US travel experiences to Havana ??

US travel experiences to Havana ??
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3 USA citizens would like to experience Cuba flying from Cancun. We know this is illegal BUT that it is done. Can anyone tell us their experience....how they bought their tickets. And what happened in customs?? Did you bring Mexican pesos to exchange?? Is there a reliable Canadian travel agency that would helpful?? Thanks for any information.

Calgary, Canada
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1. Re: US travel experiences to Havana ??
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The Illegality of what you're doing really is a non issue now. Here's the situation...

=========================================

Hundreds and hundreds upon thousands of American tourists have travelled to Cuba illegally. The most common gateway is Canada and Mexico. Here's a thumbnail sketch of the situation...

1.) First of all, Americans are welcomed with open arms in Cuba and they always have been. The problem has always been with the US government, not the Cuban government.

2.) The only way to legally visit Cuba from the US is under license from the US Treasury Department and tourist travel is NOT licensable under ANY circumstances. There are no loopholes or exceptions. The, "not illegal to travel there, it's only illegal to spend money" is an urban myth. There is no way for an American tourist to be fully hosted or for an American tourist to purchase an all-inclusive package outside of Cuba so they're not spending any money there.

Bottom line: It is illegal for any American citizen - and in fact for anyone even residing in the US no matter what their citizenship - to visit Cuba as a tourist. You're breaking the law, period.

3.) To get around the travel restriction American tourists visiting Cuba illegally must fly there via a third country. Direct non-stop gateways to Cuba from the Western Hemisphere include Canada, Mexico, Bahamas, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Grand Cayman, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela and wherever else I'm forgetting. There's a myriad of other choices that transit through Panama, etc.

In other words, compared to many other Caribbean island destinations Cuba is a very easy destination to reach...

4.) The US Congress has dried up funding for prosecution of illegal tourist travel so the OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) ceased all active investigations regarding tourist travel several years ago.

5.) Let's consider the worst case scenario... Imagine you completely lose your mind and upon returning home admit to US CBP (Customs and Border Protection) that you visited Cuba or that you were stupid enough to somehow give US CBP irrefutable proof that you went to Cuba. What would happen?... You'd negotiate a settlement of $250 - $1,000 with the OFAC, pay the fine and forget about the entire episode. No trial. No prosecution. No criminal record. NOTHING.

6.) There hasn't been one single OFAC legal investigation in history initiated by or supported by passenger manifests. I won't go into a detailed legal explanation here but this is a non-issue and completely immaterial for any American visiting Cuba as a tourist.

Any American tourist planning to visit Cuba obviously needs to do their own research and figure this out for themselves. There's a multitude of resources on the Internet that address this insane legislation so it's simple for anyone to educate themselves and know all the facts before they knowingly break the law.

I applaud all the Americans who travel to Cuba in spite of the ridiculous US Embargo. More power to them for ignoring this embarrassing and immoral piece of US foreign policy.

Cheers,

Terry

Calgary, Canada
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2. Re: US travel experiences to Havana ??
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By the way... there's no weird paperwork, visas, etc. for you to visit Cuba. All you require is your US Passport and a Tourist Card which you purchase right at the airport in Cancun. Everyone on your flight will be doing the same, you can't board the aircraft without it.

Cheers,

Terry

Calgary, Canada
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3. Re: US travel experiences to Havana ??
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Additional thoughts about your flight:

1.) http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=2044416

2.) http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=2043333

3.) http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=2039597

My recommendation would be to call Divermex in Cancun and book through them. You pay for the ticket in cash at the airport or you can Western Union the payment.

Have fun.

Cheers,

Terry

Calgary, Canada
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19,743 posts
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4. Re: US travel experiences to Havana ??
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"... Did you bring Mexican pesos to exchange??..."

===============================

Lastly, regarding Money Exchange... the Mexican Peso is the only other foreign currency that sucks in Cuba almost as badly as the US Dollar. Have a read through this then come back with any further questions...

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g147270-c109329/Cuba:Caribbean:Money.Exchange.html

Cheers,

Terry

NJ
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1,455 posts
136 reviews
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5. Re: US travel experiences to Havana ??
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Good info from loneplanet except of annoying political refrens towards USA from one of the locals from loneplanet. Some people just too hateful. Make me to go look for other sources...

Edited: 9 years ago
Calgary, Canada
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19,743 posts
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6. Re: US travel experiences to Havana ??
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babochka, it's only the Internet. Allowing one contributor who you don't agree with to make you ignore one of the best sources of info on the Internet is silly.

Tranquilo.

Cheers,

Terry

Melbourne, Australia
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7. Re: US travel experiences to Havana ??
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Great summary and additional links from Terry.

BTW babochka in terms of "hateful" references in the LP links I could only see references to "the land of the unfree". If that wasn't an accurate jibe there would have been no need for the question here from PierCC don't ya think? Not political just a statement of fact about a country than restricts where its citizens can legally travel to.

Athens, Greece
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8. Re: US travel experiences to Havana ??
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It is also worth noting that the person making the "annoying" comment is not "one of the locals" - he or she is from Australia. Most Cubans tend to idolize the US, if with a dose of fear. Most politically critical comments on the US on the internet come from people who are far freer to make up their own minds.

NJ
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1,455 posts
136 reviews
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9. Re: US travel experiences to Havana ??
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Travel restrictions and marking the whole counrty as "land of unfree" are very different thing. It seems like this guy can't stop himself from repeating it every time he opens his mouth (virtually). May be it's new Internet tourette syndrome ?

Burlington, Canada
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10. Re: US travel experiences to Havana ??
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Possibly...but I completely understand what he means by that ~ and the irony it represents.

Terry

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