A Dodson Photo Studio

Cuba seems pretty amazing, you guys.  I seriously wish the embargo would end so I could spend some time there – like a week or something.  It would just be awesome.  And not awesome, like “Wow, these hot dogs are awesome, man.”  I mean awesome using its true meaning – something awe-inspiring…like space, but…y’know, only 90-some miles away from the United States.   And for something so close, it seems like such a hassle to get to.

I read a lot of guides on the subject.  The whole ‘embargo’ deal makes it pretty difficult for the average American to make the trip – legally, anyway.  But if I did try to go to Cuba (and I have thought of it), I would probably do something like this:

1) Fly to Cancun, Mexico.  I know, Cancun.  How awful.  One would just have to suffer the warm Mexican sunshine, white beaches, blue water and cheap booze for a whole two-days. The humanity.

2) Go to a travel agency in Cancun. I hear there are tons of them – a lot of them have signs outside advertising trips to Cuba.  From what I understand, a one-way ticket to Cuba would run about $200.  In theory, one should use cash at this point to limit my paper trail.  If I did need to use my card at this point, I’d make sure that it would come on as ‘This Dude’s Travel Agency’ rather than say: “Tickets to Cuba”.  That way, if suspicion does come up, I could just say I paid for tours or something.

3) Of course, than you would need to finish you  business there and purchase a ticket out of Cuba.  A lot of internet guides say that you can just head back to Mexico (probably the cheapest idea would be to get a round-trip ticket).  I feel that might lead to too much suspicion (two ‘Mexico’ stamps in your passport within a few days of one another), so I feel one should try to head to the Dominican Republic (or the Bahamas, or some other nearby country/island) after Cuba.  That way you would have a Mexico stamp and a Dominican Republic stamp (or whatever) and no one is the wiser.  Everyone tells me that Cuba does not stamp American passports.

4) Than one should get pesos. Tons of them.  Once you get to Cuba, any credit card you have shouldn’t work – because that would be in violation of the embargo.  Everything in Cuba would have to be done in cash.  From what I hear, Cuba charges a ton of tax on exchanging currencies, so one should be ready for that.  As I understand it, it is slightly better if you have pesos rather than American dollars.  At the time of this post, the Cuban Convertable Peso is equal to about $0.80 (ish).    I could probably last in Cuba for about 5 days on about 400-dollars.  As long as one isn’t stupid with your money and you prioritize needs (shelter, food etc).

5) Suffer through your last night in Cancun.

6) At the airport before you go to Cuba, one has to fill out a Cuba Visa-thing. It costs about 20 dollars.  That is the last bit of paperwork you have to do before getting on your plane.  Like I mentioned before, when you go through customs they should stamp the visa and not your passport.  You shouldn’t even have to ask.  They know whats up, and they’re more than willing to work with you.

7) At that point, one should enjoy their stay in Cuba.  I’ve read that there is an exit fee to leave the country.  It translates to about 35 dollars American, and if you plan on using American money, than there will be a $25 additional tax/exchange fee.  Don’t forget that.

HAVE FUN!