Ask Away: It's time to visit Cuba

Eli Orzessek finds the answers to your travel questions.

I was wondering how easy is it to get to Havana from NZ? What time frame would we need to visit the interesting parts? Is it safe?
Sue

As you may have heard, tourism in Cuba is on the rise because of the influx of American visitors after Barack Obama relaxed the rules. Because of this, many people recommend going there sooner rather than later — before everything changes. Others say the increase in tourism could be a good thing — better places to stay and more facilities in general. A friend of mine went last year and had an amazing time.

I've asked my contact Tim Cox at Adventure Travel Wellington for a few tips. He says 10 days is a decent amount of time to see Cuba — suggested highlights would be Havana, Trinidad, Vinales, Cienfuegos, maybe Santa Clara and the Bay of Pigs.

"Cuba is an incredible place to visit, with a lively personality and an interesting and colourful history. It's still undiscovered for most New Zealanders, but if it's on your list be sure to book soon, before everyone else discovers the joy that is Cuba," he says.

"You'll hear music almost everywhere in Cuba, and see a lot of salsa — but a lot of that is tailor-made for the tourists, rather than the natural 'local-based' salsa. If you look hard enough you can find small, local bars offering mojitos and more variations on the rum theme, where the locals are probably more than happy to talk about local life.

"Cuba is a unique and contrasting contradiction of Latin and Caribbean cultures, where rum and cigars are a way of life and salsa music can be heard on every street."

There are a few ways to get there, with some routes offering the options of stopovers, or a multi-destination trip. Now that there are direct flights from the United States, some of these flights can be used in conjunction with tickets from New Zealand.

Some travellers opt to go via Mexico to Panama, or take a stopover somewhere in the US — options could include sunny Florida, or some big-city time in New York.

While there are no significant security risks in Cuba, there is petty crime like in many other countries. Pickpocketing and bag snatching can occur, particularly in tourist areas and on public transport — so watch your bags and avoid displaying valuable items such as jewellery and mobile phones.

MFAT also warns travellers to take care with luggage at the airport, as there have been reports of theft from checked baggage. Keep your luggage locked and keep valuables on you, if possible.

And one more tip: Credit cards and travellers' cheques are not widely accepted and ATMs are few and far between, so Tim recommends you take euros. You can also use British pounds or Canadian dollars, but US dollars can incur a 10 per cent exchange fee.

Also remember that Kiwis travelling to Cuba are required by local law to have a valid travel insurance policy — including medical cover — before they enter the country.

Email your questions to askaway@nzherald.co.nz

Eli cannot answer all questions and can't correspond with readers.