Whenever someone has asked me about some tips they should know before their trip to Cuba or, let's say, to Havana as a first destination, I have certainly felt a bit overwhelmed. Havana can be wonderful, and also very intricate for any visitor. I suppose this is naturally true of any city in the world, but of course each has its own characteristics.
For the newcomer it's normal to feel... more overwhelmed than me, the person who is going to give you some advice, 😁 for the fact that as soon as you arrive you will begin to experience some realities that do not offer only linear paths.
Ladies and gentlemen, the culture, customs, idiosyncrasies and the socio-economic situation of a country will be decisive here. That is why I have decided to write some tips or, let's say, a practical guide that you can always check against the information available on the Internet.
On currency. A thorny issue.
Right now we have two main currencies: the CUP (Cuban peso) and the MLC (freely convertible currency). The first currency can be held both physically and virtually, while the second is only held on magnetic cards.
Other currencies exchanged here and their exchange rates can be consulted on the website of the entity dedicated to these matters: CADECA.
Why is this a thorny issue?
It turns out that there is an informal currency exchange market in Cuba, which you can consult on this page (https://en.eltoque.com/).
The government will be glad to buy the visitor's currency at the official rate, but has restricted nationals from buying foreign currency at this low official rate compared to the informal exchange rate. It is a complex and time-consuming process that requires reservations and long lines to obtain a specific amount per person. No idea what it is. But I'm guessing you won't be able to buy all the currency you might need.
The pros and cons
Legally exchanging your money at the Bank or Cadeca will cause you to lose purchasing power because inflation in Cuba is rampant. However, it is risky to exchange your money in the street with anyone because you could be the victim of some kind of scam. That's why you should be careful and get help from people such as the owners of the accommodation you are staying in or people highly recommended by them, such as drivers or guides who will accompany you.
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| CADECA | elTOQUE |
Another crucial information
Make sure you travel with cash and notes of different denominations, because if you bring a card linked to an American bank, you won't be able to withdraw money here.
You won't be allowed to take out the dollars on your card here either, but only our CUP currency at the official exchange rate.
I think the amount of cash you can bring into Cuba is 5000 USD or other currency. And if it is more it must be declared at Customs.
Transport
On this subject, I can recommend official car rental websites, as well as some considerations on the use of taxis in the city.
https://www.rentcarcuba.com/en
https://www.transtur.com/
If you wish to travel by taxi, you will have options for getting directly to your accommodation as soon as you leave the airport. Prices vary and can be around 30-40 USD right now.
In the city you can, of course, use public transport, which is very cheap. I mean the buses (when they appear), they can be crowded with people too... it's an adventure here, almost an odyssey. And the so-called Almendrones (classic cars) that cover specific routes in the city and whose prices range between 100 and 150 CUP (remember to calculate according to the informal exchange rate).
We also have some Apps to hire taxi pick-up services and they calculate the price according to the route you want.
For example, I have used La Nave (https://lanave.app/).
This opens up another important issue for your stay here and that is communications.
Mobile telephony
Here we have only one Telecommunications Company and that is ETECSA. In this link you can find out about contracting the telephone service, something you will have to resolve as soon as you arrive.
https://www.etecsa.cu/en/visitors/cubacel-mobile-line
Accommodation
As for accommodation, you have the option of renting houses, flats, hostels... or any hotel in the city. When I asked, two people recommended the Meliá Habana.
Anyway, on the Tripadvisor site (https://www.tripadvisor.com) you can research many things related to accommodation.
Airbnb.com can also help and who knows if a Cuban Hiver reading here leaves his or her contact to offer this accommodation service and you can even pay in HBD.
What to do in Havana?
This deserves a separate post, with my own recommendations! There are many pages on the Internet that suggest the most emblematic places in Havana, those experiences that all visitors must have, almost obligatory visits.
This is an official website: https://infotur.cu/en/destinos/havana
It really is a bit bland. 🙄
This link from TripAdvisor provides other places of interest. And this other site (https://www.tripcuba.org/havana) also has a lot of information about what to do and see in Havana.
