How to Travel to Cuba

Yes!  It always has been since the Cold War and Obama didn’t change that.  The distinct change that Obama made in 2015 was loosening the travel visa allowances for private citizens.  You still couldn’t go for “tourism” purposes but you could to explore culture, gain education, and connect with locals.  Sure sounds like travel, doesn’t it?  Well, the Obama administration may have had a slight *wink when they wrote the plan but by all technicalities you still have not been allowed to travel to Cuba for strictly tourism purposes.

Prior to Trump’s move American citizens could travel to Cuba so long as they were under one of twelve travel categories including the most loosely defined: person-to-person.  Person-to-person was simply a distinction encouraging Americans to visit the socialist country with efforts in building personal relationships with people rather than only taking in beach resorts catered to foreigners.  In other words, smoke a cigar and sip some rum with a local and you are fulfilling your person-to-person requirement.  This is no longer an option.  Another category of the twelve is “educational,” you can no longer travel to Cuba for mere education (that sentence felt sickening to write).  Additionally, you can no longer give business to hotels or restaurants that are controlled by Cuban military.

Ten of the twelve categories still exist and this includes the following: family travel (to visit family that lives in Cuba), professional research and meetings, religious activities, humanitarian projects, and public performances/performers, with a few more very specific categories.  Also, group tours will still be allowed but in order to be considered the tour may not allocate any significant free time to you: lame.  Certain cruise companies still will travel to Cuba but, just like the other tours, you are not allowed on the island unless you’re booked with an official tour the entire time.

Obviously, you can book a cruise or group tour still, as described in the previous answer.  Carnival Cruise Lines, Ponant, and Pearl Seas offer (expensive) trips to Cuba.  Group trips can be booked through Intrepid Travel, insightCUBA as well as a few other seasoned operators.  Finally, Obama’s policy change took four months to take effect and while Trump stated that we have 30 days until this takes effect, it will likely take months as well; so book a trip ASAP as flight carriers are eliminating routes (Frontier and Spirit no longer serve Cuba), but you can still find decently affordable trips at www.google.com/flights.

Disclaimer: Spur Experiences does not encourage travel to Cuba or any other country as a U.S. citizen illegally.  With that said, you can do it the old school way which is fly into Mexico City or Cancun and purchase a round trip ticket into Havana from there.  You can do the same thing through Canada.  Both options are significantly more expensive as most airlines still serving Cuba offer tickets under $300 R/T.  Bold travelers going the illegal route may want to consider taking plenty of cash as you’ll need $50 for a visa upon arrival in Cuba, credit cards are hardly accepted there (nor do you want any traceable purchases), and you may even purchase your Havana tickets with cash just in case.  When arriving at Cuban customs request that they don’t stamp your passport and they will, instead, just stamp your ticket.  This is common practice when that navy-blue passport reaches the hands of the customs agent.  Remember, Cuba is generally fine with American travelers and happily hosts; it’s the U.S. government which has developed embargoes on all sides.