Going to Cuba - 2025

I am not a resort person, however, Cuba is a place that is difficult to visit without going through a resort. While I have heard it is possible to do from Canada (where I am), it is complex, and from many other countries, it’s not possible at all to get a flight to Cuba without a resort package.

Resort packages to Cuba are currently extremely affordable. An all-inclusive resort package to Cuba costs around 30% less than one to Mexico or the Dominican Republic. Additionally, it is both easy and very safe to get off the resort and explore locally once you arrive in Cuba. In fact, I’ve found Cuba to be a very safe country overall, even for solo, female travelers.

There are some specifics when it comes to visiting Cuba though. Most of these are due to Cuba’s current shortages, caused by trade politics. These issues are easy to work with, as long as you know before you go.

Transportation to Your Resort

Cuba has a gas shortage. Sometimes you will see cars standing in lines for hours, waiting for the next shipment of fuel to arrive at the gas station. Due to this, Cubans don’t waste their gas.

Your resort package will include tour-bus transportation between the airport and the resort. However, the bus will not leave until it is full. That means, you may end up waiting up to two hours on the bus, until sufficient numbers of other tourists, going to the same resort strip arrive. Here is what you do:

Enter the bus and look around. If the bus is almost full, take a seat, and enjoy. You will be leaving shortly. If the bus is practically empty, don’t bother asking the driver how long before you leave — they will always tell you 5–10 minutes — and they will say this for hours. I’m telling you now, it will be hours. So, get off the bus and walk over to the plethora of taxis.

Taxi drivers in Cuba will usually speak a couple of different languages, and you can also use offline google translate easily. They will ask for the name of your resort and then offer you a price in US dollars. They assume you will barter, so will always start by offering a price that is $10–20 more than the ride is worth. Therefore, barter down. Sometimes one driver will say “no”, and the next will come up and say “sure” and take you.

ALWAYS agree on the price prior to getting in the taxi.

In Varadero you shouldn’t pay more than $40US to any resort from the airport. And if you are close to the beginning of the resort strip, you should be paying around $25US.

Dollars Vs. Cuban Pesos

On that note, let’s talk about currency. Your best bet is using USD.

To begin with, US currency still has paper $1 bills. Many other currencies, including the Euro and Canadian dollar, no longer use paper bills for anything lower than $5. For most things at your resort (such as drinks at the bar or the buffets) a $1 tip is sufficient. Therefore, having paper $1 bills is great. In any European country as well as in Canada you can easily go to the bank and ask for $100 USD in one-dollar bills. Sometimes they will not have that many $1 and will order them for you. However, it never takes more than a week. So, simply go to the bank a week or two before your trip.

But why not use the Cuban peso?

Due to the high inflation as well as demand for foreign currency, at this time the official currency exchange rate is not the same as the ‘street’ exchange rate in Cuba. For example, in February of this year, the official exchange rate (at banks, resorts etc.…) for dollars was ~ $1US=$100pesos. However, the street rate was $1US = $300pesos. So, as a foreigner you will most likely exchange your money officially and therefore, you will only get 100 pesos for your dollar. So, you will go out on the town and see something that costs the equivalent of a dollar and thus offer 100 pesos. However, it will NOT be 100 pesos. It will be 300 pesos, as that is the street value of that dollar. So, at this time, by exchanging your currency for pesos you end up paying up to triple for everything.

Stop Leaving Tips in Coins

As you were reading the previous section you may have been wondering why you need paper dollars rather than just leaving a 1 euro coin or Canadian Loonie as a tip. The answer is simple. Coins are NOT EXCHANGEABLE. This is not a Cuban phenomenon. Regardless of the country, foreign coins cannot be exchanged for local currency. If you travel, you should know this.

So, please stop leaving coins as tips. By doing this, you are wasting your money and giving literally nothing besides a useless chunk of metal to the local person you hoped to tip.

The Things Money Can't Buy

As I mentioned, Cuba is currently facing many shortages. Some main ones that we noticed were simple medicines such as children’s Advil/Tylenol, sanitary napkins for women, candy (specifically chocolate) and pretty much any personal care products for women such as facial and eye creams and shampoos and conditioners. If you want to be kind, bring some extra things with you, and on your last day, give them out to the hotel staff. Things such as facial creams can also be left on your pillow for the cleaning staff, most of who are women.

Additionally, you can go on certain tours which will take you through local areas. A big one in Varadero is the jeep tour, in which you drive your own jeep through various villages on your way to a farm lunch, snorkeling and cave exploring. As you are driving through the villages, many children will be standing along the side of the road and waving to you. This is because these children know when the jeeps drive by as they always do so at the same time of the day. Some of the people in our jeep entourage had brought small toys, lollypops and candy bars and were handing them out the window to the children as we drove slowly by. I wish I had known to do this before going as well!

