Most people come to Cuba by air. There are direct, regular flights to and from around 40 cities in other countries. Cuba has eleven international airports, which handle flights of more than 50 airlines from 28 countries.
If you come by sea, on your own boat, head for the Hemingway Marina (in Havana); Dársena, Chapelín or Gaviota Varadero Marinas (in Varadero); Cayo Coco-Cayo Guillermo (in the Jardines del Rey Archipelago) or Gaviota Puerto de Vita Marina (in Holguín) Marinas, all on the northern coast, or, on the southern coast, the María La Gorda International Scuba-Diving Center (in Pinar del Río Province) or Cayo Largo, Cienfuegos or Punta Gorda Marinas—this last is in Santiago de Cuba.
Every visitor should have a valid passport issued in his name and a visa or tourist card, except those who come from countries with which Cuba has visa-exemption agreements. Tourist cards—both individual and group—can be requested from Cuba’s consular representatives, travel agencies and airline offices.
If you come by sea, the crew must contact Cuba’s port authorities before entering Cuban jurisdictional waters (12 nautical miles from the insular shelf). Use channel HF (SSB) 2760 (National Coastal Network) or 2790 (Tourist Network) or VHF channel 68 (National Coastal Network) or 16 (Tourist Network).
Personal effects, jewelry, still or video cameras, laptops, fishing and other sports equipment, two bottles of alcoholic beverages, a carton of cigarettes and up to 22 pounds (10 kilograms) of medicines may be brought into Cuba duty-free.
In addition, you may bring in other articles up to a value of 1000 convertible Cuban pesos (CUCs); 250 CUCs’ worth of them will be duty-free, and 100-percent duty will be levied on the remaining 950 CUCs’ worth.
You may not traffic in, consume and/or sell narcotics.
Nor may you bring in pornography; blood derivatives; cordless microphones and telephones; household appliances; and/or firearms, except for those duly authorized for hunting. You may bring as much cash as you wish. However, we recommend that you declare amounts above US $5000 when you enter Cuba, because, on departure, you must show your Customs declaration to this effect if you want to take up to the same amount with you.
On leaving Cuba, you may take up to 50 Habano cigars, either loose or packaged, without having to present any documents. If you want to take more than 50 cigars with you, ask for the original and a copy of the bill of sale from the store where you purchased them (which should be one of those which Habanos, S.A., has authorized to sell cigars for export) and give the copy to Customs when you leave the country. The cigars should be in their original packages that bear the official authorization, including the holographic seal. If this prerequisite attesting to legal purchase is not met, the product will be seized by Customs.
If you want to take works of art or antiques with you, you must obtain permission to do so from the National Registry of Cultural Assets; in the case of a great quantity of gold and/or silver, you must obtain authorization from the National Bank of Cuba to take it out of the country. Payment of overweight to the airline at your point of origin does not exempt you from paying the corresponding duty on articles, based on their value, when you arrive in Cuba.
All Cuban airports charge an exit fee of 25 convertible Cuban pesos.
Health restrictions are applicable only to visitors coming from countries where there is endemic cholera and/or yellow fever or which contain areas that the World Health Organization has declared to be zones of infection. In those cases, visitors must present International Vaccination Certificates. The entry of products of animal and/or plant origins is restricted.
The official currency is the Cuban peso, which may not be brought into or taken out of the country. Cuban pesos come in denominations of 1, 3, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 pesos, and there are also 1- and 3-peso coins, as well as 1-, 5- and 20-centavo coins.
In Cuba, all payments for tourist goods and services are made in convertible Cuban pesos. You can change euros, Canadian dollars, British pounds sterling and Swiss francs into convertible Cuban pesos in hotels, airports, banks and CADECA money-exchange offices. If you change US dollars into convertible Cuban pesos, a 10-percent fee will be charged in addition to the 8-% fee that is charged on all money exchanges.
Prices in tourist installations are listed in convertible Cuban pesos (CUCs). Cabal, Transcard, Visa, MasterCard and Amigo Travel credit cards are accepted if they were not issued by a US bank or one of its subsidiaries. In addition, while in Cuba, you can use Cuban credit cards—issued by the Banco Financiero Internacional (International Finance Bank, which issues BFI cards) and the Banco de Crédito y Comercio (Credit and Trade Bank), Banco Metropolitano (Metropolitan Bank), Banco Popular de Ahorro (People’s Savings Bank) and BICSA Bank (all of which issue Red Cards).
Internet is used extensively by the companies in the Cuban tourist sector and by other institutions and the mass media. Some companies offer on-line reservation services.
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