Cuba Travel Guide: everything you need to know

Cuba Travel guide: The destination

There are 2 key parts to Cuba for tourism Havana or Varadero. Havana is the hot bustling capital city of Cuba that you see in the movies, with the 50s cars and the flamenco dancers. Whereas, Varadero is the resort side of Cuba filled with private beaches and relatively cheap 5 star resorts. So depending on the style of holiday you’re after Cuba can accommodate for you.

Castro’s Island

Next up in our Cuba Travel Guide is Castro. Castro had his own private island which is now available for tourists to visit. Just a catamaran trip away from Varadero with rum, rum and oh yes more rum is a paradise island just waiting to be explored. These trips can often include free alcoholic drinks and food with the opportunity to gain a few free bottled of Havana club. This hidden gem island is the definition of paradise.

The private beach for just your boat trip with the chance to go scuba diving and it is also the perfect opportunity to make all of your friends and family jealous via Instagram worthy pictures. The key trick to gain extra bottles of Havana club is to be very chatty with your tour guides, they usually carry extra bottles of Havana club on board that they are supposed to sell on the trip, but if they like you at the end of the trip they will give them away when you get back on land.

Cigars

What Cuba Travle Guide would this be without at least mentioning cigars. Everyone wants to get their hands on the infamous Cuban Cigars. They make for great souvenirs to give to family and friends to boast about your trip but be wary as many Cubans will sell knock offs on the street. There are plenty of trips available at a very cheap rate to the cigar factories. However, these aren’t far from the hotels and they have gift shops so you don’t even need to pay to get in you can just buy some certified Cuban cigars at a discounted rate. It’s very much like going to Costco but just for cigars.

Cars

Everyone wants a trip in one of the 50s cars that are not as frequent as you would expect in Cuba. I expected everyone to be driving round in these old school cars that are so vibrant and picturesque, however, this is a lot more common in Havana these are few and far between in Varadero. So, if you’re opting for the resort holiday it would be worth arranging this with your tour operator in order to avoid disappointment.

Dolphins

If you’ve never swam with dolphins then Cuba is your perfect option. They can do so many magical tricks holding you in the air at an extremely cheap rate. Also a lot of the trips for swimming with dolphins also a lot of the trips include all of the professional pictures for free too, so an added bonus that you get to plaster fully pro pictures all over your social media too!

Cuba Travel Guide: Beaches

The beaches, oh my, just like the rest of the Caribbean they are like nothing else. They are breath taking. Golden sand with the bluest of blue sea. There is no litter whatsoever and scuba diving is on a different level here. The sea is so clear with so many colourful different fish.

The locals

Near enough everyone in Cuba is so friendly and helpful, however, some only know Spanish so the conversation can be limited. Due to the previous communist state in Cuba a lot of the locals are extremely poor so they extremely appreciate simple things like tennis balls and playing cards.

We took a few cheap packs from poundland and threw them from the buses to kids as we were travelling through small towns and also used them to tip any nice waiting staff that we had as well to keep their children occupied as they don’t have the disposable income for games and they were extremely grateful. This can work as a cheaper alternative to tipping and doesn’t take up much of your baggage room and leaves enough room for you to take any additional bottles of free Havana club back in your case.

Shisha

Everyone loved the shishas in concert square, but you can even snag your own in Cuba for an absolute bargain if you have the space in your case. They have a range of flavours that all taste heavenly but they also have the pipes in so many different designs and sizes, including mini personal ones that would even fit in your hand luggage. So if you’re a smoker or just love a shisha then this is a perfect alternative and an absolute steal.

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