cuba.

  Enjoy!

  • 

    WrightAnvil on 05/12/2016 - 11:11

    Hello Gaz3342, great thank you, warmly appreciate your informative and prompt response.

    Cheers …..

    • 

      Kangal on 05/12/2016 - 12:09

      Actually, I'm intrigued too.
      Tell us more gaz3342.
      How much $$$ did you spend in that 4 days (accom, food, travel, shopping, sights) ??

      Cheers!

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  peterpeterpumpkin on 05/12/2016 - 12:50

  I'd love to check Cuba out. It looks so 70s.

  For general information regarding Cuba, Tripadvisor is your best bet. They usually have lurkers and destination fanatics that will probably have up-to-date information.

  For Australian-specific questions on Tripadvisor it's worth researching a bit in advance as you are. I have no idea of the current truths but basic things have been known not to work in Cuba as you'd expect. e.g. Citibank cards won't work. AUD isn't a changeable currency. Changing USD gets a 10% penalty fee. US-owned websites aren't legally allowed to let foreigners book accommodation in Cuba even though US citizens often can. I don't know if airbnb now allows Australians to book in Cuba but agoda and booking.com won't work. Even then there are stories of accommodation being double-booked. All of my information and many tidbits from even post-2014 may be wrong.

  • 

    gaz3342 on 05/12/2016 - 13:28

    Ah yes I forgot to mention withdrawing cash is very difficult if you don't have a Visa card. I spent half a day driving all over Havana trying to find a place that would let me withdraw using Mastercard (forget Citibank). Make sure you have Visa or take cash with you.

    • 

      WrightAnvil on 05/12/2016 - 14:17

      Thany you again Gaz3342 …. I only have MasterCard so another thing to add to the 'To do'. Cheers ….

  • 

    WrightAnvil on 05/12/2016 - 14:15

    Hello Peterpeterpumpkin, agree that's we find it so facinating and inspired to go.

    Thank you for the heads up and for taking your time to reply to my enquiry. Appreciate it ….. Cheers

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  Smiley82 on 05/12/2016 - 13:00

  +1

  I travelled to Cuba in 2011 with my partner for just under two weeks. I've not doubt that the place has changed significantly since then, but I would definitely agree with Gaz3342 that it was one of the most interesting places we have been to in terms of culture and experience.

  We stayed for 3 nights in Havana, and then 8 nights in Varadero. During our time in Varadero, we also went on an 2 day trip which took in the countryside, coffee plantations, waterfalls and the Bay of Pigs (probably other things but that was all I can remember!).

  At the time we were living in the UK, so we flew London to Havana. Our trip was in late July/early August and the weather was warm and perfect, with afternoon storms on a couple of days (short and sharp storms, not gloomy drizzly rain).

  Our trip was booked as a package holiday through a UK operator, but wasn't a 'tour' as such. It just included transfers to/from airport and the transfer between Havana/Varadero - everything else was up to us to organise.

  Varadero is very much all-inclusive resorts, and is the 'relaxation' part of the trip. Most resorts have multiple pools/restaurants/cocktail bars etc included in their pricing, and the beaches there are truly stunning. We enjoyed it, but taking the 2 day trip in the middle of our stay ensured that we didn’t get too bored with the resort.

  In terms of spending money, there was still a huge differentiation between local pricing and tourist pricing. When we went the two currencies were in operation (Cuban Peso and Cuban Convertible) and the tourists were only able to use the convertible for their purchases. In saying that though, things were still relatively cheap, especially when buying local products (i.e. I remember buying Havana Club rum for US$3 for 700ml from the supermarket).

  Hope this helps!

  • 

    WrightAnvil on 05/12/2016 - 14:19

    Hello Smiley82, thank you kindly for taking your time to provide such an informative reply. I very much appreciate it.

    Sure does help!

    Cheers ……

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  toniyellow on 05/12/2016 - 17:28

  +6

  I went in late July. I enjoyed it so much, this post will be like a novel. (I did a lot of googling myself before I went). There is not exactly nothing about it on the internet, but definitely not the volume there is for other countries, and things date quickly.

