Cuba: practical Cuba

2 September 2015

I've had several requests for advice or information about Cuba lately. So I thought it might be worth writing a post about it. I'd encourage those who have already visited this fantastic country to leave comments adding anything you think is important, or correcting me if need be :-) .

Communication

Because of this country's particular situation, communicating with the outside world and using the internet are relatively complicated and expensive. There are, however, better solutions than others. I'd advise against going into hotels to use their telephone or internet services in particular — they cost an arm and a leg.

The Cuban national communications company, ETECSA, has centres in every town in the country, and you'll often see Cubans queuing there. You, the basic tourist :-D , won't need to be in that queue if you're after two things:

A card for a wifi connection:

The price varies by duration of course, but the rates are far better than elsewhere (the Habana Libre hotel, for instance, to name no names :-( )... I was cross with myself for not using this system from the start of my stay. It's fairly simple: you scratch off a code that lets you connect to a hotspot, and that's it... it works rather well. Note that in most of the places I went the provider was ETECSA, so I was able to use this card.

A card for calling within Cuba or abroad

This card also costs ridiculously little to use compared with the hotels. Again there's the scratch-off system; you then just call the number given on the back of the card, enter the code, and off you go :-) .

Note that these two cards aren't only found in ETECSA centres — there were street "kiosks" selling them, but the one time I bought a card at one of those kiosks it never worked :-( .

Another big advantage of using these two cards: if you move around the island, they'll work everywhere. By contrast, if you buy a block of connection hours at a hotel, you often won't be able to use them anywhere else.

Transport

Arriving at the airport

Arriving at Havana airport, there's no choice: you have to take a taxi. The problem is that if you pick one on the spot to get into the city centre it'll be more expensive (30 to 40 CUC or more). My advice: if you're staying in a casa particular, ask them before you arrive whether they know any taxi drivers who could come and collect you — and of course ask how much it will cost (always ask how much it will cost, in advance!). It came to 25 CUC on the way in and 20 CUC on the way back for me.

Getting around in Cuba

I wrote a post on this subject here.

Accommodation

I can't recommend the casa particular system highly enough. Essentially you stay in someone's home, you have your own room with dedicated bathroom, air conditioning... The system seems relatively well regulated, and although not all the casas I stayed in were on the same level, I genuinely never had cause to complain.

The breakfasts provided in these casas are often very generous.

Some will also offer to prepare dinner for you... here again, the value for money was unbeatable compared with the restaurants nearby.

The casas I recommend

Santiago de Cuba

coming soon

Baracoa

coming soon

Trinidad

coming soon

Money

There are two currencies in circulation in Cuba:

• The convertible peso (CUC): 1 CUC is roughly equivalent to €1. It's the foreigners' currency; in theory Cubans aren't supposed to use it, but still...
• The moneda nacional (CUP): only Cubans are supposed to hold it; 1 CUC is worth about 24 CUP.

Wherever possible, having CUP in hand does your wallet good. Unofficial taxis, for example, will ask you for 10 CUP for a ride in Havana — but if you're spotted as a foreigner it'll be 3 CUC (rather than 0.41)...