Cuba

[amoley25]

Hi all
I am travelling to Cuba in April ,can anybody advise the best place to get currency From
Tia

[jno]

only in Cuba at the moment

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/dollars-or-pounds-please-solve-my-cuban-currency-conundrum-8521504.html

[lardhelmet]

We had to buy their currency when we were there and we weren't allowed to take their currency off the island.

[New Judge]

Yes you can only buy Cuban Convertible Pesos (CuCs, as they are known to tourists) in Cuba. You get about 1.45 CuCs to the £ at the moment.

Cuba runs two currencies. As well as CuCs (which are only available to tourists and are the only currency that tourists can spend) there are also ordinary Cuban Pesos which are used by the Cubans. If you could buy these you would get about 30 to the £.

It all sounds a bit confusing but in practice it works perfectly well. You change yours £££s at the bank for CuCs and simply spend them where you wish. Beware, in some of the towns some establishments do not accept CuCs so you cannot do business there. But all the regular tourist haunts accept CuCs.

[fourteen85]

I went to Cuba in 2011 and unless things have changed you also have to pay to get off the island, something I didn't know about until we had landed. not much but it has to be paid, around a tenner a person I think

[EDDIE51]

Take US$ in cash they love them and you can get a lot more for a $ than the official exchange rate. Possible illegal but lucrative !

[dzug2]

Not very good advice about $US - definitely illegal, and changing them officially has a 10% surcharge on the exchange rate. Added to which you'll have paid to get them here

The departure tax is 25 CUC - about £15 or so. Keep enough local currency to pay it

[EDDIE51]

^^ It may be illegal but I know someone who went there and they were begged to change $ everywhere they went. Offered up to 5x the official exchange rate!

[New Judge]

Another thing to bear in mind is that any Credit/Debit card provided by a bank with connections to the US will either not be accepted or will attract a hefty surcharge. Cards supplied by all major UK providers are OK.

[fourteen85]

that reminds me New Judge, I think also you might need travel insurance that isn't backed by a US company as the Cuban s have trouble getting reimbursed

[New Judge]

Yes quite right, fourteen.

Another thing for amoley to remember is that travel insurance (or more specifically medical insurance) is compulsory for travellers to Cuba. They make random checks as you pass through immigration and if you cannot provide evidence of cover you will have to take Cuban insurance which costs about £15 per day.

[auntie-bertie]

You can change money at the airport when you land. The best thing to do is to take English money - new notes, they don't like them to be marked. You can change these in the banks or cambios (Cubanacam). There is no commission so you can just change whatever you think you need and go back for more the next day, but do take your passport. Take GBP as if you take USD there is a surcharge. Check the money you are given tallies with the receipt. 1 CUC =1 USD. You have to pay the departure tax of 25CUC per person. Hotels will also change money.