  I flew via South America on LATAM, The route was via Santiago and Lima and allowed stopovers, so I stopped in both for a few days to get a feel for the cities, and then I added on flights to Cusco and spent the most time there, hiking to Macchu Pichu. $2500 for flights all up. I think you could go there quite a bit cheaper via LA. I had 5 weeks of leave to take that had to include July, which is the driest time of year to hike the Inca trail, but an interesting time in Cuba - Revolution day and Carnival. It was too good timing to pass up trying do both in one trip, but a bit unusual I guess.

  I spent six days in Havana by myself, and 15 days on a tour in central/east Cuba. I had a good experience with locallysourcedcuba.com (Half based in NZ and half Cuba). I also considered cubagrouptour.com which are based in Sydney/Cuba. I went with locally sourced as they don't charge extra for solo travellers and I was on my own. I get the feeling there is only one guy in NZ answering emails and sometimes you may need to prod for a response, but they were the most cost effective tour so I did not mind doing that. There do seem to be some irate reviews out there annoyed about communication. They did change the order of a few stops on our tour because one couple in the group wanted it, and did not tell the rest of us until we got there, which was weird, but ultimately did not affect me much.

  Their tour guide was really knowledgeable and quite frank - he introduced us to his friends, and his mother when we were in his home city, talked about those that had moved overseas, the challenges of Cuba but also what he saw as the advantages. He would explain interesting things like the black market for apartments in Havana. He would go into restaurant kitchens and interrogate them about when they sourced their meat. He took his job very seriously.

  The group was small - ours had only 4 people in a van. Our guide said in winter it was normally 8 - 12, less in summer because of the heat. We saw the intrepid group once in line at Che's mausolueum, and once in line in Baracoa, and they had over 20 people in a big bus and only one guide. Most tours follow the same itinerary and the tour guides all train at the same place so the main difference between different companies I am aware of is the accommodation. The locallysourced accomodation was casa particulars. They did all have aircon. Some a bit dodgy e.g. the aircon drained into a bucket on the floor. But clean enough, and interesting to stay with a family. I enjoyed it but I see not everyone might. Some of them had business cards with tripadvisor info, so you could organise without a tour I think.

  The one advantage of a bigger tour group would be more choice of excursions. If you need to get out of town to visit a waterfall or something, the more people able to split the cost of transport with you the better. The four people in our group were 1 couple, myself and another solo traveller. We mostly agreed on what to do on the free days so we could split the cost of transport - but this mostly meant the couple had the most say. There wasn't any pressure to stay with the group on free days, but economies of scale made it cheaper to. Also the language barrier - I did not have great luck negotiating with taxis, they always wanted triple the guidebook rate (My spanish is very basic. basically a few months of duolingo/memrise ahead of the trip). Meal portions were also HUGE, so the couple had another advantage there splitting 1 meal for two people.

  The excursions on our tour were all reasonably priced in my opinion, except the Vinales day tour from Havana. Vinales is now so popular there is more infrastructure and competition for tours than other cities. We paid 130 each, and there was a big bus company was offering the same tour for 90CUC. Firstly, this was far more expensive that most other excursions in other cities (most were around 10 - 25CUC - tho it was a long drive so fuel costs would factor in) and compared to the big bus we made the exact same stops so the private tour offered no advantages - the car drove faster, but they left Havana late in the morning, instead of leaving at the same time as the bus and having more time out there. Vinales is quite nice, it would be worth an overnight stay if you had lots of time, but if you had to choose between that and Eastern Cuba, I would definitely spend more time in the East. In every other city there was no competing tours and/or there were advantages in a private tour over a big bus - extra stops, the ability to drive into offroad areas.

  Citibank Debit card doesn't work in Cuba. ING direct worked just fine. It was the cheapest way I could find to take out money. I never had trouble finding an atm. Baracoa had 2, that was the town with the fewest. I was there on a bank holiday and the ATM still worked. I took an ANZ card as a backup as they work in Cuba, but never used it. I also took some Euro as a second backup - they won't exchange AUD and charge a penalty for exchanging USD.. But there was an atm at the airport, so this was overkill, but good to be safe I guess. The internet seemed easy to access - there were way more Cubans with smartphones that I was expecting. But wifi was only available in public squares, and you had to buy a $10CUC prepaid card. So public squares were full of people on the phones at all hours of the day and night. One of the casas I stayed in had internet at their house, and you could use it for $1CUC/10 mins. None of the others did. I actually never bothered buying the wifi card, there was too much to see, and I didn't feel the need. I bought a Woolworths global roaming sim, which worked fine in Cuba for text messages and calls.

