Cuba

Although I’ve just been to Havana (and Cuba is huge!), I’ve collected some tips on how best to navigate the country.

Cuba Guides

How to get to Cuba as an American

How to fly to Cuba

Heading to Cuba was easier than expected as an American. We bought our tickets from DC with American Airlines, including mandatory travel medical insurance for Cuba ($25). Our flight transited through Miami, which is likely what you’ll do if you visit from the US.

Getting a Visa

Note: this is for American Airlines tickets only

You can get your visa in advance or at your departure gate for Havana.

You need to fill in both sides of the visa form. Don’t tear it apart! You’ll need it to enter and depart. Don’t lose it. At the end of your trip, the two sides will be ripped apart by an immigration officer.

To buy in advance

After purchasing your plane tickets, visit the visa services site for American Airlines Flights. The visa costs $85 ($50.00 plus a $35.00 processing fee). The visa papers will be shipped to you within the week.

To buy at Miami International Airport

One hour before your flight’s take-off time, a “Cuba Ready” Kiosk will open next to the check-in counter. You can purchase the visa for $100 (Visa price: $50 + $50  processing fee).

12 Categories of Authorized Travel to Cuba

Americans and people traveling from Cuba from the US need to provide 1 of 12 reasons to visit Cuba. Tourists fall under the “visit in support of the Cuban people” category. To satisfy this, you should stay in an Airbnb and support local restaurants (not owned by the government). You are supposed to keep receipts proving such for 5 years. We were barely handed receipts during our trips so I took a picture of our Airbnb host serving us breakfast as “proof.” We also purchased paintings from a local artist and took a picture with him (more for fun, but it could also be used as proof).

If you’re not a US passport holder…

Then be aware that entering Cuba may cause you complications if you plan to visit the US often. Cuba is on a list of US-sanctioned countries. If you’re an EU citizen, you will not be able to get an online ESTA visa (ever again) if you visit Cuba—you’ll have to get a tourist visa at an embassy.

Please check all the details by doing your research for your country. Your passport will not be stamped but the US takes a picture of every person who boards a plane to Havana in Miami. They will know you visited Cuba, so don’t bother lying on your forms.

Entering/Exiting Cuba

Be sure you have your Cuban Visa ready to show at immigration. Don’t lose the paper during your trip!

There is a mandatory pre-departure form that will give you a QR code. You need to do this before landing. In all honesty, we had no clue what this was and the people checking the codes were fed up with us and another couple who also didn’t know what was going on (since it seemed like a COVID vaccination QR code so we had those out), and they let us go. Fill out the form here.

When exiting, we encountered an “Art fee” of $5/€5 from an official after emigration. It seemed like this was per artist rather than per piece because we had two paintings from the same artists and only paid $5.

Money in Cuba

Money changes every day in Havana. I think by the time you’re reading this blog, will be different, so keep that in mind. No American credit or debit cards are accepted in Cuba. Further, even if there is a card machine it likely won’t be working.

Firstly, there are no longer two currencies in Cuba. The Cuban Peso (CUP) is used by everyone. However, there are two exchange rates… There is an official exchange rate and the black-market exchange rate which more accurately describes the economic situation in Cuba. In May 2024, the official rate was $1=200 CUP but the black-market rate was around $1=350 CUP.

Using “black market” makes the matter sound more mysterious than it is. There are plenty of men on the streets who ask just once or twice if you need to exchange money and then they will leave you alone.

For a 5-day trip to Havana, we brought $900. $200 immediately went to the Airbnb so we ended up exchanging about $700 and using it all. It’s possible to spend less but we splurged on a couple of dinners.

We had to double-count our money every single time we paid a bill.

Dollars/Euros vs Pesos

When I visited in May 2024, dollars were in demand, not Cuban Pesos. Vendors and restaurants always quoted us in dollars. When we told them we needed the cost in pesos and because exchange rates changed every day ( and from vendor to vendor) in a single day we were quoted anywhere between $1=320 CUP and  $1=420 CUP. Each vendor, of course, had a screenshot from a website stating their rate was “official.” It’s not worth arguing over but we would have had a more consistent payment experience if we didn’t exchange all our dollars for Pesos.

So, my main tip to you is to bring low denominations of dollars rather than $100 bills to exchange (as I did).  Ones are especially useful for tips at museums and restaurants. Bring 5s,10s, and 20s. Don’t exchange more than $100 to start with on your trip.

Euros are also acceptable but they are quoted as equal to the dollar. When I visited the Euro was stronger than the dollar, so it didn’t make sense to use any euros (though we did in desperation at some point).

Exchanging Money

Firstly, to reiterate the above, I suggest you bring 1s, 5s, 10s, and 20s in dollars as your primary payment method and only exchange about $100 into Cuban Pesos. All of the taxis, restaurants, and shops we encountered quoted us in dollars. We went to just a few museums and you may want to pay in pesos.

You can exchange money with your Airbnb host or one of the people on the street who offers you a good rate. We experienced that the street money exchangers ended up offering a better deal than our Airbnb host though we used him.

Sim Cards and Internet

I had good 4G signal where I could access my Gmail, Instagram, Facebook, and most sites that I usually use. I was not expecting to have any connection to the outside world from what I had heard about Cuba before. I couldn’t access my work email nor some shopping sites based in the US. You should order a sim card from Cubacel in advance and pick it up at the airport counter at baggage claim. There will be a QR code in your confirmation email to pick up your sim card. I literally ordered my sim card as we were taking off from Miami. The sim card cost around $30 and you can order it here.