Don’t Let Frustrations Ruin Your Trip: 4 Tips for Traveling to Cuba

2019/03/06

Don’t Let Frustrations Ruin Your Trip: 4 Tips for Traveling to Cuba

For all that Cuba is a piece of tropical paradise and an amazing vacation spot, your trip to this place can be ruined quite easily. If you aren’t prepared to some common issues that might occur on this adventure, frustrations, no matter how minor, will pile up and sour your experience. To avoid this unfortunate development, you should follow a few simple tips.

Plaza Catedral – Havana

4 Tips for Avoiding Frustrations on Your Trip to Cuba

Stock up on personal essentials

You can’t skip on packing toiletries and various personal hygiene products when going to Cuba. This matter is especially important if you are planning to stay away from the bigger cities. Be sure to consider this when planning how to fit everything into your luggage.

The problem is that shops in Cuba are rarely stocked with such products, especially the ones in rural areas. The products that they do have are most likely to be very different from what you are used to. Therefore, people with allergies or sensitive skin shouldn’t hope that they will be able to get a replacement SPF cream or anything like this on the island.

The same goes for meds, which can be impossible to find even in big cities like Havana.

en route to Vinales mountains by bicycle

Book various activities in advance

If you want to enjoy the many activities and entertainment Cuba has to offer and be sure that you get excellent service, you should find providers and book them in advance. The point of this is to deal with legitimate businesses, which you can research online. These will allow you to enjoy a variety of services like tours in Havana or diving in Jardines de la Reina. The important thing is that you will be confident in the safety and quality of these services. You will also have a chance to check testimonials and pick the best providers.

The problem you can avoid by doing prior research and booking is the risk of being scammed. Cuba is a country that runs on tourism, and some unscrupulous people prey on those who come here to relax. You will definitely meet plenty of ‘guides’ who offer their services and tours right on the street. Their offers can be very tempting and the majority of them seem like trustworthy charming people.

Avoid such private deals unless you know the ‘guide’ personally and are 100% sure they are trustworthy. In other cases, you run the risk of overpaying or being treated to a rather inferior service, and those are only the best-case scenarios.

one way sign in Antigua – Guatemala

Learn some Spanish

Despite the proximity to America and relevance of international tourism for the country’s economy, not many Cubans speak English. Therefore, you should know at least some basic phrases in Spanish in order to enjoy the country fully.

Without this, you won’t be able to interact with shopkeepers or even taxi drivers. Of course, those who work with tourists directly often have some basic English knowledge, but the risk of misunderstandings is high.

You’ll also need to understand the language to get around on public transport or cheap taxis. Transportation services geared towards tourists are highly overpriced. The good news is that you can book bus tickets online on the Viazul website.

Exchange your money on-site

The trick to paying less in Cuba is using the so-called ‘currency for the locals’ the Cuban peso. Tourists are advised to use CUC (convertible pesos) that usually value equal to US dollars.

However, in all smaller local shops, you’ll need to pay in Cuban pesos, and the exchange rate offered by those shops or prices adjusted to CUC are very unfavorable to travelers. Avoid these issues by converting your money to the local currency right upon arrival.

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