General Info

[BossMan1031]

In my case I have a contact who knows me and I've help him out taking some supplies for him from the USA.

I'm pretty sure if you rent a private place the owner would be more than willing to exchange some for you. Make sure you know what the street rate is so you can get a fair deal.

Like I said when I was there I got 160 CUP to 1 USD, that was back in February, don't know if this is the case when you get there, therefor just Google "street rate" before you leave town.

Have a good trip and report back.

Mondo.

p.s. I'd be pretty skeptical to do this with somebody I don't know, but that's just me. Also, if you bring USD you can buy stuff at most places but you need to do the math as far as what they're willing to give you in exchange.
The official exchange rate at the airport or Cadecas is around 110 to 1 USD.
Also, I exchanged 100 USD at a time which gave me 16,000 CUP at the time. Since I had the connection to do it, otherwise if you get a "trusted" connection to do this, if I was you, I'd try to figure out my daily expenses and the # of days I was planning to be there and that way get as few transactions as possible, otherwise this task can become a hassle.
Also, before you get there try and email with the person where you'll be staying and ask about exchanging availability with 'em, pretty sure they'll be able to help you out.
One last thing, take 100 USD bills or Euros, make sure they are in really good shape, i.e. no markings or crumpled.

Sorry for the late response, but this really helps. I have been reading a lot in the Cuba threads and trying to watch the few youtube out there. The only problem I have is, I'm going down with tons of family who don't know about our lovely hobby, and I don't speak any Spanish.

[Mondo707]

This might be a dumb question but, where do you do this at. I do just ask around. The last time I was in Cuba was back in 2015 on a cruise. I'm coming down with family in a few months since we really like Cuba the last time around.

In my case I have a contact who knows me and I've help him out taking some supplies for him from the USA.

I'm pretty sure if you rent a private place the owner would be more than willing to exchange some for you. Make sure you know what the street rate is so you can get a fair deal.

Like I said when I was there I got 160 CUP to 1 USD, that was back in February, don't know if this is the case when you get there, therefor just Google "street rate" before you leave town.

Have a good trip and report back.

Mondo.

p.s. I'd be pretty skeptical to do this with somebody I don't know, but that's just me. Also, if you bring USD you can buy stuff at most places but you need to do the math as far as what they're willing to give you in exchange.
The official exchange rate at the airport or Cadecas is around 110 to 1 USD.
Also, I exchanged 100 USD at a time which gave me 16,000 CUP at the time. Since I had the connection to do it, otherwise if you get a "trusted" connection to do this, if I was you, I'd try to figure out my daily expenses and the # of days I was planning to be there and that way get as few transactions as possible, otherwise this task can become a hassle.
Also, before you get there try and email with the person where you'll be staying and ask about exchanging availability with 'em, pretty sure they'll be able to help you out.
One last thing, take 100 USD bills or Euros, make sure they are in really good shape, i.e. no markings or crumpled.

[BossMan1031]

When I was there in February I got 160 CUP per 1 USD, so you do the math. Now this exchange rate I got was on the so call black market, I. E. Street.

If you do the math for $80 USD exchanged at the official rate (around $110 CUP per 1 USD) you'd get 8800 CUP. If you do the math and get the same rate I got then $80 USD would turn into 12,800 CUP!, so that's 4,000 CUP more than the official rate.

Mondo.

P.S. Heads up, when exchanging money for CUP, try and get the highest denomination bills available, I. E. , 100,500 or 1,000 notes. If you get the lower denomination bills, 20,50 then you'll have your pockets stuffed full with bills that won't buy you anything worthwhile.

This might be a dumb question but, where do you do this at. I do just ask around. The last time I was in Cuba was back in 2015 on a cruise. I'm coming down with family in a few months since we really like Cuba the last time around.

[Mondo707]

Just read this article on Cuba. This apply mainly for beginners to Cuba. I found it pretty evenly reported. It applies to North Americans mostly but everyone else can benefit from reading it.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/new...f343197&ei=135

Mondo.

[Mondo707]

I'm not sure I understand the CUP motto. I read in some old posts that it was cheaper to pay 4000-5000 CUP than 80 $ USD but with the conversion it's 160-180 $. If anyone can enlighten me.

When I was there in February I got 160 CUP per 1 USD, so you do the math. Now this exchange rate I got was on the so call black market, I. E. Street.

If you do the math for $80 USD exchanged at the official rate (around $110 CUP per 1 USD) you'd get 8800 CUP. If you do the math and get the same rate I got then $80 USD would turn into 12,800 CUP!, so that's 4,000 CUP more than the official rate.

Mondo.

P.S. Heads up, when exchanging money for CUP, try and get the highest denomination bills available, I. E. , 100,500 or 1,000 notes. If you get the lower denomination bills, 20,50 then you'll have your pockets stuffed full with bills that won't buy you anything worthwhile.

[Zeos1]

I'm not sure I understand the CUP motto. I read in some old posts that it was cheaper to pay 4000-5000 CUP than 80 $ USD but with the conversion it's 160-180 $. If anyone can enlighten me.

Official rate is 24 CUP per dollar, but rate on street seems to be around 180 CUP per dollar. So 5000 CUP would be around 30 dollars if you got the 180 CUP per dollar.

