Touring - Touring Cuba

Has anyone toured in Cuba lately?
I know there is lots of information on the net but I am interested to know if anybody has been there in the past year or so.
I realize that the local situation re tourism and the dollar economy can change quickly.
Are casa particulares still operating freely? Any problems with transporting bicycles?
Any other tips about cycle touring in Cuba.?

You're lucky you're in Canada. The US govt. has an awful lot of restrictions for traveling. US citizens can ride a bike--but only as part of an approved educational program. Otherwise, we face some stiff penalties.

Along these same lines, is it possible for a U.S. tourist to go with a Canadian Tour group to Cuba without penalties?

I met some Americans that travelled into Mexico. From there, they hopped a plane to Cuba. I think they avoided the penalties because they went to Cuba through third party means without getting detected by the USA.

I think we are only allowed to go now for educational and/or religious purposes.

Koffee

You can do it but not legally...

Joan Slote



Joan Slote, a mother, a grandmother, a breast cancer survivor, and a medalwinning cyclist in the Senior Olympics has been fined by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for her travel to Cuba.

Slote, who has biked throughout the United States and in 20 nations overseas, made the mistake of believing a travel brochure from a Canadian tour company that erroneously stated that it was legal for Americans to travel to Cuba so long as they first passed through Mexico or Canada. Slote toured Cuba with a friend, and when they returned to the United States, she forthrightly reported to U.S. Customs that she had traveled to Cuba.

Nearly three years of state-sponsored torment has ensued. Slote was fined over $7,000 for violating the travel ban. Treasury and OFAC declined her initial requests to negotiate the penalty, denied her a hearing, and threatened to attach her Social Security check in order to secure payment of the fine, which grew to nearly $10,000.

“I cannot understand why any American is fined for exercising [her] right to see this beautiful world,” says Slote. “Even if the fine were reasonable, the way it is being administered against me and others seems heartless. I hope others do not have to continue to suffer as I have. We Americans can make a difference in Cuba by traveling there,” she concluded. “We should have our freedom back.”

Thanks to members of Congress, Joan’s fine has been reduced to $1,900.


http://www.cubacentral.com/travelvictimsdetail.cfm?ID=4

You can do it but not legally...

Joan Slote



Joan Slote, a mother, a grandmother, a breast cancer survivor, and a medalwinning cyclist in the Senior Olympics has been fined by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for her travel to Cuba.

Slote, who has biked throughout the United States and in 20 nations overseas, made the mistake of believing a travel brochure from a Canadian tour company that erroneously stated that it was legal for Americans to travel to Cuba so long as they first passed through Mexico or Canada. Slote toured Cuba with a friend, and when they returned to the United States, she forthrightly reported to U.S. Customs that she had traveled to Cuba.

Nearly three years of state-sponsored torment has ensued. Slote was fined over $7,000 for violating the travel ban. Treasury and OFAC declined her initial requests to negotiate the penalty, denied her a hearing, and threatened to attach her Social Security check in order to secure payment of the fine, which grew to nearly $10,000.

“I cannot understand why any American is fined for exercising [her] right to see this beautiful world,” says Slote. “Even if the fine were reasonable, the way it is being administered against me and others seems heartless. I hope others do not have to continue to suffer as I have. We Americans can make a difference in Cuba by traveling there,” she concluded. “We should have our freedom back.”

Thanks to members of Congress, Joan’s fine has been reduced to $1,900.


http://www.cubacentral.com/travelvictimsdetail.cfm?ID=4

If it's illegal, then you can't do it. I don't know how people fall for that stuff- I thought the majority of people know you can't go to Cuba under those circumstances (hence the sneakiness of the Americans I met while travelling through Mexico). It is true- ignorance of the law doesn't mean you're innocent!

Koffee

Bring Euros, not dollars!

People do all sorts of illegal things and get away with it. So you can do it but you are breaking the law. Anyway I am not advocating that Americans travel to Cuba in defiance of their government.