Going on Tours

As soon as you arrive at your resort you will be provided with an introduction by your particular representative. They will tell you about the resort amenities as well as go over all the tours you can arrange through the resort. These are by no means bad. For example, the jeep tour is one that we purchased through the resort and we were happy with it. However, you can also arrange tours through local tour providers.

It is common for a taxi driver to mention that he has a friend who owns a classic American car and they can give you a private tour of Havana in a 1960’s Cadillac. While in many other countries these kinds of arrangements might be fishy, in Cuba they are not. Generally, anyone with a classic convertible is legitimately registered as a private tour provider, and getting a tour directly through them means that you not only save money (since resorts charge far more for their tours), you have a private tour instead of being herded around in a group and much more of your money is going towards supporting local people.

If you are going to Varadero, a local company we got a great, private Havana tour through was Authentic Cuban Tours. I am not sure if they do pick-ups from Cayo Coco as well — you’ll have to ask if that’s your resort location. FYI. I am in no way associated with the company, nor am I being compensated for suggesting them. We were simply impressed with our Havana tour and are happy to suggest them to others who would like a non-resorty experience but aren’t sure where to start looking. Some of the photos included in this article are from our tour.

Bugs

This isn’t a Cuban phenomenon. Large insects are a thing in any tropical country. The good thing about Cuba is that, unlike places such as Australia, most things are not harmful — just unappealing looking. Cubans are used to this and you will not see nets in any windows or doors. It’s actually not a big deal as nothing will enter your room during the day. When the sun is out, it’s the most bug free and pleasant tropical country I’ve been too. However, once it gets dark, make sure to close your windows and doors. Otherwise, creepy crawlies will start to inch into your accommodations for a visit. All resorts have air conditioning, so you really have no need to open your windows while sleeping.

Leaving Educated Reviews

Last but not least, my personal pet peeve is seeing reviews that are about the overall situation in a country rather than an individual business. Please, learn about the country you are visiting and don’t do that, as it really comes off as the worst combination of entitled and ignorant (this goes for any country you visit, not just Cuba).

Some of the biggest offenders I have seen (repeatedly) about Cuban resorts/hotels have included the following statements:

“The staff asked me if I could give them paper money instead of coins. It was very rude that they didn’t even appreciate a tip.” — as discussed, this person didn’t give the staff a tip. They gave them a circular piece of unusable metal. The staff was not rude. They were, in fact, trying to point this out politely.

“I saw a cockroach in my room! The place was disgusting!” These people will usually include photos of said-cockroach.

The 5-star resort we were at had a couple of these types of reviews. We had absolutely no issues with bugs in our room. However, while at the resort we noticed that a LOT of people were keeping their doors and windows wide open for half the night. That’s fine, however, don’t expect not to find bugs in your room when you leave your doors and windows open all evening.

“I saw a cockroach running across the lobby/bar floor/hallways etc..!” Even more ridiculous than the previous review.

The majority of resorts in Cuba are very open concept with lobby doors being wide open to allow for the sea breezes. Hallways between rooms are usually open-roof and you will sometimes even see birds fly through the resort. It gives the resorts a very chilled atmosphere but, when it gets dark, it also obviously means that you may see a bug or two. My advice: get over it or don’t travel tropical.

“I complained and complained about having sporadic hot water.” This one isn’t quite as obvious however, at this time it is still about the country rather than your particular resort. Cuba is facing shortages of natural gas. Even 5-star resorts have to be careful. While you might be thinking “but I PAID to stay here”. Yes, you did. But, let’s be honest, as I pointed out, you paid at least 30% less than you would have paid for a similar resort in any other country. So, that’s your compensation.

Our resort used a combination of natural gas and solar heating to heat the water. Therefore, we sometimes had hot water and sometimes just luke-warm. If you face this issue, the best time to shower is in the afternoon/early evening when the water has warmed up the most throughout the day.

“the food isn’t as varied as in…(insert name of any mainland, tropical destination)”: This is the issue with many island destinations. Go to Hawaii’s smaller islands and you’ll find the same thing. To add to this, Cuba isn’t in the best trade situation at the moment so most of what you will eat will be locally sourced. That means that while you may be compromising on variety, you are getting hormone-free, pure and natural foods that taste phenomenal (especially the fruits!)

While visiting Cuba has its quirks, I still highly recommend it. Not only does it have amazing beaches, it is safe, people are very approachable and it holds some breathtaking architecture and fascinating history. Know before you go and you’ll have a great time!