Cuba

Electric

Hey,

My boyfriend and I are going to Cuba for two weeks in September. We're going to be staying in Cayo Coco. So any recommendations for things to do or see would be great!

Cheers!

JasperMcEwan

My first bit of advice would be to stay away from the resorts. Unfortunately you're probably already booked into one. If not travel around, stay with locals who rent out a room. the resorts give a false impression of Cuba and are boring. Was in Cuba for five weeks some years ago. Went to resort at Varadero. Had to leave after 3 days. It was awful. Learn some spanish before you go. The people are highly educated and will love to talk to you. Havana is not to be missed. Find O'Reilly Street and read the plaque. Enjoy the music. Travel in a camel bus. They are soon to be phased out. Visit the sites to do with the revolution.

Visit Pinar Del Rio. Stay a few days. The scenery is fantastic. Go to Santa Clara. Visit the monument to Che Guevara and his grave.

Go to Trinidad. Take the trip to the ravine and waterafall. It's beautiful.

When you're there drink real cuban rum - Havana Club. Never drink Bacardi again.

Read up on the history of Cuba and the revolution before you go.

The biography of Che Guevara by Jon Lee Anderson is worth reading. If I think of anything else I'll let you know. It's a fantastic country with fantastic people. Enjoy!

Electric

Thanks Jasper!

I'm not sure if 2 weeks will be long enough to do everything that we wanna do!

Definitely going to Havana, you can't go to Cuba and not go there!

Think we are going to go visit Moron and see how they make the cigars and definitely going diving!

Trinidad sounds like it's not to be missed too.

Cheers for the info

Deirdre

NanoNano

Hi,

If you love to dance salsa, go to the casa de la musica. They have live artists twice a day. The afternoon show is cheaper and just as good. I think they have 2 in Havana, that's where we went. But apparently they are in every town.

Also as the people are really poor, it might be an idea to bring extra stuff to give away. We came home with empty suitcases. Bring all your old clothes, household stuff, pens, etc. and some plastic bags and give them to the families you will meet. They will be delighted.

billy the squid

I am just curious about this,

would haveing a cuban stamp on your passport have a detrimental effect on your chances of getting into the US later in life?

niavie

i just got back from cuba...was an amzing trip!! they dont stamp your passport...instead they stamp your boarding ticket...

i went to trinidad, cienfuegos, santa clara, havana, did the works!! went sky diving, swam with dolphins, did the waterfall in trinidad walk, saw the cigars being made, did a jeep safari, went snorkelling, drank mohjitos, saw che's memorial and burial place...

AMAZING EXPERIENCE!!!

id highly recomend it to anybody!! my advice is though to leave varadero and get talking to the locals to see the real cuba...

Electric

Like niavie said they don't stamp your passport. Instead they stamp your visa which is just inserted into your passport and can be removed after. The visa costs about €22.

If they did stamp your passport and you wanted to go to the US then you could always wait until your passport had expired and get a new one. Or "lose" you current passport and get a new one.

JasperMcEwan

They did stamp my passport. However the stamp was sort of nondescript and had no mention of cuba on it. I was in the US a few years later using that passport. The cubans understand the situation and if you ask them not to stamp the passport they will just stamp the visa. They are much nicer and more accomodating than U.S. or Canadian authorities. So much for "democracy"! But if worried as already mentioned, "lose" your passport and get a new one issued.