  I went in the summer, which was very very hot. But I was in Santiago de Cuba for Revolution Day, which is a little like being at Gallipoli for Anzac Day. There was a Dawn Service and reenactment at the Moncada Barracks - it was one of the best things I have done. There is a lot of 26 de Julio flags in every city, and sections in every museum, and it was great being there on that day. That time of year is also Carnival in Santiago de Cuba, which was also a lot of fun, although not quite on the same scale as Rio. Other memorable parts of the trip were the ballet in Camaguey ($5CUC a performance, and great), El Cobre Church in the hills of Santiago de Cuba, and everything about Baracoa.

  The 15 day tour went to Baracoa, which is what distinguished it from shorter tours. It is really really really worth going. Baracoa is culturally distinct from the rest of Cuba, they are closer to Haiti, and were separated by a mountain range from the rest of cuba, until a road was built so they developed a slightly different cuisine, language, etc. There is lots of fresh seafood, and different flavours. They have a lot of cocoa plantations, and a distinctive 100% cocoa chocolate made with banana flour. The coastline, the canyon and river were all so clean and beautiful. Their national parks are apparently incredible but there are only a few trails, and hiking off trail is illegal. Once it is a little more developed, (not too much, but more trails would be wise - otherwise there is illegal hiking going on anyway) this will be the most incredible place. I did not get to hike el Yunque as there was no interest from the rest of my tour group and it was not feasible to do except as a group excursion. If I went again, I would stay extra days in Baracoa for the national parks, and try to do this somehow. They have some very distinct wildlife - the world's smallest hummingbird, which we saw in Yumuri canyon, and yellow snails which were everywhere. The casa I stayed in there was also incredibly well appointed. It was like a hotel. They had basically built an extra building out the back of their house with hotel amenities, and a rooftop with an amazing view. I bought chocolate, cocoa butter, and a bowl made of the wood indigenous to Baracoa (can't remember the name - but it is everywhere), declared all at Customs on the way back in, and they were all allowed into Australia. Also rum. But that was packaged commercially, the other stuff was more rustic, and it was still allowed in.

  I bought the most recent Lonely Planet, but a lot of things had changed - museum opening hours and prices particularly in the summer were more up to the whims of museum staff. The guidebook is more necessary than other countries though as not as much info on the internet, and not much in the way of tourist info in towns. The hop on hop off bus in Havana was an easy alternative to city buses for far flung parts of Havana. But the maps were inaccurate, route 1 and 2 are now combined. Only this combo route was still hop on hop off all day. It finished at 7pm, not 10pm, and was 10CUC not 5CUC. There is an add-on route to Hemingway's Marina, which is a minibus connection from the furthest stop on the main route, and is 2CUC for a roundtrip. The route from the historic area to the beaches was also a roundtrip for 5CUC not an all day ticket, but it was worth it, some locals on it too. Playas del Este beaches were much nicer than I was expecting. I would have reorganised my days if I knew how easy it was to get to a nice beach.

  I found Havana very walkable. I felt very safe along the waterfront, main roads and historic area. Only a bit uncomfortable in one area between the freeway overpass and Callejon de Hamel - there were people day drinking, lots of short alleys and parking lots. Everywhere else I happened across was nicer, lots of kids playing, friendly people. Also in summer the days are very long, so lots of daylight for exploring. I stayed the first few days in Centro organised by the tour company, and the last four days near the Hotel National at an airbnb. The airbnb was much more expensive. It had an amazing panoramic view though, and there are lots of jazz clubs in that area, so you could go out at night and get back without a taxi. Centro was much better located for most sights though and had cheaper food - it was walking distance to the historic centre, but not as expensive. There was a nameless restaurant on the waterfront, a few doors up from the pablo neruda one that is in the guidebook, that would do a tasty chicken, rice and a beer for $4CUC with a sea view. Plain food is cheap, but there is more variety than guidebooks would have you think. Lots of fresh fruit.

