We just returned from our quick trip to Cuba for the week of Memorial Day. Cuba is a place we'd talked about going to but seemed out of reach or not possible. Thankfully we'd had friends who had gone recently, loved it, and asked us to come with them on their return trip. I'm glad we did!
Just doing a quick google search about traveling to Cuba will result in tons of articles outlining whether you can go, and what kind of restrictions Americans may be under for visiting. In a nut shell, yes, as of today you can travel to Cuba under one of these 12 categories. People to People or Support of the Cuban People is the most common for folks visiting without family ties or work related trips.
We booked out flights online through Delta directly and got a popup warning that a visa was required. You will get your visa at the airport right before you board at the gate so there is not much up front prep work for that. I also read you have to have travelers insurance, so I got some, but was never asked for any documentation on this, just my visa upon arrival.
We took off from ATL to Havana on Sunday May 26th around 11am and were landed and through customs to currency exchange in about 3 hours. It was a very easy flight and in the same time zone as us. We'd been told to get Euros prior to travel as that is easier to exchange than USD because American banks do not work in Cuba so we'd come prepared. The line for exchange was fairly long and probably took about 45 minutes.
Our friends we went with had made a friend on their last trip who picked us up at the airport and waited on us to get money out. He was the friendliest human ever which I learned is how almost all the locals we met were.
As soon as you exit the airport, you see the classic cars that Havana is known for. We piled 6 deep into a car from the 1950's and headed the 30 minutes to our Casa Particular that we'd booked through AirBNB. Kelly's friend had brought us some fresh fruit for our trip so it was already off to a good start.
We checked into out house and met with the hosts, they were so friendly and gave us a tour of the house, the rooftop deck and any necessities we may need like a flashlight should the city have any blackouts. They made us some homemade mojitos and our adventure had officially begun!
We started out by walking to a local store to grab some waters and other snacks to keep in our room, then headed down the Malecón towards Hotel Nacional for some piña coladas. The views here are beautiful and the drinks are wonderful but I was hangry at this point so we decided to cab it down towards some restaurant options.
You can find convertible taxis by the plenty in the more touristy areas and even in more populated areas. Taxi rides can add up quick from $5-20 CUC which about the equivalent to $5-20 USD. So we tried to walk as much as we could and also hire Kelly's friend for most days.
We wandered through a few streets and found a great place in an alley with string lights that we decided to stop at. No reviews or reservations, we just kind of sat down and lucked out that the food was delicious! We ordered way too much food since we were so hungry but we had stuffed peppers, lobster, rice, chicken and veggies!
After too much food and drink, we walked around a bit more before heading back to our house to enjoy the patio before calling it a night.
The next day we walked to a Wi-Fi park before breakfast so we could check in on family and our pup. To get internet access in Cuba, you can find folks selling Wi-Fi cards in shops or on the street, these will have a key code you type in when you're in local proximity to Wifi which are primarily in public parks.
The internet is slow, so much in fact that it takes awhile for iMessage to come through and several minutes to download one picture. So you know I was very impatient to get pup pics from my friend watching him all week!
We got the wifi cards and they lasted us all week although we would only check our phones once a day just to check in on family and pets, you may need more if you are trying to accomplish any work.
Finding the cards, the parks and logging in shouldn't be hard to come by but it is in no way convenient or what we were used to like when we've previously only used hotel Wifi on trips. It was actually nice to only use our phones for pictures and as a watch.
Once we checked in on our peeps, we headed to breakfast! We ate at El Dandy and it was so good and the ambiance was very cute and unique. Then set off to explore the city. We poped in and out of markets, shops, art museums and churches just seeing all of what Havana has to offer. Wear comfy shoes and a hat with sunscreen as it is hot and the sun is strong!
We did about 7 miles on foot this day walking all over Havana. We headed back to our house to enjoy our patio before getting ready for dinner that night. This was the only night we had reservations at a fancier restaurant and was the only night I brought a more than casual dress for.
We ate at La Guardia, one of the higher rated restaurants in the area. The restaurant is located in Central Havana which is a part of the city that is between Vedado and Old Havana and is more common to see more crumbling walls and homes and is not at all touristy, so dressing up too much feels out of place.
Bay of Pigs was an excursion we had planned for our third day and I was so excited from the pics and reviews I'd seen. The Bay of Pigs is an inlet of the Gulf of Cazones located on the southern coast of Cuba. It may ring a bell based on a battle that occurred there previously but today it is known as a beautiful place to snorkel.
