Our Visit To Cuba

Update: Cruises into Cuba have been banned. You can still fly into Havana, Cuba. Latest as of 2019.

Cuba, for Americans, has been that forbidden fruit we weren’t allowed to touch. Until recently, Americans were not allowed to legally travel to Cuba. Because of this, it has increased the number of Americans who want to go visit now. Cuba is a beautiful island and worth visiting if you are going with a basic understanding of what has led it to be where it is now. For a better experience, be willing to spend time with the locals and learn from them. Do not expect the resort life you get in the majority of places you visit, Cuba is still largely undeveloped. In my opinion, this is what makes traveling here so unique and unforgettable. Even though the rest of the world has been coming to Cuba for years, Cubans are still excited to welcome Americans to their home.

Getting There
We go over how to get to Cuba, along with additional tips for visiting Havana, in our post “Your Guide To Cuba” so we won’t go over all of that content again. However, because we wrote about the current requirements and the old way of doing it all in one post we will have a checklist for you of what you NEED to have NOW.
1. You need a valid U.S passport (can’t expire in less than 6 months from the time of travel)
2. Make sure you have health insurance. Southwest includes health insurance with the purchase of the flight. If you don’t have health insurance see if the airline you plan on traveling on does the same.
3. You must self-certify that you are in one of the 12 1 approved category for traveling to Cuba. As of November 2017, the only approved category individuals can self-certify is under “Support for The Cuban People”. Remember “tourism” isn’t a valid reason to visit. You can no longer stay at military owned hotels or spend money at military-owned businesses. You must eat at local restaurants, and support local businesses. A list of restricted entities and subentries can be found HERE.
4. Have a written itinerary that supports that reason in the event you are asked to present it. We didn’t get asked for ours (which we had prepared) but the people before us and after us did. A group of girls also got stopped in the airport in Cuba and were asked to present theirs. You don’t have to list your itinerary by the hour, by the day activities that support the reason you chose should suffice. Your plans once in Cuba could be different from what you “officially” present.
5. You will need a visa ($50-$85) to enter Cuba which you will get from your airline the day of travel at the airport you are traveling to Cuba out of. Therefore we recommend arriving at least 2.5 hours to the airport before your flight. We flew on Southwest out of Fort Lauderdale who has partnership with Cuba Travel Services. Therefore, they had a desk designated to selling the visas for travelers at the airport. Other airlines will have something similar to this.

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Let’s Talk Money
Important: MAKE SURE YOU BRING TO CUBA ENOUGH CASH TO LAST YOU THROUGHOUT YOUR WHOLE TRIP! American debit cards DO NOT work in Cuba yet. You might see ATM’s here and there but they do not take American cards. As a rule of thumb, always bring at least an extra $200-$300 than what you think you may need. Exchange only what you think you need and then exchange more as needed. You won’t be able to use your card anywhere.

Cuba has two currencies: CUP and CUC. Visitors only need to worry about the Cuban Convertible Peso AKA “CUC” (in Spanish you pronounce each letter when talking about it). I know we usually advice against exchanging your money at the airport, as we did on our guide, but on our last trip we ended up getting a better rate at the Varadero airport. I highly advised against doing it at a hotel as they paid less. If you can try to find an exchange house to exchange it for you. In this visit, the airport still beat the exchange house. On our visit, $1 USD=.96 CUC BUT there’s an additional tax for exchanging US dollars in Cuba so we ended up getting .87 for every $1 USD exchanged. If the exchange rate LISTED is way below .96, hold off on exchanging it there. Remember: they will still tax that amount which is why ours after the tax was .87. If you have any Euros (in bills not coins) left over from your previous trips bring them here and exchange them. Euros don’t get taxed extra to exchange. When dealing with the money we always thought of 1 CUC: 1 USD.

Wi-FI
Cuba has no accessible WiFi unless you buy a ETECSA Wifi card (looks like a calling card) and you’re at a designated zone. You can buy cards good for 30 minutes or 1 hour. We bought ours at the Varadero Airport for 2 CUC for 1 hour. You can also purchase them in the street for 3 CUC or from hotels for anywhere between 5-10 CUC. If you can’t live without your phone and being connected, you will learn how to in Cuba! Some of the latest Samsung devices do not connect to Wifi in Cuba. Additionally, there are specific “zones” designated for WiFi use in Cuba. Forget about asking for free Wifi or even if restaurants have Wifi, that is nonexistent. In order to use the Wifi you must go to these designated zones and connect using your Wifi Card. It is the ONLY way! You can see a list of places that are designated as Wifi zones per region HERE. By the way, it is worth noting that Snapchat is blocked in Cuba. We were only able to access it to post our snaps on Suzzstravels for you guys because we had setup a VPN prior to traveling.

