Cuba 🇨🇺

Almost all tourists need the e-visa, applied for online at evisacuba.cu: single entry and a stay of up to 90 days. You get a code by email and the visa is linked to your passport. Apply with time to spare: the price and payment method depend on the consulate of the country you apply from, and some only take cash in person, so you may have to visit the Cuban consulate before flying.

The e-visa can be extended once inside Cuba for another 90 days, up to 180 in total. Note that the tourist SIM doesn’t go beyond 90 days either.

Cuba has no digital nomad visa. Beyond 180 days you need residency categories that aren’t designed for remote workers.

• Passport valid for at least 6 months from arrival.
• The D’Viajeros form (health, customs and immigration in one) within 72 hours before arrival: it emails you a QR code; save it as a PDF.
• A return or onward ticket.
• Medical insurance that covers Cuba: it’s mandatory and may be checked at the border.
• If you carry more than 5,000 USD in cash, you must declare it.
• They don’t stamp your passport: entry is recorded against the e-visa and the QR.

Cuba is on the US State Sponsors of Terrorism list, and any visit since January 12, 2021 makes you ineligible for ESTA: to go to the US you’ll need a B visa. The missing stamp changes nothing, because the ESTA form asks whether you’ve been to Cuba. And if you’re a US citizen or resident, US law bans tourism to Cuba: you can only travel under the categories authorized by OFAC.

The currency is the Cuban peso (CUP). Since June 6, 2026 international Visa and Mastercard cards don’t work in Cuba, and US cards never did: no ATMs, no card terminals. Bring your full budget in euros or dollars, in small bills in good condition, split across several places. Notes in circulation are 1, 3, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1,000 CUP, and 2,000 and 5,000 CUP notes were announced in March 2026: expect thick wads.

The daily street reference is El Toque. The official rate at banks and CADECAs (the state exchange offices) is the Central Bank’s floating one: on September 14, 2026 it stood at 655 CUP per dollar and 760 CUP per euro. The informal rate usually sits a bit higher. In practice almost everyone changes money with their host at the El Toque rate, although legally you may only exchange at banks and CADECAs: do it only with people you trust. At the airport, change just enough for the first day.

Two different things get mixed up here. State hotels and restaurants that trade in hard currency charge only in dollars, in cash or by international card, and refuse pesos in any form (reports from 2025). Private businesses do take pesos, but many turn down cash and ask for "transferencia": that is Transfermóvil, the Cuban banking app, which requires a Cuban account and phone line, so the usual move is asking a Cuban to pay from their phone and handing them the cash with a small tip. Since December 2025 private businesses may also take dollars and euros in cash (the rule).

• Tricycle from Vedado to Old Havana: 2,000–2,500 CUP.
• Simple meal at a cafeteria or paladar: ~2,400 CUP.
• Mid-range dinner for two at a paladar: ~25–30 USD.
• Local beer: ~1,000 CUP.
• Coffee with milk: ~700 CUP.
• Liter of cooking oil in a shop: ~3,600 CUP.
• 30-day tourist SIM: 34.99 USD.
• Taxi from the airport to Vedado: 30–50 USD.
• One-bedroom casa negotiated by the month: 250–600 USD.

Food and drink from Numbeo (August 2026), at about 650 CUP per dollar; peso prices rise almost every month.

• Street money changers: fake notes, short-changing, and it’s illegal too.
• Getting into a taxi or tricycle without agreeing the price.
• Hustlers (jineteros) who steer you to a paladar or casa for a commission.
• At paladares tips run around 10%; small tips in CUP or USD are much appreciated.

No eSIM will save you in Cuba: ETECSA has almost no roaming deals with foreign carriers, so Holafly and Airalo don’t list Cuba among their destinations. What works is the Cubacel Tur, paid by card on SuenaCuba, an authorized international seller (the payment happens outside Cuba, so it goes through):

• Tur Plus: 34.99 USD, 10 GB, 100 minutes, 100 SMS and unlimited WhatsApp for the 30 days it stays valid. WhatsApp keeps working even after the gigabytes run out, so you still have messaging while you decide whether to top up.
• Tur Básico: 13.99 USD, 4 GB for 7 days: with work, those 4 GB go in no time.

For anything longer than a week the Tur Plus works out better: another Básico costs another 13.99 USD for just 7 more days, and top-ups add data but don’t extend the plan’s validity (terms).