  In Havana they are gearing up more for the increase in tourism. Lots of construction sites, and some restaurants with English menus that were expensive. Some pushy taxi drivers that chase you down the street to try to get a fare. I never saw children begging the way I did in Peru, but there were some cheeky kids in Havana that wanted me to buy them lollies. There was a scam in some of the museums in Havana where exhibits would be marked no photos, but the museum staff would try to encourage you to take a photo, so they could insist you tip them. One museum, a whole wing was marked closed for construction, and a staff member wanted me to donate to her to let me in. I didn't but I actually kind of regret not doing that one, it would be interesting to be in a closed section by yourself. I didn't experience this in any other city. The rest of Cuba on the whole was a lot more chill than Havana, except taxi drivers, they were the same everywhere.

  Between google translate offline, and HERE maps offline, I got around within cities fine on my own. I hated arguing with taxi drivers, so did a lot of walking. Intercity transport would be the real barrier to travelling without a tour. Public transport doesn't run to timetable or route reliably. You would need good Spanish to accomplish I think, and patience. I was on my own so car hire was too expensive to contemplate alone, but there were quite a few french and dutch tourists in particular hiring cars and going around the island themselves. Cuba rely on Venezuela for a lot of their fuel needs though, and with their recent troubles there has been dodgy fuel about - our tour van had trouble in one city after the fuel turned out to be contaminated or old, and they had to drain the tank and buy more fuel.

  Prices are sort of standardised, although a tad cheaper in the east. Because of this though, the lobby of the Hotel National, and the airport shops sold rum for basically the same price as a supermarket, so you didn't have to shop around (in sealed bottles - served in a glass in a bar, the prices varied a lot more). Supermarkets were actually pretty rare, corner stores more common. The only place I saw vending machines was in Havana, but there was one near my casa in Centro that sold drinks for 50 cents whilst the corner store was $1CUC, so that was good value. Tourists are allowed to use both currencies now. In Havana it was all CUCs. In the east there was more pesos. The ATM will always give you CUCs. In the east you can ask for your change as pesos or go to a bank to get some. Food and taxis are cheaper in pesos, but when they see you are a tourist, they may argue to be paid in CUCs (again, mostly taxis. I hate taxis)

  I would definitely go again. They are clearly undergoing a lot of change at the moment. I'd like to go again in about 5 years and see the difference. I heard New Years Eve is good there, as it coincides with some religious and national holidays. Or a sailing or cycling tour would be interesting to cover different ground. I would like to go to Isla de la Juventud for the history, and Cayo Largo for the turtles.

  TLDR: It was great, so great you will write long posts on the internet afterwards. Hot in July, very lively and historic though. Did a tour, mostly cheaper than I expected. Look at locallysourcedcuba or cubagrouptour for tours, or car rental if you are in a bigger group. ING Direct works, no trouble finding atms. Airbnb also works. Some casas are on tripadvisor and contactable by email.

  • 

    WrightAnvil on 05/12/2016 - 20:36

    Hello Toniyellow, oh my gosh what a detailed and informative reply!! I can't thank you enough for all your time taken in preparing your fantastic reply to my enquiry. I'm so appreciative!

    Thank you, thank you, thank you. Cheers …..

    BTW, not TLDR at all! I found your reply a really great response and marvelled at the time you gave me. Again thank you!

    • 

      toniyellow on 06/12/2016 - 09:05

      That's ok. It's an interesting reflective exercise. I remember being a lot more annoyed at the time that they changed the itinerary and only told half the group. But 5 months later I strongly remember the good stuff, and that clearly didn't end up affecting me so it is a good lesson not to sweat the small stuff.

  • 

    techy on 06/12/2016 - 11:56

    Hi Toniyellow

    Thanks for this awesomely comprehensive post! It's probably the single most informative thing I've read so far about Cuba as I research my trip.
    Hugely appreciated - thanks.