Airbnb Rentals
You can now rent homes/rooms in Cuba through Airbnb (if you are new to Airbnb get up to $35 off HERE). This wasn’t available before. When you inquire about a home, make sure you ask if you can rent the house house vs a room if that’s what you are looking for. Sometimes Airbnb will show you are inquiring about the entire place but the hosts receives it as a room inquiry based on the number of people you are reserving for vs the number of rooms in the home. As a rule of thumb, message the host letting them know what you are interested in booking before booking it. If your host offers to cook breakfast for you for an additional fee i would recommend going with this option. Not only will you feel like a local waking up to home cooked breakfast but you are also helping supply someone with some additional income. Breakfast in Cuba consisted of eggs, sliced local cheeses, sliced fresh fruits, bread, fresh juices and hot coffee for us every morning.

Some Additional Suggestions & Tips
We go over many tips for transportation on “Your Guide To Cuba” make sure you check them out.

We also want to share that unlike in the U.S, the Cuban people must pay for their license to work. The great majority of them, don’t even break even after paying for their license. Keep this in mind and remember that tips here can go a long way. 1-2 CUC are greatly appreciated. We highly encourage you to tip when you can.

Toilet paper is expensive for Cubans, so when you go to the restroom in a public place you won’t always find any. Some places have independent restroom attendants who provide their own toilet paper which is why they live off tips to make that money back. If you can, bring a few extra rolls with you on your luggage to leave at your Airbnb rental and take some with you when you go out in your bag or pocket. If you want to help out the Cuban people bring some spare bars of soap with you and spare clothes you no longer wear to give them. It is a great way to free some space in your closet and to help local people with basic necessities.

Where We Stayed & Our Time Spent There
We split our time between Santa Marta (at this Airbnb message them and let them know suzzstravels referred you) (10 mins from Varadero) and Havana (at this Airbnb in Vedado. The link to rent just one room in the house is HERE. Let the host know Suzzstravels referred you). We spent 3 days in Santa Martha and 2 days in Havana.

The town of Santa Marta has a more local feel to it as there are hardly any tourists around. It also just a short 10 minute drive to Varadero and it’s beautiful beaches.

Varadero Beach: the side away from all the tourists. Right by Cielo de Mar Restaurant.

Coral Reserve in Varadero. This cute little puppy spent some time with us at the reserve. We were told it is a community dog, everyone takes care of it and feeds it

Cueva Saturno. If you are looking for a nice cold dip come swimming in here. It is 5CUC for non locals to enter. There is a small restaurant on the premise. Not pictured but also recommended to visit Cuevas Bella Mar, although it doesn’t provide any swimming options the rock formations are beautiful

Parque Josone has beautiful premises for you to walk through and get some beautiful pictures. There is also 3 different restaurants you can eat at and there’s a bar that claims to have the best Pinas Coladas in Varadero. We agree!

In Havana, we stayed in Vedado which was a very short walk to Calle 23. It was also a very short ride to El Moro and Old Havana. We were happy with our decision to spend just 2 days here. We soaked in as much history and as many sights of Old Havana as possible. It was a lot more crowded than Santa Marta or Varadero, but there wasn’t a shortage of things to keep your eyes busy.

Need some ideas on what to do while in Cuba? We go over some options below. If you need help arranging Taxis, tours, shared ride options or even additional places to stay you can contact Karla at Krla23.collazo@gmail.com let her know SUZZSTRAVELS referred you.

-Do a day trip (or spend a night or 2) from Havana to Varadero or Vinales. We go over some suggestions of things to do in Varadero above. In Vinales we would recommend going to the river or horseback riding. On your drive back, go through Soroa and make a stop at El mirador.

-Do a day trip to the Playas del este in Havana.

-Visit Fusterlandia

-La Guarida Restaurant: their rooftop right before sunset provides great views & photo opportunities

-Take a drive around Havana in a classic American convertible car. Have the driver take you around to different points of interest.

2-3 Day Trips:
You can also make 2-3 day trips into Cienfuegos, Trinidad, Playa Larga or Playa Girón.

Happy Travels!