🙃
I think that's enough for today. This post is already quite long. If you are Cuban and want to leave a recommendation for someone who will soon visit us, I'll be waiting for you in the comments section.
I think that's enough for today. This post is already quite long. If you are Cuban and want to leave a recommendation for someone who will soon visit us, I'll be waiting for you in the comments section.
{edited}
These are some of the businesses that accept HBD in Cuba and can be found at https://www.hivecuba.com/negocios-comunidad-hive.
There are services there for currency exchange. Check them out.
Original content by @nanixxx. All rights reserved ©, 2024.
Photographs taken in a restaurant called Habana Retro in 2016.
We're accustom to withdrawing local currency as soon as we land wherever we're at. USD loses the exchange rate 100% of the time, best to just not carry any.
Apple Pay an option? I haven't been anywhere Apple Pay isn't an option.
That ETESCA.. We can purchase SIM cards at the airport, yeah?
Especially the Hive part makes me smile :^)
Wish something like that existed here in Portugal
😁
Go back and look at the post I put two screenshots of the official and informal exchange rates.
I meant to say HBD.
The only way to pay sith crypto here is by using my Wirex debit card and I can't put Hive or HBD on it ;^)
😕
This problem must be solved! 😁 We need to work on the adoption of Hive there so that you can pay with your Keychain wallet.
That would be cool but there's no Hive community that I know of, in Portugal. At least not in the countryside, where I live haha!
Wow, that's fascinating about the currency restrictions. I'm guessing there's no exchange for USD to CUP in the US to bring the pesos into Cuba and avoid exchanging them there, but I can see how it could be advantageous to keep all your paper money in your own country.
Hopefully I can get confused by this in person some day!!
😄 mania, one day when you come to Cuba hahaha... You will experience a manic confusion.
Sounds like a good time!!
😃😀
Nanixxx, you're going to leave us without a job😅, what great recommendations😎
Here are the tips we give to international travelers that we serve at Estilo Viajero ...
1.Don't exchange money at the airport and much less at CADECA, contact the AirBnB host and ask if they can exchange it for you, you'll gain in purchasing power and if it's at a hotel, someone in the front desk will surely help you, always do the exchange in a public place.
2.As for transportation, if you're going to a central location, there are buses at the airport José Martí for $5 USD or EUR that will take you to the main arteries of the city , there's information about it on the airport's website, the app "LA NAVE" is a must-have, as you said.
3.If you want to visit the historic center and live the Havana experience, Agencia San Cristobal is the best (not counting us, of course 😂)
These are the bases for us 😅
Jojojo... this adds a lot to the post. Thank you very much!!! 😇
I'm not a good tour guide, I was counting on you guys to come out in the public eye.
We're here , a little bit hide 'cause to much demand and a little team , we are overfloud this day , but for some Cuban tips we always be around 😁
🤗
Remember to add me to the tour group.
Oh my bad , I will do it 😁
Vas a tener que hacer un post solo para el explicar el cambio de divisas 😂
Complicated about the money 😆, The last photo with retro decor with vinyl and motorcycle, I love it.
Saludos
¿Te fijaste en el techo de la primera? 👀 Seguro que sí, para qué pregunto.
SIIIIIIII!!! 😂
I bookmarking this but don't you think that you are through with that. I am expecting the full local experience when (if) I get there :)
Count on it. Hahaha... For you two the whole experience. Buses and long lines included! Walks till you drop, sunset bike rides in Cojímar and much more! 🤣
Haha, thank you very much!
We wouldn't expect anything less :)
What a beautiful place I loved it and how original the decoration was. Nice day.🥰❤️❤️❤️❤️
Sí, ¿viste que lindo? no sé si ese restaurante sigue activo. Tengo que pasar por allí a ver porque ya no recuerdo. ¡Han pasado tantos años!... ya peino canas. 🤣
I was very interested in the subject of money, the variety and how to get it and everything else, it is a complex subject. ....