  • 

    BucketsJackson on 09/12/2016 - 18:26

    I'm headed to Cuba in late April, this post was informative.

    Whilst I'm travelling with my wife and in a G Adventures tour, this was still very useful. Thank you very much.

    One thing, you mention the ING Direct - can you elaborate a little? I'm a Citibank Plus and 28 Degrees Mastercard guy at the moment!

    • 

      toniyellow on 09/12/2016 - 23:55

      Citibank Plus doesn't work in Cuba. I'd read that it didn't, and then I confirmed calling them about a month before my trip and they were very firm that it would not work.

      28 degrees to use it as a credit card - I saw one credit card machine at the art gallery for this artist and didn't see another anywhere in Cuba. But I didn't stay or eat at any hotels. To use it for cash since they changed the cash advance fee it is the greater of $4 / 3%.

      ING direct is $2.50 for an international withdrawal and I already had one, so I used them. Plus there was mention on Tripadvisor of it being confirmed to work. Sometimes you can get $75 for opening an account from a referral so perhaps keep an eye out? https://www.ozbargain.com.au/deals/ingdirect.com.au

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  Donaldhump on 06/12/2016 - 00:36

  via panama.

  did this and was good http://yourcubacruise.com/

  • 

    WrightAnvil on 06/12/2016 - 07:58

    Hi Unclesnake, thank you and I appreciate taking the time for your reply.

    Unfortunately I get sea sick in a bath so a cruise is not for us.

    Cheers ……

    • 

      Donaldhump on 06/12/2016 - 08:35

      Perfect, eat,spew repeat

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  techy on 18/04/2017 - 09:31

  Here is an article with really useful info about visiting Cuba in 2017
  http://www.weekendnotes.com/cuba-travel-tips/

  • 

    WrightAnvil on 18/04/2017 - 20:14

    +1

    Hi Techy, thank you kindly for your great link, and for thinking to add so long after my original post. It's a great article and agree regarding the useful information.

    Cheers ……

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  ryban3z on 18/04/2017 - 14:12

  Hey, I went in July last year for 2 weeks. Relevant things to know:
  - Flew in to Havana from Cancun and out from Havana to Mexico City - very easy and reasonably cheap
  - You can organise the Tourist Card at the airport in Mexico for free/very cheap, dont believe Aussie travel agents that you need to organise it prior to leaving Australia
  - stay in local's houses, not hotels - hotels are super expensive. You can find local houses called "Casa Paticulares" through tripadvisor - just book one for Havana and then that one will recommend you places in other cities. They cost about 30 USD a night for a room and that can include 2-3 single beds.
  - in Havana, try and stay in Havana Vieja for convenience or just outside Havana Vieja (old town) for a more unique experience
  - Mastercard doesnt work often in the ATMs and ATMS are very limited anyway so bring a bunch of cash and a Visa card
  - bring Euros or Mexican Pesos, they dont take AUD and if you have USD it cops a severe penalty when exchanged in Cuba
  - you can take buses to get around Cuba but if you're travelling in a group of 3 or more its cheaper to negotiate a taxi direct between the cities who will take you straight to your casa in the next city. E.g. Havana to Vinales by bus is about 25 CUC each (Cuban Convertible) or you could negotiate a taxi to take the 3 of you for 60 CUC total.

  I stayed mainly on the West side of Cuba but I've heard the East is incredible too. Places to definitely see include the sights in AND around:
  - Havana
  - Trinidad
  - Cienfuegos
  - Vinales

  I went to Santa Clara as well but to be honest there wasnt much there to see apart from a cool Che Guevara monument.

  Enjoy! It's super fun and you'll have a ball. If can learn a bit of Spanish as well that will help immensely, especially if staying in casa's/local's houses as they wont speak much English if at all. All part of the fun though. We didnt speak Spanish and managed to get by with sign language!

  Edit* spelling

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  WrightAnvil on 18/04/2017 - 20:17

  Hi Ryban3z, thank you kindly for taking your time to provide such an informative reply, which I very much appreciate. Also I'm very grateful that you've thought to add well after my original post.

  Sure does help!

  Cheers ……