You collect it with your passport on arrival: in Havana, at the ETECSA counter in Terminal 3 after immigration (24 hours), where staff help you get it working. If you didn’t buy it ahead, the airport wifi lets you buy it on the spot. Your phone must be unlocked and support 4G on band 3 (1800 MHz).

Top-ups go through the same site, with bigger data packs (mine was 10 GB), and each top-up extends validity up to a maximum of 90 days. One tip I only learned when a top-up SMS mentioned it: inserting a new SIM resets the phone’s own data counter, so to see how much you really have left, dial *222*887# (it seems to work only on the Cubacel Tur).

Some roaming eSIMs list Cuba, but with little data and high prices (about 37 USD for 5 GB). Your home carrier’s roaming can cost up to 2 EUR a minute and 8 EUR a megabyte. At most, they’re good for having WhatsApp when you land.

Many US services block Cuban IPs, and VPNs headquartered in the US often fail here: I learned this the hard way with one that worked fine abroad and failed on arrival. Proton VPN (Swiss) works well from the island. Install and test two before flying: setting them up from inside may not work.

Mobile data is enough for voice and messaging, but video calls are a stretch. At home, look for Nauta Hogar (ETECSA’s ADSL); parks and hotels have WIFI_ETECSA hotspots that work with Nauta cards, handy for syncing. When the power goes, the modem dies and nearby towers often follow. And internet has been cut during protests, as in July 2021 and October 2024.

The Tur line doesn’t go past 90 days: SuenaCuba also sells a permanent Cubacel line. For home internet, if the host already has Nauta Hogar, the unlimited Nauta Hogar Plus plan costs 22.99–52.99 USD every 30 days depending on speed (2 to 10 Mbps).

With the 2026 jet fuel shortage, several airlines have suspended routes and some flights refuel in a third country, making the journey longer. Confirm with your airline that the flight is still on a few days before, and have a plan B for leaving. Havana (José Martí airport) is the normal entry point for anyone coming to work.

Viazul is the state long-distance bus network. It is mostly foreigners who ride it, because it only takes international cards and that rules out almost any Cuban; fares and timetables are on its website and it’s worth booking days ahead. With the fuel crisis there are fewer departures, so confirm the day before. The usual alternative is private colectivos: shared cars between cities that your host arranges, often faster. Agree price and currency first.

Havana has La Nave (iOS, Android), an Uber-style app paid in cash to the driver that shows the fare before you book; registration works with European numbers, not US ones. What people use most on the street are electric tricycles and almendrones (shared classic cars on fixed routes): details in the Havana guide. Guaguas (city buses) are packed and running reduced schedules.

• Official yellow taxis or the one your host calls.
• Always ask the price before getting in: in practice there are no meters.
• Coco-taxis (the yellow three-wheeler with a coconut-shaped fibreglass shell, not the same thing as the electric tricycles people use every day): the UK considers them unsafe.
• "Drivers" who approach you inside the airport or in Old Havana.

Not worth it: rentals are state-run, expensive and scarce, fuel is rationed, and an accident with injuries is a criminal matter in which the driver can be detained. Rental scooters are targeted by thieves.

There are no traffic jams: the problem is finding transport. Expect waits, few options at night and unlit roads: avoid road travel after dark.

For working, Havana is the realistic base: outside the capital blackouts last longer and, according to Spain’s foreign ministry in March 2026, most hotels outside Havana had temporarily closed. A month for one person in Havana comes to about 900–1,600 USD, with rent as the big item: 250–600 USD for a one-bedroom casa negotiated by the month, and from about 1,000 USD for modern places or ones with serious backup power. Those are figures you get by negotiating month by month and they move, so check them against monthly stays in Havana before you settle on a budget. Viñales, Trinidad or the beach work for short breaks, not for a month of work. The breakdown by neighborhood is in the Havana guide.

The casa particular is the normal way to stay, and hosts usually handle laundry, meals for an agreed price and changing money. The usual pattern: book the first week, two or the whole month on Airbnb, which operates in Cuba with licensed casas and is paid from abroad, and, if the house works, negotiate the following months directly with the host in cash. There are no standard contracts or deposits: you pay upfront, month by month.