[PabloGn]

I'm not sure I understand the CUP motto. I read in some old posts that it was cheaper to pay 4000-5000 CUP than 80 $ USD but with the conversion it's 160-180 $. If anyone can enlighten me.

[Mondo707]

I was recently at a concert here in Los Angeles with Havana d' Primera, one of the best bands currently out of Cuba.

Happen to notice this young gal digging the music near me so approached her and started a convo in Español, she was not able to converse fluently in English.

Turns out she's hasn't been here for that long. After a while realized her M. O. Was exactly like in la Habana. She's prolly mid 20's, tattoos galore (not my thing).

I've been reading here some folks mention about la Habana being a ghost town, as far as jineteras is concerned, don't know about that, I was in la Habana in February and even though I was not looking for action (had hooked up for this trip) saw most of the action around the Capitolio and parque central area.

Also, since the immigration in the last couple of years from Cuba has been, as far as I know, mostly younger folks, it wouldn't surprise me either if lots of jineteras had "moved" to a new location, haha.

Mondo.

[Zeos1]

LOL, what do you mean?

The original post implied that Cuba was not a western country. I just wondered when they had moved the island somewhere.

[Mondo707]

Bit of an oddball question, but does anyone know if it's illegal to have visitors on board a private US vessel?

I'm planning a trip from Key West to Hemingway Marina in Havana in my 30 ft sailboat.

If I pick up a lady, it would be convenient just to take her back to the boat, rather than getting a hotel, her place, etc.

I know this is a long shot with all the rules over there, and the history of Cuba, but if anybody knows the rules, ID sure appreciate it.

Maybe one of you can tag along with me!

Crow,

Here's a link I found with some info + some links to places to help you out.

Would love to go with you and pick up tons of cubanas to bring back to the boat but terribly "fear of water" syndrome, haha.

In case you go write a review after you come back.

http://cubajournal.co/how-to-navigat...hting-to-cuba/

Also, remember Google is your friend for finding info.

[CrowExplorer]

Bit of an oddball question, but does anyone know if it's illegal to have visitors on board a private US vessel?

I'm planning a trip from Key West to Hemingway Marina in Havana in my 30 ft sailboat.

If I pick up a lady, it would be convenient just to take her back to the boat, rather than getting a hotel, her place, etc.

I know this is a long shot with all the rules over there, and the history of Cuba, but if anybody knows the rules, ID sure appreciate it.

Maybe one of you can tag along with me!

[Artvand1]

Just came back from 2 weeks in Havana mainly attending the 2023 Havana Jazz fest.

One night while taking on the phone to an acquaintance I felt excruciating pain on my left eye. I asked the apt owner and was told to head over to the Camilo Ciuenfuegos Hospital a few blocks away on Calle Linea. Later I found out this place is the main hospital to treat foreigners.

Once there, I was interviewed about my injury and asked about fee for service. I mentioned that my flight tix included charges for such an event happening. The woman kept asking for proof. Finally I was able to open my United Airline app and find the receipt for the flight which included the breakdown of all the fees. Showed her this and she asked me to email her the screenshot! (I did so. Haha).

Mentioned all this so if any of you guys have a similar incident while visiting Cuba, I'd suggest you take a screenshot of your flight tix and keep it on your phone before leaving. That way you can show it to the proper authority in case you need med care.

P.S. BTW, they found a foreign object which was removed and patched up for a day. The amazing part was that after washing the eye and putting the patch the ophthalmologist asked me where I was staying (4 blocks away) she then proceeded to walk me to my rental apt along with her assistant, each one holding one arm making sure I didn't fall. !

Wow, very wholesome of the doctors to do this. Stuff like this wants to move out from the West permanently to a nice friendlier second world country. Not Cuba of course something more developed.

[Mondo707]

Just came back from 2 weeks in Havana mainly attending the 2023 Havana Jazz fest.

One night while taking on the phone to an acquaintance I felt excruciating pain on my left eye. I asked the apt owner and was told to head over to the Camilo Ciuenfuegos Hospital a few blocks away on Calle Linea. Later I found out this place is the main hospital to treat foreigners.

Once there, I was interviewed about my injury and asked about fee for service. I mentioned that my flight tix included charges for such an event happening. The woman kept asking for proof. Finally I was able to open my United Airline app and find the receipt for the flight which included the breakdown of all the fees. Showed her this and she asked me to email her the screenshot! (I did so. Haha).

Mentioned all this so if any of you guys have a similar incident while visiting Cuba, I'd suggest you take a screenshot of your flight tix and keep it on your phone before leaving. That way you can show it to the proper authority in case you need med care.

P.S. BTW, they found a foreign object which was removed and patched up for a day. The amazing part was that after washing the eye and putting the patch the ophthalmologist asked me where I was staying (4 blocks away) she then proceeded to walk me to my rental apt along with her assistant, each one holding one arm making sure I didn't fall. !

[Artvand1]

I must have missed the move. Nobody tells me anything.

LOL, what do you mean?

[Zeos1]

Hey good folks.

I normally would not even think of doing this in the West, but on my fantasies is to be have sex with the hotel maid. I don't what are the laws like in Cuba, can I offer hotel maid money and ask for sex directly? Is that frowned out and would that result in me being kicked out? Appreciate your input.

I must have missed the move. Nobody tells me anything.