Ultimate Girls guide to Cuba

I think this is my most anticipated Cuba blog post yet. A lot of you wanted to know how much it costs to go to Cuba and today I’m spilling all the tea.

I didn’t get a chance to write up a comprehensive guide to Thailand and Singapore from my trip this past spring, so I made sure to work on a Cuba guide for you guys.

 

First, let me say Cuba is NOT cheap. I really had to penny pinch but eventually ended up with 11 dollars to spare. 1 Cuba CUC is equivalent to 1 USD. So your money doesn’t stretch too far. I initially told myself that I would take 500 dollars for a 5 night, 6 day trip. After converting my USD I was left with 440.00 CUC which is equivalent to 440.00 USD.

I would NOT advise taking USD to Cuba as the conversion rate is pretty steep. I converted my 5oo USD to Canadian dollars at the airport which left me with 600 Canadian dollars. I was told by the staff at the money exchange in Miami that it’s much better to convert money to Canadian as the rate is much better. So 500 dollars converted to 600 Canadian dollars which converted to 440 CUC. Interesting right?

Pack light- It was pretty hot in mid-late November so think silk and light polyester clothing. Take a carry on if you can. I heard that sometimes you could wait up to hours waiting for your luggage to arrive. I unfortunately due to being one of the last ones on the plane, had to check my bag as there weren’t any overhead bins left. Our gate had changed and I almost missed my flight. 

Bring tissue- yes, toilet paper. Our air bnb had toilet paper, however it was not as soft as the ones I’d brought with me. Public restrooms are known to charge for tissue paper. So make sure you bring some tissue packs for your bags and some wet wipes. Last thing you want to do is get to a public restroom with no tissue paper. No beuno. Always have a tissue pack on you when you are out. 

Purchase water at the airport if you can. We unfortunately were not able to do so, but fortunately our airbnb had a fridge stocked with water which was 1 cuc per bottle. 

Bring comfortable shoes as you’ll be walking a lot. I brought two pairs of sandals and a beach thong.

Learn how to haggle- I’m not great at this at all and luckily my friend is so that came in handy.

Maps.me is a great tool to navigate your way around town. It works offline, but you want to download the app before you leave and make sure to download the country you are traveling to within the app. I had downloaded Maps.me but I had not downloaded Cuba within the app, so I was unable to use the app.

Google translate is a good app to have especially if you are not fluent in spanish. Trust me it helps a lot.

I used Globe Convert in Thailand and also in Cuba and it was a great way to keep track of my finances. People in Cuba tended not to bring back my change at times and it’s just smart to know what you are owed by vendors.

The locals in Cuba uses CUP and I did not have access to CUP, so Globe convert came in real handy to make sure I wasn’t short changing myself. 

There were several times, where waiters did not return our change. If it was under 2-3 dollars I let it slide, but make sure you ask for your change. I paid 10 dollars in Vinales to visit the cave, ( see few blog posts back) and the cave cost 5 dollars. Well, the attendant lady kept staring at me until she knew I wasn’t budging and needed my 5 dollar change. 

This goes without saying but be kind. People are much likely to assist you when you’re kind especially in a country where spanish is NOT your first language. Cubans are very friendly and willing to assist you.

My friend and I told everyone that we were from Africa. People are more likely to want to charge you more when you tell them you are from the US. It’s interesting because ppl guessed we were from America, but when asked we told them we were Africana. They seemed surprised that we’d fly from Africa to Cuba. I don’t know how but people assumed I was from America before I even opened my mouth to speak. SO WEIRD!

Cuba is safe, very safe! The latest we were out were 12:30-1am. We had no real safety concerns although it’s best to be cautious of your surroundings always.

 

I’m sharing a break down of expenses by the day below to give you an idea of how much I spent each day.  You can save a lot on transportation if you take a Taxi Collectivo as they call it. It’s kind of like an UberPool- shared transportation. Be sure to read my individual Cuba blog posts for my thoughts on when to take the bus vs when it’s worth it to hire a driver for an entire day. Feel free to reach out to me here or on insta with any questions about things I didn’t answer.