6 of the 7 Continents For The Budget Traveler: Cigars, Scuba, and Celebration. Cuba New Years 2025

How Do I Go To Cuba From The USA: This information is CONSTANTLY changing, but for the record, when I went... From Miami to Havana, I got my eVisa from Cuba Visa Services, I filled out my Dviajeros travel form, I had them both on my phone and printed out. I have my flight booked with American airlines which I understand "should" include insurance. For all bookings I was booking with intent to support the Cuban people. This applied at the time to any passport coming from the USA. That was it, not very complicated at all. I recommend of course checking with official sources when you book your trip, now lets get to Havana!
Cuba had been on my list for a long time, and I feel like I always wanted to go on New Years! I've wrote about it a few times on this blog how it's my favorite time to travel and experience the start of the year in a new place, ending 2024 and starting 2025 would be in Havana! Here's my go to tips and advice on how I spent about a week on this beautiful island.

Our adventure begins right in Miami Airport. I had a layover of at least four hours in case there was any issue with the Visa, luckily online sources worked out great, and I was ready to fly without problems. I do recommend a couple of hours for your layover if it's there to make sure everything is in order, same when checking into your home base airport. The agents at the gate made announcements only in Spanish, luckily I speak Spanish, but it was sort of a "Wow... its time!"
The flight goes up and down, we didn't even have time for the flight attendants to give us our beverages.
The flight was quick, customs was not, the lines take quite some time for whatever reason. I had no issues, no odd questions once I was talking to immigration, but the line was long.
Taxi to Havana was pre-booked on Airbnb, definitely convenient. At the time of writing this the recommended cash price was $20-30.

View from my balcony

Old Havana was going to be not only home base, but the only base. This trip was 6 days or so, I didn't wanna spend extensive time on the road seeing other parts of the country, and while I am sure they are beautiful in their own right, Old Havana was my dream. I found a great Airbnb very close to the Museum of the Revolution, this was a perfect spot to get to the sea side Malecon, walking distance to pretty much everything in the city, a nice balcony overlooking the city as well. The city center I would say is The Capital Building which was about a 10 minute walk.
CASH. This is the hardest thing about traveling to Cuba that I didn't like. I don't like to travel with too much cash, but it is the only way to pay for most things there unless you have a non-USA credit card, and that being said, still very hard to find places that would accept that. $100 per person per day was my measure, and I didn't spend anywhere near that even being a big tipper. Somethings like tours, and airport transport were booked and paid on Airbnb which was convenient, some Airbnb experiences will want a deposit but the rest in cash. When I'd leave the apartment I never had all my cash, I didn't have any issues whatsoever with safety, but I didn't wanna walk around with wads of cash either.
CURRENY EXCHANGE: While US Dollars are accepted everywhere its wise to switch to Cuban Pesos as most places will charge more in dollars than pesos. I exchanged with the Airbnb host which was the best bet as they had lots of great reviews and were less likely to rip off on the exchange rate.
Speaking of safety, again zero problems, but remember things happen, at night I always took a taxi, bike taxi, or motor cycle taxi. I quickly noticed that once you are off a tourist street, street lighting is a luxury, the streets were very dark, and my night vision sucks these days, but again, no issues.
Of course you probably already know about cigars and mojitos, but....
I was super amazed how great the rest of the food was! From the fine dining to the street food, Cuba was one of the best food countries I have ever been to, did a food tour through Airbnb which was one of the best days, but also day to day restaurants, cafes, or street food in Havana was truly amazing and SUPER BUDGET FRIENDLY.
Definitely visit some of the forts! Castle of the Three Kings was my favorite.
You have to have a drink with Ernest Hemmingway at Floridita, pleasant surprise to see no one sat next to him for too long so everyone could enjoy the photo op.
Scuba diving was definitely a fun getaway from the city for a bit, the Airbnb tour also included a delicious lunch after.
Salsa lesson? Why not!? Also booked through Airbnb.
I wanted to ride in one of the Old Convertibles and get some good photos, so again with Airbnb I got the best of both world for a convertible car photo experience, also note, at the center there were tons of convertibles for day tours or quick trips.

Now of course it wouldn't be New Year's in Cuba, without New Year's in Cuba. Old Havana Square was the base for the party. Note dinner here was actually on par with US prices, but well worth it, but that being said, bring a little extra cash if you are eating in the square.

Old Havana New Year's Eve
After dinner with some great live music, and a cigar, there was a corner bar that had another live band, and back to Cuban prices for Mojitos, I finished 2024 there, and began 2025. Dancing, drinks, great food, great company, and an amazing start to the New Year.
There are some great roof top bars in the center, but beware, some of them are Government Owned and may not accept US Dollars or Pesos, and your credit card won't work, they will only accept non US credit cards. So just be mindful before you get bottle service...
The Malecon pier was a great way to start the morning after coffee, or during sunset.
Just walking around Old Havana and meeting locals was by far one of the best and most underrated things (along with the food!), plan on at least a full day or two half days of wandering the streets and seeing what you see. At night I didn't walk much, but even though taxis were cheap by day, I opted to walk to enjoy this beautiful city.

This one was on my bucket list for a long time. It was very important for me to go, and I think it was always planned to be one of the New Year's trips. I also wanted to take advantage of the legal route supporting the Cuban people, as in the past people went illegally through Canada or Mexico taking God knows how long verse the 40 minute flight from Miami. The wait was worth it. The history with the USA and Cuba has no doubt been a tumultuous one, but I didn't feel that from the friends and people I talked to there when I told them I was American. This is a country trapped in time, isolated, with some very poverty stricken regions, but through all of that, it showed me the light, it showed me the best parts, and the best people. I'll never forget the countdown in Old Havana in Spanglish... The party that became 2025, and the countless unforgettable experiences and beautiful moments that Havana Cuba brought me.