I am just asking if any of the international non American readers of this forum have any experiences of cycling in Cuba that they would like to share.

I'm not breaking any US law by asking this, am I?

Oh, I know you aren't advocating breaking the law. I'm just saying I got no love for grandma there. :)

If you're worried about breaking our laws, though, let us know. We can always delete. ;)

If I ever give up my US citizenship, I'll head out to Cuba myself. From the people I've talked to, I get the idea that it is an absolutely beautiful country (some of my friends go for vacations disguised as "educational purposes"), but none of them went on a cycling trip.

Koffee

Cuba should be a really cool place to cycle! The roads are shared by a mix of pedestrians, horse-drawn carts, bicycles and motor vehicles. The balance is more towards cars and motorcycles and urban areas, more towards "alternative" transport in more rural areas. The roads are definitely not as good as the roads in the U.S. and and Canada, at least not in the western part of the country where I've been (near Holguin). A couple of the roads that I was on (in a bus) that went through farmland were outright bad, but this seemed to be the exception, rather than the rule. Do be aware that all of the traffic can kick up a LOT of dust - and you probably will want to be riding during the dry part of the year, because quite a few roads will get pretty churned up in the rain. Oh yes, and be sure to take lots of pictures!

Also, a tip - if you do happen to cycle in "el Oriente" (the western part of Cuba), check out the coastal town of Gibara. It's a beautiful place with a lot of local history. Neat place. Besides, I have friends there ;).

EDIT: Yes, I am American, and yes I traveled to Cuba legally. So no need to get me in trouble :D.

Dammit... I just dialled the 91... then I saw the edit just in time. So emergency didn't get the call after all! ;) :lol:

Koffee

There's a great book titled The Handsomest Man in Cuba: a bicycle escapade (http://www.galfromdownunder.com/cuba/) written by Lynette Chiang, who sometimes posts here but is not doubt too modest to mention the book herself. I read the book and thoroughly enjoyed it. The book details her experiences while biking in Cuba on her Bike Friday.

Oriente, western cuba. Give your head a shake!

Along these same lines, is it possible for a U.S. tourist to go with a Canadian Tour group to Cuba without penalties?

It can be done, but unless you've got special permission from the US State Department, it's not legal, and there are penalties if you get caught, and those penalties will be enforced, especially under our current administration.

That said, it can be done. I've done it. About ten years ago. I went with a companion from New York to Montreal, and we made our travel arrangements to Cuba from there.

Cuba has no problems with US citizens, and they're as welcome as citizens of any other country. The Cuban customs officials are very understanding of the situation US citizens find themselves in. They won't put a stamp in your passport.

We didn't try to bring bicycles with us. We rented them there. That meant we had old beater bikes, but they worked fine for us.

The Cuban people are friendly and outgoing and have no dislike of Americans. They don't especially like our government, which is understandable under the circumstances, but they do distinguish between the people and the government. If you don't speak Spanish, many Cubans speak excellent English, so don't worry -- that's not a problem.

The currency is in effect US dollars (probably Euros too, these days). A standard tourist scam is to offer to exchange your dollars for Cuban pesos at a really good rate. The problem is that nobody will take peso for anything. They're useless. Hold on to your dollars.

Cuba is absolutely beautiful and well worth the trip. If you're a journalist or some kind of artist, you can probably get permission for some sort of cultural exchange trip or something. The same is true if you're a doctor or med student -- Cuba is justly proud of its health-care system, and people come from all over the world to study tropical diseases there.

Or you could just take the risk, like I did. I've never had any problems because of it.

Has anyone toured in Cuba lately?
I know there is lots of information on the net but I am interested to know if anybody has been there in the past year or so.
I realize that the local situation re tourism and the dollar economy can change quickly.
Are casa particulares still operating freely? Any problems with transporting bicycles?
Any other tips about cycle touring in Cuba.?
Why would anyone want to line Castro's pockets?

