Need Help with Cuban Vacation

[wretched34]

Was in Varadero in July, in regards to the money exchange situation it's a gong show.
At that time, if you went into a Cuban bank, or into a government store, they were offering an exchange of 18 pesos for 1 CAD. On the bus to the hotel they were offering 40 pesos for 1 CAD, and were very pushy about it. Once at the hotel we were getting 80-90 pesos for 1 CAD from the staff, and on our private tour into Havana our driver/guide exchanged with us at 100 pesos to 1 CAD. He told us he did this, as their currency has no value outside their borders, and for those who have a chance to get out, they want foreign currency to survive off of, so they're willing to pay for it.
As Locke mentioned as well, don't convert lots at any given time, but I suggest carrying both pesos and CAD as we found depending on where and what you were purchasing it was more advantageous to buy in one or the other, for instance restaurants was better to pay in pesos as their exchange was lower, while haggling with street vendors was always best in CAD.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

Small bills FTW. How is the sim card situation? Is it easy to get, or worthwhile? Last time I went I didn't bother. But I am thinking this time with my group much larger and we'll be venturing out more, I am thinking it's worthwhile to get one.

Well...I didnt bother. For my vacation over Christmas 2021 I took my entire family, so there were 8 of us.

We had no issues with cell phones operating in Cuba and didnt do anything like getting a local SIM card, they've come a ways since the last time I was there.

But then again, that may depend. Our Hotel had pretty decent Wifi and cell reception and off-resort we also had no issues.

Oh! And I should also mention (but you probably already know?) that Cuba was largely constructed out of old Soviet junk, so they use the European dual-prong power outlets so do yourself a favour and make sure you bring a convertor for charging any devices.

I recommend getting one before you go, either in Calgary or at the Calgary Airport. I have mine from a few European trips, but the kids didnt have one and kept 'yoinking' mine, and they're not all that easy to come by once you're in Cuba.

You can plug in your devices straight to the wall if they're dual-prong (no ground) but its all 220V so your stuff will get HOT. Not something I felt interested in risking.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by wretched34

Was in Varadero in July, in regards to the money exchange situation it's a gong show.
At that time, if you went into a Cuban bank, or into a government store, they were offering an exchange of 18 pesos for 1 CAD. On the bus to the hotel they were offering 40 pesos for 1 CAD, and were very pushy about it. Once at the hotel we were getting 80-90 pesos for 1 CAD from the staff, and on our private tour into Havana our driver/guide exchanged with us at 100 pesos to 1 CAD. He told us he did this, as their currency has no value outside their borders, and for those who have a chance to get out, they want foreign currency to survive off of, so they're willing to pay for it.
As Locke mentioned as well, don't convert lots at any given time, but I suggest carrying both pesos and CAD as we found depending on where and what you were purchasing it was more advantageous to buy in one or the other, for instance restaurants was better to pay in pesos as their exchange was lower, while haggling with street vendors was always best in CAD.

Yeah, definitely. We found it best to keep a decent mix of CDN, USD and Cuban Peso, again, fairly small amounts, but it gives you flexibility to pay with whatever gets you a better exchange in the moment.

These are considerably impoverished people, if you want to buy something thats 30 CCP but you've only got $20CDN they'll sell it to you for that and they probably 'dont have' change.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

Small bills FTW. How is the sim card situation? Is it easy to get, or worthwhile? Last time I went I didn't bother. But I am thinking this time with my group much larger and we'll be venturing out more, I am thinking it's worthwhile to get one.

Oh, and to get back to 'Small Bills' like I said nothing over $20 CDN or USD, but do yourself a real favour and keep yourself flush with really small bills.

They largely dont want CDN coin, so in CDN keep yourself flush with $5s and get some USD so you can have a wad of $1s for the itty-bitty 'here and there' kind of stuff.