• Backup power: a generator, solar panels or a battery station, which people there call an "ecoflow" after the best-selling brand. They run lights, fans, the router and a laptop for hours, but not air conditioning unless it is one of the big units.
• A water tank or cistern: without power the pumps don’t work.
• Working Nauta Hogar or good 4G coverage in the house: it changes a lot from one street to the next, so ask about that specific house, not about the neighborhood.
• How many hours of outages the house has been getting lately.
• What the price includes: internet, breakfast, laundry.
• High floors without backup: the elevator and pumps stop in every blackout.

• Congrí or moros y cristianos: rice cooked with black beans, the base of almost everything.
• Roast pork or lechón: the most common meat.
• Ropa vieja: shredded beef with tomato and pepper.
• Picadillo: stewed minced meat, often with rice and an egg.
• Tostones: fried and flattened green plantain.
• Yuca con mojo: boiled cassava with garlic, sour orange and oil.
• Arroz con pollo: rice with chicken, the Sunday dish.
• Bocadito of ham and cheese or pan con lechón: the street sandwich.
• Fruit batidos (shakes) and guarapo (freshly pressed sugarcane juice).
• Cuban coffee: very sweet espresso in tiny cups.

These are private restaurants, almost always family-run, and the best option for eating out. They charge in pesos or dollars, many show the menu through a QR code, and quality varies more than price: ask your host where they eat. Tips run around 10%.

Stalls and house windows selling pizza, sandwiches, croquetas, juices and coffee in pesos. It’s the cheapest option and what people eat at midday.

For a long stay, having your host cook breakfast and dinner for an agreed price is the most reliable plan, especially on blackout days.

Agromercados (fruit and vegetable markets) sell whatever is in season; mipymes (small private businesses) sell imported goods in pesos; and state dollar stores carry what the others lack. There are no malls or food courts like in other countries.

• Tap water: drink only bottled or filtered, and keep a stock because it sometimes runs short.
• Seafood, mayonnaise dishes or fish after a long blackout: the cold chain breaks.
• Food isn’t spicy. Being vegetarian is possible, but menus are meat-heavy and shortages shrink them to whatever is available that day.

You won’t get in without insurance that covers Cuba, and they may ask for the certificate at the border. Policies from US insurers are generally not accepted; a European one such as Intermundial, Heymondo or IATI is the usual choice, but check first that the policy includes Cuba and bring the certificate printed. If you arrive without one, Asistur policies are sold at the airport. In Cuba you pay upfront in hard currency and claim afterwards.

Foreigners are treated at international clinics. In Havana the reference is the Clínica Central Cira García in Miramar. Outside the capital care is worse, and with the blackouts some hospitals run reduced services.

They’re almost empty. Bring all the medication for your stay with a doctor’s letter, a first aid kit with the basics and rehydration salts.

In 2025 Cuba declared an arbovirus epidemic: dengue, chikungunya, Oropouche and Zika at the same time. Bring repellent from home, and plenty of it: it is scarce there, to the point that the state started making natural repellents to fill the gap, and what turns up through informal channels is not always trustworthy. Use it daily, especially at dawn and dusk. See a travel clinic weeks ahead: hepatitis A and typhoid are the usual vaccines, and Spain’s foreign ministry also mentions the chikungunya vaccine.

Tap water isn’t safe to drink. The sun is strong all year: cap, sunscreen (bring it from home) and water with you.

Violent crime is less common than elsewhere in the region, but opportunistic theft has grown with the crisis.

• Pickpockets and bag-snatching in Old Havana, on transport and in crowded places.
• Theft from checked luggage: nothing valuable in your suitcase.
• Fake guides, cigars "at factory price" and hustlers who steer you to places for a commission.
• Dark streets during blackouts: carry a torch and watch for potholes and open drains.
• Avoid gatherings and protests, and carry a photocopy of your passport.

• Drugs: sentences of up to 30 years.
• Photographing military or police areas can lead to arrest.
• Changing money outside banks and CADECAs is illegal.
• Taking artwork out of the country requires a Ministry of Culture permit.

Police 106, ambulance 104, fire 105.

The best window. In Havana highs run 27–30 °C and lows 19–22 °C, with 5–7 rainy days a month. December to April are the most comfortable months; March and April are sunnier and a bit less humid. In January and February cold fronts can bring cool nights: pack a light layer.