Tim

Why would anyone want to line Castro's pockets?

OK, fair question, and I'll give you my answers.

First, you're not lining Castro's pockets, you're lining the pockets of the Cuban people, who can really use it.

Second, you probably have your own ideas about the embargo, and you're entitled to them, and I'm willing to listen, but I don't like it. It seems kind of ridiculous to cast tiny, impoverished Cuba in the role of godless Communist threat to the United States, when China, with a billion people and lots of nuclear weapons, most of which are aimed across the Formosa Strait at our allies in Taiwan, is our best friend right now. What's the difference? There's money to be made in China, that's the difference, and that trumps all. Hey, by the way, how many of us are riding bikes made in China? The embargo is an outdated policy catering to a small constituency that happens to be near and dear to our current adminstration. Let's not forget that the President's brother is the governor of Florida, home to I don't know how many Cubans who fled Cuba after the revolution. They all vote Republican.

Third, Cuba is beautiful. It's well worth a bike trip. So many Cubans get around by bike (or at least they did when I was there) that the country is better-suited to bike touring than anywhere else I've ever been. The people are hospitable and generous and just really nice (even to Americans!).

Skookum, If you want the real dope on biking in Cuba buy the book "The Handsomest Man In Cuba" by Lynette Chaing. She did a long solo bike tour of Cuba, the real Cuba, not the tourist Cuba. It's a great read, and will give you many insights on the country and the culture. Here is her website where you can order, or I think you can get it from Amazon.

Forget the political junk and have a great time!!

http://www.galfromdownunder.com/

Well stated Saintly Loser and I fully agree. It also burns me that Cuba is out of bounds yet we, Americans, can travel to almost any other destination. Liike you I have a much bigger problem w/ China than Cuba. W/out saying to much, I would probably lose my job if I traveled there but thinking of doing it anyway. Is it against the law? Yes. Will there be any victims? Only one-me. It would be my way of protesting a law that's BS. It's crazy that people can travel there if they have a good reason and are approved. It shouldn't be one way or another if it's the law.

Skookum, if you go, good onya and look forward to reading your posts.

"ignorance of the law doesn't mean you're innocent!". Obviously, but it doesn't make you a bad person, and she should sue those canucks if they actually misrepresented the facts. That is inexcuseable.

It certainly has nothing to do with lining the pockets of Fidel, remitences are legal, as far as I know(?). So they are getting the cash. I assume the reason is that one is not required to make life easy for a leader who thumbed his nose at the US, and invited nuclear missiles to a point a few miles offshore, and by all accounts, including his own, very nearly precipitated the end of the world and was willing to embrace it. I'm not taking sides in the argument, but the sides exist, and their positions are fairly logical. I mean they are getting a sweet deal in Cuba, compared to the several million dead and 20 years of being frozen out accorded to the Vietnamese. It's a gentle approach.

Cuba is a great place to go to because Americans can't get there. That isn't any insult to the best neighbours a guy could ever ask for, it's just a fact. The society is quaint and uncrowded due to that artificial break on their normal partern of development. Kinda like France.

we travelled to cuba via jamaica a couple of years ago. hardest trip to organize but so worth it. if you're of the mind to go, do it...at least before the u.s. opens it and you see marriots on the beach in havana :rolleyes:

a few lessons learned:

1. rent a bike while your there. it's only $1 or so, and you definitely get what you pay for! but i haven't smiled that hard since i was a kid.
2. on the other hand, don't rent snorkeling gear...as it's also cheap and you...get what you pay for.
3. if you fly through mo' bay, jamaica, steer clear of any restaurant serving fish stew...

It certainly has nothing to do with lining the pockets of Fidel, remitences are legal, as far as I know(?). So they are getting the cash. I assume the reason is that one is not required to make life easy for a leader who thumbed his nose at the US, and invited nuclear missiles to a point a few miles offshore, and by all accounts, including his own, very nearly precipitated the end of the world and was willing to embrace it. I'm not taking sides in the argument, but the sides exist, and their positions are fairly logical. I mean they are getting a sweet deal in Cuba, compared to the several million dead and 20 years of being frozen out accorded to the Vietnamese. It's a gentle approach.

