Taking money to Cuba in March 2011

cag28

I am very confused about whether or not we can use debit and credit cards in cuba and if not how do people manage to be secure carrying cash? Hope someone can advise.

stephb34

I took my Thomas Cook credit card and could use that but they did want to add 11% service charge for using it. I also took £1000 sterling which i put in the safe, my insurance would only covered £300 cash each but that was the risk i ran. Other than that i don't know what to tell you. Strange really this american business cause when they convert the money from Pesos they convert it into us$ first then into pounds and i saw people tip them in 1 us$bills. Before you come home leave the Cubans any clothes you don't want anymore your toiletries and medical stuff etc they're very grateful.

cag28

As we are going to be travelling around the Island, and not staying in the same hotel every night, it seems crazy to have to risk carrying sterling and as you rightly say our insurance only covers £300. Are there ATM's to draw cash on a debit card? and if there are where are they?

Incapuppy

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g147270-c69372/Cuba:Caribbean:Currency.And.Credit.Cards.html

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g147270-s601/Cuba:Caribbean:Banks.And.Money.html

http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/north-central-america/cuba

ixia

We just took cash and exchanged it in the hotel or local bank. You can use debit cards but they won't accept anything affiliated with an American bank. have a great holiday the Cubans are wonderful people.

ChrisJones_2

I know I'm posting this a long time after you visited but I hope it will be useful to other travellers.

I visited Cuba in April 2011. I would advise taking cash (GBP is fine) plus a debit card. You can exchange cash for CUC relatively easily in most cities/towns. Once you are out of cash, cashpoints are limited in most places. Havana probably has only about 10 in it. Outside of Havana they are even more rare. Ensure that as you travel from city to city that you have enough cash to hand. I was in Trinidad and enquired about cashpoints and was informed the nearest was about 50km away. I was however able to withdraw money in a bank with my debit card and a passport. It took about an hour or so to withdraw it though, nothing is quick in Cuba.

cag28

We too went to Cuba as planned and had no problem drawing money on our visa debit cards and passport ID in the local Cadecas which are everywhere. It was fun queuing up with the locals and as we have just about get by in spanish we chatted with them and learnt a lot about their culture and how little money they are paid. We did not need to use ATM's as we found out the time the Cadecas were open which apart from Sundays and holidays they are open quite long hours and I hope this helps other people planning to go as there are still a lot of people saying you need pre loaded Visa cards which is not true.