How expensive?

Comparatively, Cuba is very expensive. Accommodation will run you the equivalent of at least $30 US a night in Havana, less in other locations; half of that if you share a room with a travelling companion. Bottled water/other drinks and food will cost perhaps $20. a day. Then there is travel and entertainment costs. A minimum budget, IMO, is probably somewhere around $65-$75 US per day. To do much more than just eat and sleep, you will need more than that.

1, I hope very much, that you are wrong.

Everybody that I have talked to, either on the island or who's traveled there, has said that Cuba can be done relatively cheap, depending on interests.

I will be traveling to the island for two weeks this summer... and according to my calculations I will only be spending HALF of what the god damn airfare costs, through my whole stay on the island. Like stated, having a travel partner cuts accommodation completely in half. I would argue that in most of the casas, $10 - 15 CUC per night per person is relatively inexpensive.

Also, during my stay I will definitely be taking advantage of the duel currency. What appears to be the best way to do this (and time will tell, whether I'm right or wrong!) would be to have somebody to meet in Cuba who can really direct you around and ease the tensions of say, a peso bar somewhere like Holguin? I imagine having a Cuban travel buddy would also protect you in a lot of other ways... ie getting ripped off in restaurants, bars, etc. (Although if your cuban travel buddy rips you off, thats another story).

Other than that... all the money you spend on the island depends on what you want to do there. Me? I'll take a beach and a close friend... a Cuban pen pal, and a whole island of alluring culture thats been cut off from the United States for the last 50 years. I don't plan on spending a lot of money on touristy things... I guess it's just not the kind of trip I'm looking for. No car renting... just viazul and coco/bici-taxis.

Really, the only cost I don't quite have covered... would be the food and what not. Like I said, I do plan on going to a lot of peso food places. Is this really unwise? Like... is this going to be an e-coli issue? Also, at work one of our laborers (mexicans) has traveled to Cuba twice. His family does not have a whole lot of money... and obviously it didn't put too much of a financial hinder on him. He tells me I won't have to spend very much money on food, etc. Is this about right?

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<hr>during my stay I will definitely be taking advantage of the duel currency … I'll take a beach and a close friend... a Cuban pen pal …. Like I said, I do plan on going to a lot of peso food places. Is this really unwise?<hr></blockquote>

mrbeall, with all due respect since this is your first trip to la isla del amor to romanticize a fantasy, I suggest you take half of what you packed and twice as much money you plan to bring. In the States the person doing the inviting usually pays the bill but in Cuba the tourists always pays the bill for everything and everyone. Don’t count on paying $10 or $15 for your share of the rental casa and your Cuban friend to pay his/her share. Cubans don’t go Dutch and either you pay or you don’t play and you will have a boring time talking to yourself. Your Cuban pen pal is probably bored with his/her boring routine life in Cuba and looking forward to living like a tourists for 2 weeks or until your money runs out. Money talks in Cuba and you better get used to your money constantly saying goodbye to you. Your Mexican friend probably speaks Spanish and looks Latino and could pass for a Cuban but the ones I met usually stay in hotels and use the hotel pools. It’s unwise to think that you can live like a Cuban on a dollar a day on your first visit. I been there a few times in the summer I prefer to spend my vacation as a tourist and sleep in an a/c room and dining in an a/c restaurant and use a pool with a swim up bar. In the winter I don’t mind to live like a Cuban (for a day that is jejeje)

I think I will put in my two cents worth : after doing the cuba scene for over twenty seven years now 2 to 3 times a year I have done it all ways seen a lot and done a lot MR R ickie has the right idea live it up life is too short and believe me cuba is not cheap as a matter of fact travel prices have risen at least 70% over last year at this time to cuba: owing to a lot of factors :cheers:

#2
Drivel. Not been there, therefore be silent.

Ah yes, and your Cuban "buddy" will be getting a cut on money spent. Not much of an incentive to help you do it cheap. And coco taxis and bicycle taxis are just about as expensive as regular air conditioned radio taxis. Food can be cheap but you get what you pay for so only plan on this if food is really unimportant to you. The only part of your plan that seems reasonable is the Casa cost splitting and this of course assumes you will be travelling with another tourist. For myself the thought of spending half my vacation waiting for a bus is unbearable. Rather work a couple extra days an enjoy myself while i'm there.

#2

You can do Cuba cheaply. At least 1 out of 100 posters says so.

A few months ago a dutch couple told us how they hitched a ride on a yacht to Cuba and slept under trees the wholes time. Did it on pennies day. Made liars of the all regulars who probably have an accumulated century of Cuba travel time. But that really is the exception to the rule.

Heed what #3 and #6 say.

Also
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<hr>cut off from the United States for the last 50 years<hr></blockquote>

Don't kid yourself they love US music, movies and sports jerseys . . . .

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<hr>as a matter of fact travel prices have risen at least 70% over last year at this time to cuba: owing to a lot of factors <hr></blockquote>

Please quote some products/services that have shown such an increase. My impression is that most things in Cuba have retained the same price (for example casas, beer, food and transport) and as the CUC becomes cheaper and cheaper for euro holders, Cuba is actually becoming cheaper year after year. There have been some increases in a couple of things (organized excursions for example: Vinales used to be 50, now it´s 55), but 70%?

To the OP and poster#2: Cuba is very expensive compared to all other Latin American destinations I have visited. No 3$ Peruvian delicious lunch menus, no 1$/person hostels stays like in Ecuador, forget the luxurious 12hr bus rides for 10$ you can get in Venezuela and internet and phonecalls are up to 10 times more expensive than most Latin American countries. You can indeed get food very cheaply and I do not think it is dangerous or much worse than CUC food (nor do you need the company of a Cuban to "find" a CUP restaurant), but accommodation and (above all) transport is a pain in the ass: Yes, you can do it very cheaply if you have loads of time, incredible patience (once it took us 2 days get a hitch from Jaguey Grande eastwards), speak some Spanish and arewilling to put up with all inconveniences (which can indeed be fun up to a point). But for the same basic things you will budget 20$/day in Peru, you need at least 50-60$ in Cuba. And that´s a very cautious budget. #2´s assumption that it´s "touristy things" that make Cuba expensive is not entirely correct. If you plan to travel at all (instead of staying on a beach for 2 weeks) you will see that between taxis and Viazul you´ll be spending a good 15-20$ per day. That´s already half of your budget and you still haven´t slept, bought water, entered a museum, used the internet or paid your exit tax. Cuba is not Nicaragua or Bolivia, it´s the Caribbean.

Have to totally agree with Rickie on all accounts, take more money than you expect to take, and dont expect someone else to pay for you, or even always pay in non Convertible, because foreigners stick out by accents (even if you speak spanish) and looks. Cuba is expensive, but worth it, but dont underestimate or expect that you will be doing it differently from every other foreigner that has been there just because you have one pen pal friend. I found a lot of Cubans hadnt been able to afford to travel within their own country so how this friend of yours is going to accompany you around Cuba might just be interesting for you. You cant expect that you will know a country on the first visit or the people just because you know one person.