Cuba is a great place to go to because Americans can't get there. That isn't any insult to the best neighbours a guy could ever ask for, it's just a fact. The society is quaint and uncrowded due to that artificial break on their normal partern of development. Kinda like France.

There's room for debate as to how voluntary Castro's actions were during the missile crisis. He was at that time utterly dependent on the Soviet Union for fuel, technology, financial aid and more. And it's also arguable that the regime would have toppled years ago but for the embargo, which lets Castro blame all the failures of Anyway. . .

Cuba is a great place to go. I'm not sure that it's because Americans can't get there, though. Europeans, Canadians and South Americans have been developing property there for years. The beach resort of Varadero is chock-full of huge glassy luxury hotels. The tourists arrive from the rest of the world by the planeload. Development is proceeding at a rapid pace.

A little history of the embargo - President Eisenhower began the economic embargo of Cuba in 1960, prior to the discovery of missiles in Cuba. President Kennedy further expanded the embargo in 1962 and 1963. The embargo was in response to the Cuban government seizing billions of dollars in U.S. assets. In plain language, the Cuban government seized businesses and homes owned by American individuals, companies and corporations. The purpose of the economic embargo is to deprive the Cuban government of U.S. dollars, thereby weakening it. With some specific exceptions, no U.S. citizen can spend money on travel to, from or within Cuba.

If you do decide to tour Cuba, make sure to leave your used tooth brush, toothpaste, deoderant, soap, shampoo and makeup behind in your Cuban hotel room. Even your used clothes, including undergarments can be left behind. Workers in the Cuban hospitality industry will be extremely happy to have your used toiletry items and clothes as they have virtually no other way to acquire them.

For information on the embargo, check here:

http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:bCQpFUA_-90J:www.treasury.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/sanctions/t11cuba.pdf+us+state+department+cuba&hl=en&gl=ca&ct=clnk&cd=5

we had stayed in one home where the husband was riding a cannondale touring bike left behind by an international bike touring outfit. he had said that all the bikes were left behind as a token, and then given away to the populace. that said, my bike would come home with me. sorry cuba.

There's a great book titled The Handsomest Man in Cuba: a bicycle escapade (http://www.galfromdownunder.com/cuba/) written by Lynette Chiang, who sometimes posts here but is not doubt too modest to mention the book herself. I read the book and thoroughly enjoyed it. The book details her experiences while biking in Cuba on her Bike Friday.

I came across an article about Ms. Chiang somewhere on the web. Fascinating person...she has ridden her Bike Friday just about everywhere on Earth that it is possible to ride a bike...and some places where it is NOT so possible.

The communist regime in Cuba heavily relies on tourist dollars from Canada, and the UK to stay in power. Castro has turned a beautiful nation into a police state...and tourist dollars pay the police payroll. It is a crime that Castro has enslaved the wonderful people of Cuba. And, it is a crime that some Americans and Canadians provide Castro the means to do so.

The nearby island of Puerto Rico has an ideal climate for bike riding. I enjoyed riding beach cruisers along the beaches of northern Puerto Rico a few years ago. I'd be too chicken to ride a bike on the major roads though...very narrow, with drivers who are even faster and more agressive than the manic drivers here in Houston.

Another good book on Cuba is "Mi Moto Fidel" about a guy who motorcycled through Cuba in the 90's.

It has an interesting view on the political situation which I won't try and explain. Read the book.

http://www.travelsite.com/carole/review/mi-moto-fidel.htm

One very good reason for visiting Cuba is how much it will annoy people like alanbikehouston.

I came across an article about Ms. Chiang somewhere on the web. Fascinating person...she has ridden her Bike Friday just about everywhere on Earth that it is possible to ride a bike...and some places where it is NOT so possible.

