Posted By Tom W. on Feb 9, 2016 in Travel | 2 comments

Tagged: caribbean, cuba, travel

As travel to Cuba from the US slowly opens up with the current administration’s restoration of diplomatic relations with this Caribbean island nation, figuring out how to travel to Cuba comes to the forefront for many Americans looking for the next big thing in travel. If you think, however, that you’re going to just be able to jump online, book a flight through Expedia and next thing you know you’re drinking mojitos on Varadero Beach well, you’d be a little off.

Travel to Cuba is possible but there are a lot of conditions attached to them but at the end of the day, travel to Cuba for the normal everyday tourist is still prohibited. I don’t feel the need to go into all the details because there are ample sites like About Travel, CNN and the New York Times that explain it a lot better than I ever could. Basically, this is what it boils down to – unless your trip falls under one of these 12 categories, good luck getting to Cuba legally (at least for those of you carrying a US passport):

Family visits
Official government business
Journalism
Professional research and meetings
Educational activities
Religious activities
Public performances, clinics, workshops, exhibitions and athletic competitions
“Support for the Cuban people”
Humanitarian projects
Activities of private foundations or research for educational institutes
Exporting or importing information or “information materials”
Travel related to some authorized export transactions

Journalism, huh? Guess this blog might finally start paying off. After all, Cuba’s beach bars need to be researched, right?

Until then, here are ten photos to hold you over until your favorite airline starts advertising fares to Cuba on Expedia. Or you can finally start that blog you’ve always been talking about. All images are part of the public domain and are free for commercial use with no attribution required.