How to Travel to Cuba as an American

I am a participant in affiliate programs, so basically I earn a small commission if you use any of the affiliate links on this post - at no extra cost to you! Dope right?

The United States and Cuba has had a longggg long history. Despite how you may feel about the US manipulation of Cuba after its independence from Spanish colonial rule or Cuba pointing missiles directly at the Unite States…it is indeed legal to now travel to Cuba as a United States citizen.

But what about Trump???

Yes, even after Trump taking office, it is STILL legal to travel to Cuba as an American – at least for now.

If you are unsure about how to do it on your own, let me show you how I did it!

THE VISA

Technically, as an American, you can only visit Cuba if your visit falls under one of the specific “allowed” categories (simple tourism, is not a valid enough reason)

• Family visits.
• Official business of the U.S. Government, foreign governments and certain intergovernmental organizations.
• Journalistic activities.
• Professional research or professional meetings.
• Educational activities and people-to-people exchanges.
• Religious activities.
• Public performance, clinics, workshops, athletic or other competitions and exhibitions.
• Support for the Cuban people.
• Humanitarian projects.
• Activities of private foundations or research or educational institutes.
• Exportation, importation, or transmission of information or informational materials.
• Travel related to certain authorized export transactions.

So, if you want to travel to Cuba to visit family, AWESOME! You’re in. If you are going for any of the other above listed reasons, AWESOME! You’re in. If you’re not quite sure, I went under the category “support for the Cuban people.” What does that mean? Basically anything. It’s extremely vague and it works in your favor. I was going to be staying in all casa particulars (that I booked from Airbnb hollaaa) – Support of the Cuban people. I would try to eat only at privately owned restaurants instead of government owned (which are terrible quality anyway) – Support of the Cuban People. Also, I only wanted to book tours from family owned business instead of the huge tour companies owned by the government (also a better deal for your money usually!) – Support of the Cuban People. Check check check.

Once you have reason, how do you actually GET to Cuba?

Easy.

You buy a ticket.

Visas from Other Countries

If you happen to be reading this and you are NOT American, unfortunately I don’t personally have any first hand experience with that. However, I do have friends in other countries that have gotten tourist visas to Cuba. I will link them below in case you are from one of those countries – it would probably be more helpful if you read their posts haha. I will update this section as I find more helpful resources and posts!

• Cuba Visa for Indians ; by Paradise Catchers

THE AIRFARE

There are a handful of airlines that fly to Cuba from the United States, the most popular being JetBlue and American Airlines. You will most likely fly out of Florida. Alaska Airlines BRIEFLY had a route to Cuba out of LAX, but that was cancelled. Sad. But anyways, however you usually buy your plane tickets, just do the same thing with Cuba. Before you check out, a little pop up will ask if you are traveling to Cuba under one of the 12 valid reasons. You say yes, and that’s it. You can check out now.

Update 2020: Your flight MUST land in Havana if coming from the USA. 

Also, it is mandatory to have health insurance if you travel to Cuba. MOST airlines will have the insurance included in the price of the ticket (American Airlines for example has its $25 insurance tacked on), but just double check with your airline.

The hardest part honestly is just KNOWING that you can get a ticket.

Next, you will need a visa. You can either buy a visa at the airport before departing the Cuba, or you can buy one online. I bought mine online because I had a super short connecting flight from LAX to MIA and had never been to the Miami airport. Also, having it beforehand just gives me peace of mind. I ordered my visa from Cuba Travel Services and it arrived in about 2 weeks (you cannot use a PO box as a mailing address for them!). Super simple.

Keep an eye out on airline deals! These are just a few examples of roundtrip flights you can find!

Once you have your plane ticket and visa (or plan to buy it at the airport), you’re basically there! Maybe do a little research on the country and fun activities. If you are looking for tours, I would highly recommend Turismo Por Cuba. They are a family company (just the Yodanis the driver and his wife), and possible the best bargain I found while searching! Plus, if you don’t find a tour that fits exactly what you want, they are happy to customize it to fit your interests!

THE MONEY 

While you are looking up places to go and tours to take, be sure to make a rough estimate of how much money you will need for Cuba.  You will need to pay for everything in cash. Your American credit and debit cards will not work at the ATM or stores (though I didn’t even see any stores that accepted cards anyway). Exchange your USD for Mexican Pesos or Euros, whatever suits your fancy. You can then exchange that for CUC at the airport in Havana.

There’s actually two currencies in Cuba, CUC and CUP, but you will most likely only need CUC. I spent 2 weeks there and never came across a time where I NEEDED to use CUP.

Budget wise, I’ve seen people do Cuba on as little as $20-30 a day including lodging. You can find cheap 2cuc pizza and carry around a huge 1cuc liter of water around with you all day , but I personally wouldn’t recommend it. POSSIBLE, but in my humble opinion, I don’t think Cuba is a “cheap” destination. Excluding my lodging (because I got a fancy Airbnb with a wifi router), my daily spendings were around 30-ishcuc on food. Breakfast, 5cuc. Lunch, 10-15cuc (with a drink!). Dinner, 15-20cuc (with drinks!). Then money for souvenirs and general shopping. So be sure to factor food into your budget as well!

I also have a post detailing the best restaurants in Cuba!

ENTERING CUBA

So you’re at the Miami airport (or wherever your last USA flight departs), what now? Head to your boarding gate. You’re going to need your passport, your boarding ticket, and your visa. There will be a stand right at your gate where someone will be stamping your boarding ticket with a “ready for Cuba” stamp. After you get your stamp, board the plane and settle in for a quick flight!

On the plane, they’ll give you the forms you need for entry.

They gave me 3, but I ended up only needing 2 so I have no idea what that small salmon paper is on the right. No one ever asked me for it haha. If someone hands you this form, ask them what it’s for and let me know haha. On the left is like a little health questionnaire. It’ll ask if you had experienced so and so symptoms in the past 2 weeks. I legit had the flu and they let me through, so don’t stress too much about it. The middle form is the normal “where will you be staying, how long, did you bring porn” questions.

Once at the Havana airport, just follow the hallway until you reach the immigration lines. They’ll take half your visa here, then you go through security. There will be tables after to drop off your health questionnaire. Then the luggage carousel! You made it!

GETTING BACK

I hope you still have the other half of your visa! You’ll need it when you check in for your departing plane to Cuba. Once you’re back in the United States, you’ll go through the immigration line again. Literally no one asked me anything about anything. They just looked at my passport and waved me through. However, juuuuuuuuuuust in case, you should keep an itinerary somewhere of your trip. Technically, you could be questioned anytime within 5 years of your trip but *emoji shrug* not that big of a deal.

So there you have it! All the basics to getting your lil American self to Cuba. Hopefully that was somewhat helpful! I have travel guides for specific cities so you can get started on the planning process: Havana, Varadero, Vinales.

If you have any more questions about any part of the process, ask away in the comments! You could also just visit from Mexico or something and bypass all of this. Also, before you head over, check out my interview with a local Cuban, debunking the most common myths and misconceptions about Cuba!

Have you been to Cuba? If you are an American, did you have any troubles getting to the island? If you’re from another country, how popular a tourist destination is Cuba for your country?

Sharing is caring!