The communist regime in Cuba heavily relies on tourist dollars from Canada, and the UK to stay in power. Castro has turned a beautiful nation into a police state...and tourist dollars pay the police payroll. It is a crime that Castro has enslaved the wonderful people of Cuba. And, it is a crime that some Americans and Canadians provide Castro the means to do so.

The nearby island of Puerto Rico has an ideal climate for bike riding. I enjoyed riding beach cruisers along the beaches of northern Puerto Rico a few years ago. I'd be too chicken to ride a bike on the major roads though...very narrow, with drivers who are even faster and more agressive than the manic drivers here in Houston.

Actually, if you read Lynette Chiang's book you'll see how people live there, and that it is FAR from the police state image you and conservatives try to paint. The poverty that the country lives in is the direct result of the US imposing (or trying to) "freedom" on a sovereign state, shouldn't they be FREE to chose their own system????. Chaing does not make a political statement, but was interested in the land and how people live there.

Has anyone toured in Cuba lately?
I know there is lots of information on the net but I am interested to know if anybody has been there in the past year or so.
I realize that the local situation re tourism and the dollar economy can change quickly.
Are casa particulares still operating freely? Any problems with transporting bicycles?
Any other tips about cycle touring in Cuba.?

Hey skookum - I notice that this forum has been swamped with discussion re the politics of the Cuban situation, when all you really seemed to want to know, was whether anyone had been there lately.

This may be too late - you may have been to Cuba and come back - or maybe you decided not to go - but for what it's worth..............

My husband and I spent July and August 2005 touring the island on bicycles and would recommend it as one of the most interesting places that you could go.
As Australians, we had no restrictions on our travelling there, except of course that we had to go on a fairly lengthy flight from Oz to the US to Canada to Havana, as flights from the US are not an option (we could have opted for a more expensive route via Mexico)

Cuba is a fascinating place - it operates like no other country in the world. We've travelled fairly widely in Asia, India and Europe, also in the Soviet Union in its old days - but Cuba was an experience on its own.

We had absolutely no trouble with accomodation - Casa Particulars seem to be operating more freely than ever and we were never in a town for more than a few minutes before we were offered a room. Apart from the bigger tourist cities (Havana, Santiago de Cuba etc), the people touting for our custom were almost invariably polite and friendly. In the smaller towns, as soon as we were within a sight of the town square, a bike would be along side us offering a room. In 8 weeks of travel - we did not strike a single casa that was not pleasant, clean, comfortable and run by delightful people. We generally paid between US$15 and $25 a night, mostly with air-con.
We stayed in state run hotels about 4 times - these varied but were never all that expensive - $20 to $28 for a double room...the food in the hotels ranged from quite nice to pretty awful - but as you know, when you're cycling you think anything's ok.

In the bigger cities, the constant hassles for money can get you down - but when you see how the Cubans live, and what little they have in the way of the "stuff" which we have in obscene abundance, it's easy to understand why so many choose to ditch their jobs and try to get their share of the tourist dollar.
If you don't have access to dollars in Cuba, either from family overseas, or from a finger in the pie of the tourist trade, then life is very sparse indeed.

Food in the casas was always wonderful - not varied, (chicken, beans, rice, avocado) - but always great and plentiful.

The food situation seemed to be much better than we had read about - especially seems to have improved a lot since Lynette Chiang's "Handsomest Man in Cuba" tour. Riding through the small towns and villages, we would notice that the bread shops always had racks of bread, even late in the day, and roadside stalls selling produce were commonplace. Any town large enough to have a few shops would have a street side pizza seller. Well...........a slab of dough with some red stuff and some yellow stuff (both of unknown origin). Hey ......we were cycling - they were great.



It probably took us a a couple of weeks to get the hang of how the place works - to work out where we could spend Cuban pesos - to recognise a shop amongst the decaying ruins of Havana's buildings - to learn how to find the privately owned restaurants that might just be a dining room at the back or on the rooftop of somebody's house.