Love that roof! Super original! Woww... and the chairs with the vinyls.... another woww.
The last one, how artistic!!!😍
No, it is not complicated for Hivians. Check the services we have here to exchange money. For example the telegram p2p bot and Qvapay. See the page I pointed out at the end where you can find the businesses that accept HBD.
And if you are going to change dollars, you will always find help from the tourist guides and the people who are hosting you. Read the comment @dahpilot left.
Thank you, apagaré esto un rato que está tronando mucho. Nos vemos luego ;)
I remember my uncles told me that they had travelled to Cuba and they told me a lot of things from there... a lot of things and how beautiful it is!
Beware of the storms!
😍 yes, it stopped raining and thundering at once. It's crazy these days.
Recuerdo esos días.... recuerdo... acá si bien estoy cerca del mar, no llueve casi nada!
The foreign exchange thing sounds a bit complicated, luckily I know a trusted person who can help me when I visit Cuba ☺️
😁 Of course it is! There's no problem with that, you know.
Con mis huéspedes es toda una aventura el tema de los cambios de moneda. Algunos no se enteran de nada y nos traen mucho estrés con sus despistes. Todos vienen deslumbrados y directo a disfrutar mojito, tabaco y mulatos/as... No asumen que eso tiene una producción previa que es bien complicada para la mente primermundista 😂... Los de Latam se las apañan mejor y no solo por idioma.
Este post, será a partir de hoy el link que mandaré para que se empapen de la realidad que van a enfrentar en Cuba mientras esten vigentes estas condiciones...
🍻
Well yeah, you rent and also have your Yoga business. Why didn't you write the comment in English too? The post and the comments, they'll be very useful, I see it, I see it.
Thank you! 🤗
I'm sorry... I was too rushed and anxious to comment. Here is the translation 🙏
😄 bella
Con mis huéspedes es toda una aventura el tema de los cambios de moneda. Algunos no se enteran de nada y nos traen mucho estrés con sus despistes. Todos vienen deslumbrados y directo a disfrutar mojito, tabaco y mulatos/as... No asumen que eso tiene una producción previa que es bien complicada para la mente primermundista 😂... Los de Latam se las apañan mejor y no solo por idioma.
Este post, será a partir de hoy el link que mandaré para que se empapen de la realidad que van a enfrentar en Cuba mientras esten vigentes estas condiciones...
🍻
With my guests it's quite an adventure with currency exchange. Some of them don't know anything and bring us a lot of stress with their absent-mindedness. They all come dazzled and straight to enjoy mojito, tobacco and mulatos/as.... They do not assume that this has a previous production that is very complicated for the first world mind 😂.... Those from Latam manage better and not only because of language.
This post, will be from today the link that I will send so that they can soak up the reality they will face in Cuba while these conditions are in force....
🍻
I remember the currency issues now! It was way back in 2012 I visited Cuba and loved the place, it was too rushed though to trip the whole Island in two weeks, I could have spent two weeks in Havana!!!
I shall have to dig out my photos when I get the chance
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STOPSuper! I deserve a drink or something, right?
!BEER
Uff! Nani que post más bueno. Me lo había perdido estos días. Me lo guardo para cuando necesite explicar todo esto. Es que nunca se hacerlo de manera simplificada.
Qué bueno que te servirá de alguna ayuda. 🤗
Good tips, done of it actually sounds quite complex around the currency. So my usual technique of waving a handful of dollar bills might not be effective? 😂
Waving banknotes around like a piñata? 😂 Better with CUPs you will have many more to shake as you can see. These days, sometimes they don't accept magnetic cards and you have to go out on the street with a briefcase of money.
You need wads of cash to pay for a soft drink!
A briefcase of money. That sounds right up my street!!! 😂😂
Haha, and Bitcoin, also bring the cold wallet you have under the crypt!
The cold wallet never leaves the batcave!!
😂🤭😉