Everyday practical information for Cuba

The basics

• Plugs are American flat two-pin (type A and B), and European round two-pin (type C) also appears - Cuba uses both, and voltage varies between 110 V and 220 V, sometimes in the same building. Bring an adapter for both and check before plugging in anything expensive.
• Spanish is the language and English is limited outside hotels and the tourist trade. Some Spanish goes a long way here.
• UTC-5, with daylight saving - Cuba does shift the clocks, unlike most of the Caribbean.
• Dialling code +53.

The skill is preparation

• Everything you cannot buy there, bring. Medicines, toiletries, repellent, batteries, a torch, a power bank, a paper map.
• Everything you need to show, print. QR codes, bookings, insurance, addresses.
• Everything you will spend, carry. In cash, in good notes.
• A trip to Cuba rewards planning more than almost anywhere, and punishes improvisation more.

Rhythm

• Things take longer. Queues, waits, closures and shortages are the texture of the place, not exceptions to it.
• Cubans are extraordinarily hospitable and will solve problems for you that no system will.
• Casa hosts are the network. Ask them for everything - a taxi, a restaurant that has food today, whether the coach is running.

Small things

• Tipping matters here more than in most places, in cash, in small notes. Wages are very low.
• Do not photograph people without asking, especially in the tourist streets of Havana where posing for photographs is itself a small trade.
• Two currencies confusion is over - the convertible peso was withdrawn in 2021, and the Cuban peso is the currency, alongside the foreign cash you brought.
• Bring gifts if you are staying in casas. Toiletries, medicines and school supplies are all genuinely useful and gratefully received.