We travelled with bank Visa Debit cards from 3 different Australian banks (just in case) and were able to get money with all of them. In even the smallish towns there is always a Cadeca (money changing bureau) and in nearly all of these it is possible to do a Visa cash advance over the counter.
I believe this will NOT work if the card has been issued by an American bank.
We travelled with some cash in US$ and some British Pounds. We were able to change both of these easily. It seems Euros are widely used as well. However there was really no need to travel with cash, other than an emergency stash.

We lived well on a budget of about US$60 a day for the 2 of us - and that included a lot of beer money and a couple of expensive bus tickets. I imagine we could have done it on half that if we'd had too.
Some days we were well under budget, so we drank the gap.

We had no trouble flying our bikes in - though Air Canada managed to throw them around a bit - some minor but fixable damage.
On Viazul buses - the expensive air-con variety - bikes fit upright in the bins. Cost depends on the whim of the baggage handler or driver.

The roads are mostly good - nearly all are paved, and traffic outside the bigger cities is either non-existent, or consists of bikes, horses, horse drawn carts, bullocks or people walking.
Car drivers expect to see all manner of vehicles travelling on the road, or just plain stopped in the middle of the road, and they drive accordingly.

Best part of the trip was down the east end of the island along the south coast road - from Holguin, Bayamo, Pilon and along the coast to Santiago.

Also, as one of the other posters has mentioned - the really beautiful and truly laid back fishing town of Gibara on the north coast at the eastern end. We went there for a day and stayed 4. This was the only town where we never saw anyone lock their bikes.

Everywhere else we were constantly told by passers-by to hold on to our belongings and never leave our bikes unlocked.

Crime in the cities is becoming an issue - we were constantly warned in Havana to be wary and never take valuables on the street with us. A girl staying in our casa was robbed on the street - had her purse snatched out of her hand - despite the strap wrapped tightly around her wrist.
And in our 2nd last night in the country, we were robbed while walking down a fairly busy Havana street - had my bag torn violently off me - lost our camera with memory card with 4 weeks of photos - Yes, I know! Stupid - but I guess we got careless on our last day - having made it through 8 weeks unscathed.
Moral - never travel without something portable to download your photos to.
There is a shop in Havana that we were going to the following morning, to have them burnt to CD.
We still haven't quite recovered from the devestation of losing half the photos
Doubly stupid - I had especially bought a small camera so I could carry it in my pocket. But was it safely in my pocket????? Eejit!

I am in the middle of writing up our journal on the crazyguyonabike site, but it may be sometime before I get to the point of publishing it there.
Hope some of this helps.

I have been to Cuba about 8 times, am a canadian living in Toronto, every time am there I talk to people who are going around the country on a bike, now I want to do it, thats way I joint today,I totaly agree with heather b on every thing she said. I have to say to leave the politics to the politicians, and enjoy Cuba if you can.

Planing my trip for next winter 4-6 weeks, am not heavy in to cycling but I do alot of running, I think will start by buying the books

so what's the best way to get there for an american living in chicago, in terms of saving money (assuming it's done legally, of course)? drive or fly to toronto, and fly to havana from there? fly to mexico, and fly to havana from there? what's the best way for an american to book a flight from toronto or a mexican city to havana? thanks!

wow, just checked out flights from toronto to havana around december. $800 canadian (about $700 u.s.).

If you are going in December you might want to look into flying via Mexico or Jamaica rather than via Canada. I suspect someone returning from a trip to Toronto with a deep suntan might raise U.S. suspicions in a way that would not be the case if you came in on a flight from Montego Bay. I visited Cuba a while back when I was living in Washington. It was all quite legal -- I'm not an American, so there's nothing that Uncle Sam could do -- but I didn't particularly want to publicize the fact that I had been there either. I flew in on Air Jamaica, changed planes there and bought the onward ticket (for U.S. dollar cash) at the Montego Bay airport. I even bought Jamaican rum at the airport on the way back rather than Cuban, although nobody looked and nobody cared. PM me if you want more details.