Our driver Rolando picked us up that morning from our Havana house, we'd packed up our luggage and left it at the hosts house for the day. We packed a cooler and took off on a 2-2.5 hour drive southeast to the Bay of Pigs.
We got there around 11am or so and snorkeled for a couple hours. We brought bread and the fish go nuts. The coral, water and fish here were so pretty and the temps were perfect for snorkeling.
This was probably my favorite thing we did on our trip... I highly recommend this if you can swing it. The drive can be kind of brutal since you feel everything in the cars but it's great to see more of the countryside away from the city.
After snorkeling we went to grab a late lunch at Chuchi el pescador and it was so good! Sleeping pups on the floor included in the price of your meal! :)
After relaxing under some palm trees after lunch we headed back to Havana. We had to pick up our luggage from our house and take it over to our beach house in Santa Fe, where we were staying the last 3 days of our trip.
Once we got back to Havana and got the luggage from our hosts, we picked up some Tuna Pizza from La Rueda and headed to our new home for the next few days.
The next morning we woke up in such a beautiful spot! We were farther down the coast from Havana and the pace here was much more calm. We explored the beach near the house and checked out a wifi park in the are but mainly spent the day hanging out by the pool relaxing after our long previous day. You can find the listing here if you're interested. We had the owners cook us breakfast in the morning, and they do a beautiful breakfast for $10 CUC a person.
We'd planned to check out Viñales as a group but our friends weren't feeling up for it so B and I went solo and had our driver Rolando pick us up at 8am to hit the road.
Viñales is about 2 hours west of Havana and a beautiful drive and is more of a rain forrest and mountainous climate like Peru.
When we arrived to the Tobacco farm, you immediately see all kinds of animals like peacocks, chickens, goats, alligators and horses. We got a tour of the farm and how the famous cuban cigars are made.
Once we were about to go on a horseback ride through the fields, the heavens opened up and poured on us. We quickly rode our horses to where they make coffee for shelter and got a quick overview of the local coffee, rum and honey made in Viñales.
After getting some lessons on the history behind the honey and coffee making, we finally got around to our horseback riding... only a couple strong rum drinks in.
After our tours and horseback riding, we were hungry and thirsty and wanting some food before heading back to Havana. We stopped at a place that translates to the Farmer and it was some of my favorite food we had. One of the things thats different in Cuba than the States is a lot of restaurants will just be out of chicken or another main ingredient and there is nothing genetically modified so its just out until they get more. So everything we ate was locally grown, organic and really 'farm to table.'
That night we went to dinner at a place a coworker and friend recommended to me for sunset, Paladar Vistamar. Of course it was pouring rain so we didn't get the sunset views we were hoping for. The food and service was amazing and I'd still highly recommend it. It was in between our beach house and Havana so a bit far from anything but in a really pretty part of town.
It was finally our last day and we started the morning by snorkeling by our beach house. We had such a great time we were bummed we hadn't done it every morning! We found all kinds of coral, saw an eel and a turtle skeleton!
Our Casa particular host cooked us a breakfast spread again that morning and it was so wonderful getting to relax before having to get ready for the airport. We were told to get to the airport 2-3 hours in advance so we had a taxi come pick us up around 11:30 for our 2:30 flight! Our ride out of Cuba was in style for sure as it was the prettiest car we'd seen our whole time there! :)
Things I'd wondered or learned about Cuba:
It is easier to get out Euros in the states to do a money transfer in Cuba- better exchange rate as well
iMessage and social media works on their wifi but text messages don't so use WhatsApp or something similar
The people are very friendly and curious about Americans- we didn't meet one rude person
The average Cuban income is about $30-40 CUC a month from the government so tips are highly appreciated
The Cuban government owns 51% of everything of the Cuban people's businesses or any outside investors
Wear sunscreen! the sun it pretty strong and it is easy to burn! Also pack a hat or buy one down there, they're aplenty
You need a visa to travel as an American but the process is very easy.
As of yesterday (June 4) cruises are no longer allowed for Americans so booking flights and staying at Casa Particulars are your only option
We felt safe the whole time. We'd heard they are very tough on crime there so locals tend to not harass tourists - truly everyone was so friendly
It is very humid but there is a nice breeze so it didn't feel as stifling as I'd planned. However most places don't have AC unless it is in the bedrooms