Really thinking about flying down in March for a week. Southwest has direct flights with the required health insurance for $148 round trip, tack on another $50 for a visa.  Anyone been recently? 

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I went down on a 5 day Havana tour with Friendly Planet Tours last month. It was fantastic. Highly recommend!

Check American.  Lots of flights from Miami, especially to smaller cities, and apparently lots of empty seats.  

My non-beach Caribbean priority is Cartagena.  Also badly overdue to visit Aguadilla and Puerto Rico in general.  

 

Still remember that you have to qualify for one of the handful of reasons that we're allowed to travel to Cuba. Without that documentation, your passport might go stale when you get home. I'm not sure how likely it is, but I'm protective enough of my passport that I went through a tour company that took care of the embargo shitfest for me.

I'm not ruling out going with an organized tour but would prefer to do it alone. Have an idea of activities and things I'd like to accomplish to meet the requirements. I'd document those activities in case anyone ever asked. But I don't even see that happening. 

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Havana -- Spring break 2017!! It's gonna be lit! 

T-scott- everybody in Fl knows someone who is from there, or has a relative there.

Thats your best bet, and going that way should be about 3/4 less expensive than going on one of those 'organized tours'. (not that I would not consider one of those, if $ was not a factor). Convert some $ to euros - Euros spend easier than yankee dollars (so I hear).

I have a friend who went for 10 days over Christmas and had a great time and brought back alot of art.  But the trip cost close to 4K.

If you do it on your own it should be about or under 1500.

Balsa Bill and I flew across the northwest coast of Cuba coming back from Costa, it is riddled with cove after cove and the gulf is 16,000 feet deep northwest of Cuba, seems like and ideal set up for winter cold fronts 

1. Family visits

2. Official business of the U.S. government, foreign governments, and certain intergovernmental organizations

3. Journalistic activity

4. Professional research and professional meetings

5. Educational activities

6. Religious activities

7. Public performances, clinics, workshops, athletic and other competitions, and exhibitions

8. Support for the Cuban people

9. Humanitarian projects

10. Activities of private foundations or research or educational institutes

11. Exportation, importation, or transmission of information or information materials

12. Certain export transactions that may be considered for authorization under existing regulations and guidelines.

Scoping out surf spots ought to fit into 3,5,7, or 11?


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"The truth is incontrovertible.
malice may attack it,
ignorance may deride it,
but in the end,
there it is." -Sir Winston Churchill

There is some surf on Colombia's Caribbean coast.
Pacific side too of course, but you'd likely be the first to try it.