My personal rant about US relations with CUBA

Without the personal vendettas maintained by 3-4 CUBAN AMERICAN politicos from Miami Fl there would not be an embargo, and these few are always CUBAN AMERICAN never AMERICAN

When and if the current government departs, these same politicians and their close friends will be on the first planes to Havana to get in on the grown floor of the US aid money express

Having got rid of that rant..........a friend spent 2 weeks recently in CUBA, an American, went with a Spanish friend. detailed both the positive and negatives about the visit. It was far more expensive than he had planned, but had a fine visit, met and saw lots of other visitors mostly from Canada and Europe

Ate well, travel a bit primitive old clunker bikes and cabs but EVERYONE they met were friendly and granted the US dollars are very appreciated, its the national currency of choice,mostly they ate at private homes which are allowed by law and very modest costs

If one can separate the politcal atmosphere from their vacation aspect you will do fine, yeh its illegal, but since we are living in a society which borders on a police state our selves, another rant, but no more illegal than is stealth camping, or passing thru a red lite ,IMO

You can travel there with US church and educational groups, LEGALLY, if the group will accept you,AND YOUR CASH. Or you can travel thru the Bahamas, Mexico and Canada, and the border crossing agents are well aware NOT to stamp passports, friend told me a 10$ or 20$ bill in hand or in passport always helps.

Oh, I know you aren't advocating breaking the law. I'm just saying I got no love for grandma there. :)

How do you feel about Rosa Parks?

Why would anyone want to line Castro's pockets? Tim

You don't have to go, but perhaps those Americans who do believe they don't have to let their own government dictate where they can go in the world.

If you are going in December you might want to look into flying via Mexico or Jamaica rather than via Canada. I suspect someone returning from a trip to Toronto with a deep suntan might raise U.S. suspicions in a way that would not be the case if you came in on a flight from Montego Bay. I visited Cuba a while back when I was living in Washington. It was all quite legal -- I'm not an American, so there's nothing that Uncle Sam could do -- but I didn't particularly want to publicize the fact that I had been there either. I flew in on Air Jamaica, changed planes there and bought the onward ticket (for U.S. dollar cash) at the Montego Bay airport. I even bought Jamaican rum at the airport on the way back rather than Cuban, although nobody looked and nobody cared. PM me if you want more details.

thanks for the suggestions. i just saw that december flights to mexico city (mexicana air) or montego bay (jamaican air) are each around $450 from chicago, which is a more reasonable. is the ticket from montego bay to havana relatively cheap? buying in advance doesn't save much money? thanks.

Bush and his American goverment, are a bunch of two faced c*&%$S the wage a completely illegal war in Iraq but it's illagal for Americans to go to Cuba, what a joke lol, but it's legal for you to go to Russia go figure?? your goverment is so screwed up it makes me laugh.

thanks for the suggestions. i just saw that december flights to mexico city (mexicana air) or montego bay (jamaican air) are each around $450 from chicago, which is a more reasonable. is the ticket from montego bay to havana relatively cheap? buying in advance doesn't save much money? thanks.

You cannot buy the ticket in advance (embargo stuff), but Air Jamaica can give you the price over the phone. I remember it as $100 or so round trip, but it was 6-7 years ago, so the price has presumably gone up a lot.

Have fun.

thanks for all the input.

My inlaws did the educational trip to Cuba. They basically said that the primary industry is tourism from Europe and that the primary currency was dollars. They did have a few hiccups with the govt...

Their plane was denied take-off for a few hours, and the bus they were on was delayed a few hours for some reason or another. Also, if you go to see the statue of Che you cannot get too close or the guards get agitated. Otherwise they thought it was a nice trip.

Since they went, they were informed that the educational exemption had been eliminated. I'm not sure if that's for the particular program they used or for any US travel.