Visiting Cuba
Huge Bummer for Americans
Literally as I was writing this I heard on the news that new travel restrictions are taking effect in regards to Americans traveling to Cuba. Please look up current restrictions before booking your trip
Disclaimer:
Please note that this was our unique experience. Other people may have different experiences and/or obstacles during travel.
As Americans the ability to legally travel to Cuba has only been a reality for a hot minute. Thanks to former President Barak Obama, as Americans we are now able to travel to and from Cuba just like anywhere else (Check current regulations, as things may have changed since writing this).
As I started researching how to get there and what we needed to do as a family in order to check all the boxes, I got a little overwhelmed. Everything I read made it seem really complicated and almost not worth the effort. However, in hindsight I think that was the point. I’m not sure if the US government really wants us traveling to Cuba that much, so they make it sound very complicated to get there.
Getting There:
The first thing I did was research flights to Cuba. Although direct flights are somewhat limited they do exist. There are direct flights out of Texas, Florida, and I’m sure other states as well. A quick Kayak search will let you know what is available in your area.
We ended up entering Cuba via Panama and not taking a direct flight from the states for a couple different reasons.
1. I am always trying to tack on long layovers whenever we travel to try to break up the trip (that’s what I tell my family). Really it’s just so we can do a quick visit to another city or country. For us it ended up being cheaper to have a 24hr layover in Panama City in route to Havana, rather than take a direct flight and I was all for it!!!
2. Tourist cards (often referred to as a Tourist Visa) are significantly more expensive if you enter Cuba from the States versus entering from another country. You can google exact prices depending on who you fly with. Entering Cuba from the States at this time will run you anywhere from $50-$130 for each person traveling. If you enter Cuba from another country, your visa cost is between $20-$30 per person. I’m always looking for a deal, so visiting a new country for a day and getting a deal on the Tourist card made it totally worth it for us to go to Panama first.
You can buy your Tourist Card online before you leave, or you can purchase your card at the check in desk at the airport. We bought ours for $20 a piece at the airport info desk at the terminal in the Panama Airport.
Customs:
Once we landed in Havana we went through customs, where they asked us the typical questions that all customs agents ask, why are you here? How long are you staying and so on. We usually don’t travel with special travel insurance, however I read that you are required to have it in order to enter Cuba and that the customs agents would ask about it. So, I bought a package for our family that covered us while we were there. Nobody asked us about the insurance a single time. If you want to buy travel insurance we liked the packages from this company. patriot international
Travel Affidavit:
I also printed and filled out the “Affidavit for Travel to Cuba” paperwork. This is the paperwork where you declare your reason for traveling to Cuba. You need to choose one of 12 categories for travel. We chose the one that states, “to provide various types of support to the Cuban people.” The only time this was ever mentioned was when I was booking our “Casa Particulares” through Airbnb. Nobody in Cuba, or back in The States when we returned asked to see the paperwork. You can download your copy here
Supporting the People:
While I feel like the paperwork was a bit of a waste of time. I do believe that supporting the Cuban people is a very important reason to travel to Cuba. We made sure to stay with local people through their “Casa Particualares” and we ate at locally owned restaurants, and used local taxis. Even the Cuban people told us while we were there where we should go, and what we should do in order to support the people rather than the government.
Stay turned for my next post all about why you should travel to Cuba!!
