Thoughts on Cuba

We had a ball in Cuba but some things when travelling on a boat do your head in. It is a different country that's for sure with the friendliest happy out smiling people but it's hard to see sometimes how they can be so happy as the government really rips them off. A doctor for instance who has studied for years and is one of the highest paid gets only 40cuc or $45 a month and things aren't all that cheap so it's amazing to think how these people survive, they do it tough. But then most have good clothes ect and seem to be out drinking rum and having fun so I don't know how they afford it. 

Then when you are on a yacht there are a lot of restrictions. They are paranoid about their people escaping from their own country so us yachties if wanting to go ashore in a populated town there has to be a marina there where they can see you get on and off your boat with no locals allowed near. Then there's only 8 marinas around the whole island that would be a say 1500nm journey around. So you HAVE to go to these marinas and then they charge us 30cuc a night and the facilities are minimal and all run down. So basically the tourists get screwed paying more than one months salary for one nights berthing and you have no chance to anchor. We tried at some other places to anchor just for shelter for the night but you soon get told to move on regardless of the weather. This seemed to mainly be on the north coast though from what we saw. The south coast seemed a lot more relaxed with the regulations. I would go back for sure to the islands, for me this is the best. They are uninhabited so the authorities let you stay there without a bother. The cities are fun for a couple of days but the hussle gets to you soon enough. Santiago was our favourite city, seemed to be the most authentic with loads of fun to be had in the bars, we also heard Trinidad was very nice but we couldn't get there with our 2m draft. 

And if you are heading this way on a boat make sure you are well stocked up. The shops here have only the very basics and then you still have to go to many shops trying to find them. About the only thing cheap is the rum for under $5 a litre! The water from some of the marinas has a chance of cholera so is not recomended for drinking so top up your tanks for sure because you can only buy 5ltr waters for more than 2$ a go. Fresh vegetables are not always the easiest to get and the choice is very minimum but we always managed to get enough. The fishing at the islands is amazing which makes it easy for dinners there which is a blessing. 

In all we are so happy to have seen this place when we did as it is changing soon. The Americans are now aloud to come in and already the tourist prices are going up everywhere. It will be good for a lot of the locals that's for sure to make some money for themselves but will change the place I'm thinking.

The cost for a boat to enter is $55 then $75 pp for your first 1 month visa and then another $25 to renew for another month.

In all I wouldn't have missed Cuba for the world, it was great and well worth it, not always easy but that's what makes it so special I guess.