Highs of 31–32 °C, humidity around 80% and 11–14 rainy days a month, as short, heavy afternoon downpours. June and September are the wettest months. It’s the worst combination for working: heat with no fan or air conditioning when the power goes, and it goes more often because demand rises.

The season runs June 1 to November 30, peaking August to October. A hurricane can leave you days without power, water or flights: Melissa, in October 2025, left the east of the island badly damaged. If you go in those months, follow the National Hurricane Center.

The pattern is the same across the island. The east (Santiago de Cuba) is a little hotter, and the west (Viñales, Pinar del Río) a little cooler in winter.

• A compact umbrella or rain shell from May to October.
• Repellent all year.
• A light layer: for cool winter nights, and because long-distance buses run the air conditioning hard.

In practice, only Havana, and within it Vedado: that’s where you’ll find the most houses with backup power, reasonable coverage, paladares and hotels nearby. Nuevo Vedado, just south of it, is more residential and quieter and works too, though you depend more on transport. Don’t assume a central neighborhood has better electricity: outages follow the power circuit, and Vedado itself has gone more than 24 hours without power, so what matters is the specific house. Viñales or Trinidad are fine for switching off for a few days, not for working a month.

There is no nomad scene. The only known coworking is Amarillo Coworking in Vedado, and the big hotels act as a backup office. There are no active nomad groups or events: your network is your host and the contacts they pass on. There are no nomad programs or visas either. What you do see is people with a laptop in ice cream parlours and cafeterías that have wifi: it isn’t the norm, but nobody stops you, and with a fan and a connection you can sit there a while over something to drink. Where that actually works is in the Havana guide.

Because of US sanctions, many US companies block Cuban IPs (the companies block, not Cuba), and the list changes: the community tracks it in cuban-restricted.

• Claude and ChatGPT: Anthropic and OpenAI don’t serve Cuba. They only work through a VPN, which breaks their terms and can cost you the account.
• Google Cloud, AWS, Docker Hub, GitLab, Zoom, PayPal and Stripe, among others.
• Google Play half works: free apps usually download, but paid apps and in-app purchases are blocked by the embargo (how people live with it), and some days it simply fails. That is why people there use Apklis, the Cuban APK store, and the weekly offline package. Install everything you will need before you fly.
• GitHub generally works, under its trade controls policy.
• Google Search, Gmail and Maps work.

The good news is that coding needs very little bandwidth: it is nearly all text, and an intermittent 4G connection holds up as long as the base station is reasonably stable. I have coded by dictation while walking around Vedado, with the phone as my only connection. What it won’t take is big downloads and video calls.

Leave everything ready before flying: a tested VPN, accounts and billing set up from abroad, repositories pulled, dependencies cached and the docs you use downloaded. Once there, deep work while there’s power and connection, and calls in the time slots that usually hold.

Havana runs on US East Coast time and six hours behind Spain: good overlap with the Americas and with European afternoons.

Most sockets take flat pins (A and B) at 110 V and 60 Hz; newer buildings and hotels also have 220 V sockets for European plugs (C and L). Check the socket’s label before plugging in anything that isn’t a 100–240 V charger. Bring a universal adapter.

The national grid collapsed completely on October 18, November 6 and December 4, 2024, and in 2026 on March 16, July 6, 10 and 14 and August 2. After running out of diesel in May 2026, some areas get outages of 20 hours a day; Havana usually fares better than the provinces, but it also spends many hours without power. What works: a house with backup power, a big power bank always charged, charging everything whenever power comes back, and scheduling calls in the hours that usually hold. El Toque tracks the situation day by day.

• WhatsApp: it’s how everyone communicates, hosts included.
• Offline maps of the cities you’re going to.
• Proton VPN and a second backup VPN, both headquartered outside the US.
• La Nave, for getting around Havana.
• Transfermóvil or EnZona: they require a Cuban account and phone line.

January 1 and 2, Good Friday, May 1, July 25–27, October 10, December 25 and 31. Offices and banks close; paladares usually open.

Hosts usually do laundry for an agreed price. Bring from home what’s hard to find: medicines, sunscreen, toiletries, spare cables and chargers. Addresses are given as "Calle 23 e/ G y H", where "e/" is short for "entre" (between) and the two cross streets follow: that is how it works all over Cuba, although the grid of numbers and letters is a Vedado thing. Save your house’s address that way.