Planning for Cuba:
When I started exploring best options to visit island nation of Cuba in the Carribean, I was gathering a lot of information online. Cuba is where, Christoper Columbus made landfall during all of his four voyages to the New World. As there is trade embargo in place on Cuba, it’s not easy for Americans to travel to Cuba compared to other destinations in the Carribean. Because of the Embargo it’s illegal for U.S. corporations to do business with Cuba. I visited Cuba in June 2023
Capital of Cuba 🇨🇺 is Havana
Flights:
I had looked for options to fly out from JFK in New York. Second option was to fly out of MIA, Miami in Florida. Generally, the cost of roundtrip flights was north of 500$. Additionally, I did find out that Canadians go out on vacations to Cuba, as it was one of most affordable Caribbean spots. So, I looked for flights from YYZ, Toronto to VRA, Varadero. Bingo!!, I figured that flights to Cuba with Swoop Airlines were Costing 220$ USD, round trip. In order to get few travel points, I put this purchase on my Ink Business Preferred Credit Card. This Credit Card gives me 3 points per dollar spend on travel.
Also, the tourist card fee, of 16$ CAD was included in the price of the ticket.
Tourist Visa Card:
Majority of the flights from Miami go to Cuba in 1hr 4min. The cost of Tourist card is 100$(50$ visa+50$ processing fee) at American Airlines Kiosk in Miami Airport. Tourist Card could also be purchased, earlier to departure and be shipped to home address in continental USA for 85$(50$ visa+35$ processing fee). There are 12 travel categories one could choose from, which is self-declared. Most common travel category chosen is “Support for the Cuban People”.
As mentioned earlier I choose to fly from Toronto, Canada by Swoop Airlines. In this case, Tourist Card cost was included in cost of the ticket itself, by the airline. Swoop distributed the Tourist Visa Card on the flight, before landing in Cuba. In addition, it’s important to remember to fill in the health declaration form before heading to the check-in desk, as they issue the ticket only after making sure you have the bar code. Everyone travelling to Cuba should fill this form online and it’s in Spanish.
Currency:
Currency of Cuba 🇨🇺 is Cuban Peso. 1USD= 24 CUP, which is official exchange rate. But, on ground the exchange rate is quite different. I exchanged some USD at 1USD= 140 CUP, as I needed petty cash. Besides, the exchange rate could go as high as 1USD = 200 CUP, as of June 2023. Overall Canadian Dollar, Euro and US Dollar were all being widely accepted for most of the transactions in Cuba.
CUC (Cuban Convertible Peso), which was pegged to US DOLLAR at 1:1 ratio has been discontinued since 2021.
Internet/ Phone Connection:
I have T-mobile as my Cell Phone service provider in USA. I don’t buy a SIM card, when I am travelling to other counties around the world, as T-Mobile provides some connectivity. Exceptionally, Cuba is not a country, where T-Mobile offers cell phone services for free. For this reason, I downloaded offline google maps to take me around places in Cuba. Additionally, I used free Wi-Fi service at the resort and at the airport (30 min free), to make the necessary phone calls/text messages. Secondly, I looked up for necessary information online, figuring out my schedule using mostly complementary resort Wi-Fi.
Accommodations:
I learnt USA credit cards will not work, to make hotel reservations. Common Hotel booking sites like hotels.com, Expedia, Travelocity etc. don’t show any options for accommodations in Varadero. But, Varadero is a renowned Beach Resort town in Cuba, with tons of All-inclusive resorts. Alternately, I found Agoda.com and roomdi, websites were accepting USA credit card to book all-inclusive resorts in Varadero. I choose “Memories Varadero Beach Resort” for my stay by booking with roomdi. The cost per night stay was 40$ USD.
Additional resource to look for accommodations in Cuba is viahero.com
Basically, this website matches someone to a person in Cuba, who could host you for your time in Cuba. There are lots of host profiles and reviews on this website. As travel category is self-declared, “Supporting Cuban people” is most likely going to be most visitors pick on reason to visit Cuba. Viahero, is a wonderful resource for finding accommodation.
- Places I visited are in Blue.
- The Varadero Airport is in Purple
- Places I have not Visited in Cuba Because of Time Constraint are in Green.
Boots on the Ground:
Day 1:
I headed from the airport in a bus that took rest of the tourists to the resorts, by paying 15$ CAD, as my stay did not include transportation. Exploring the beach at the “Memories Resort” in Varadero was fun. The Caribbean waters were warm. The beach was shallow and the gentle waves were inviting everyone on the beach front to soak themselves in the turquoise waters. Lots of activities are offered at the resort. I saw a magic show to windup my evening. Additional activities including Aqua Zumba, Aqua Gym, Spanish Class, Yoga and many more activities are offered here to keep adults as well as kids occupied.
Day 2:
As soon as I finished my breakfast, I headed out to downtown Varadero.
There are a lot of art and craft markets on the main street in Varadero. A Tour bus runs from all the resorts in Varadero to downtown Varadero. After paying 5$ USD, I could hop on and hop off any number of times in a day. I headed to Havana, Capital of Cuba in a cab from Varadero downtown. My return trip was on Viazul bus. Their schedule is published at Viazul booking site. This site is in both English and Spanish.
Havana is a classic Capital of Cuba, which is a must see for any visitor. Havana’s Vintage American Cabs scenery flashes in anyone’s minds, when someone mentions “Havana”.
That was so very true, specially, when I was on “Paseo del Prado” street. Along with the Yellow cabs there are these Classic Vintage America cars that are waiting at the Taxi Stands all around Havana.
Castello Del Marro, Museo de La Revolucion, El Malecon, Capitola Nacional, Plaza de La Catedral, Calle Obispo and Calle Paseo del Prado are all must see when in Havana. They are in close proximity to each other.
Above mentioned attractions are all in Viejo Habana.
The iconic Plaza de la Revolucion is closer to viazul bus station, so don’t miss on this historically important monument.
I took help from the following sources to plan my schedule.
