Anyone been to Cuba lately?

[Jim Peace]

Aside from covid and insurance issues what airport would be the best to visit in Cuba for an extremely short stay.  I just want to land walk around and then head back to Florida, lunch would be great but not necessary.  Is there an airport that is more GA friendly than another?

Doing this quick trip plus a couple of trips I have scheduled with my company will put me at 75 countries visited...Its just a gee whiz thing....

TIA....

and hello from Warsaw....

 

 

 

 

[SoccerCA]

In short, it's complicated because the "Land of the Free" does not allow its citizens to travel freely to Cuba without an explicit permit and only for specified purposes (tourism not being one of them), a policy that dates all the way back to the Kennedy administration, if I remember correctly. Google "travel to Cuba" and you'll get the picture pretty quickly. If things ever open up I'll join you for lunch down there. Greetings from the Creek.

[carusoam]

Ask @201er…

-a-

[Jim Peace]

4 hours ago, SoccerCA said:

In short, it's complicated because the "Land of the Free" does not allow its citizens to travel freely to Cuba without an explicit permit and only for specified purposes (tourism not being one of them), a policy that dates all the way back to the Kennedy administration, if I remember correctly. Google "travel to Cuba" and you'll get the picture pretty quickly. If things ever open up I'll join you for lunch down there. Greetings from the Creek.

I think a few guys off of mooneyspace have been there prior to Covid. 

[201er]

7 hours ago, Jim Peace said:

Is there an airport that is more GA friendly than another?

No. And it wasn’t easy even before Covid.

[FoxMike]

I have been to Cuba twice in private aircraft both times with a group.  Cubans are glad to see you but the last administration  limited the rules so trips like I was on could no longer be done.  A few people I know have gone to Mexico then on to Cuba.  One of those folks got his passport stamped by the Cubans and customs caught him.  Unless the rules change I do not think a trip you envision could be done.  The only US tourists who are able to get into Cuba now are aboard cruise ships.  Keep your overwater gear nearby because things will change in time.

Edited October 15, 2021 by FoxMike
forgot a word

[carusoam]

Border crossings are supposed to open again for the those with vaccinations…

See if that will help any…

Or visit Canada instead…. 

Best regards,

-a-

[Jim Peace]

4 hours ago, carusoam said:

Border crossings are supposed to open again for the those with vaccinations…

See if that will help any…

Or visit Canada instead…. 

Best regards,

-a-

yes I know all about border crossings....been to at least 4 or 5 countries in the last week...Hello from Vienna by the way...

I have done enough Canada time....

Checkin in the hotel here just now and also in Germany they ask for your covid jab card....no card you must get tested at some point and you cant eat in their restaurants or use the gym without a card or a recent test...

 

[steingar]

For awhile travel to Cuba was less restricted, and a bunch folks went. I never really wanted to go, as Havana had once been as nice as a fine European capital.  Once, long ago, but now everything has gone to seed.  A great city going to living ruin just doesn't sound like Steingar.

[EricJ]

4 hours ago, steingar said:

For awhile travel to Cuba was less restricted, and a bunch folks went. I never really wanted to go, as Havana had once been as nice as a fine European capital.  Once, long ago, but now everything has gone to seed.  A great city going to living ruin just doesn't sound like Steingar.

Such a cesspool:

 

I've been to a lot of cities and countries that were described like that and turned out to be nicer than most of the US.    I travelled to Russia a lot in the 2000s and still had all the US propaganda in my head when I started...and boy was it all wrong.

I've never been to Havana, but I wouldn't turn down a trip, for sure!

 

 

[Jim Peace]

 

[carusoam]

Wait a second Eric…. 

The two pics…. One is B&W, but not 1950s black and white…

The cars are quite modern… upon further review…

Certain streets in midtown Manhattan have all gone pedestrian friendly… note the tables where the cars used to be…

The ability to have digital display signs on everything has been everywhere and growing for the last decade…

 

Looks like a B&W 2010 vs Color 2020 scenes around Manhattan… 

 

Post Covid NYC… the streets were empty….  No visitors… no office workers….

Under ordinary conditions… 50% of people on the streets walking are visitors….

@201er landed at every NYC airport one day… flying direct to ClassB after ClassB…  JFK, EWR, and LGA!

 

NYC is where you go for experiences… broadway plays, Guggenheim museums,  really tall buildings, monster scale restaurants… an aircraft carrier… see a Billy Joel concert with 20k Billy Joel fans seeing their 50th Billy Joel Concert….

Some Octobers you might see a Yankees game… The RedSox are still playing about 200nm north from here… a Mooney hour away.   

 

Cuba has wonderful people… many got out of town before the collapse into communism…   Capitalism isn’t perfect…  but at least we can vote out the incumbents!   

Other than it is hard to travel in Cuba compared to other places…. I would love to tour several islands in the Caribbean… Cuba would be on the list just to say I went…. Similar to visiting East Germany…. And now Russia…. Many MSers are originally from  these places… or neighboring areas…

 

How cool is that?

Go Mooney!

Best regards,

-a-

[EricJ]

My vetting of that pic didn't go much beyond snipping it from the website of a Havana media site article about the city changing.    

Still, looks pretty nice to me.   Reminds me of southern Europe:
 

 

Edited October 17, 2021 by EricJ

[mike_elliott]

@rocketman and I went to Havana in 2018. There are 2 currencies, one for the locals and one for "the rest" of us. Ours, the CUC is 24 times more valuable and outlawed to own by the cuban citizen. Everything will be the same price, for example A beer will be 5 CUCs or 5 CUPs. Non citizens basically pay 24 times more for the same things.  The people did not have a pride of ownership because there wasnt any real ownership to be proud of. And the once magnificent buildings showed this.  If you go, take a few things like hotel shampoo's etc to give to the people. They really appreciate things like this. Toilet paper is sold by the sheet at public restrooms for about $1 USD or CUC as this is how the attendents get their pay. Dont expect a toilet seat, that is a true luxury. 

On the bright side, the food and music I found to be great as it was mostly organic in nature straight from farms. I know @201er didnt care much for it, but hey, he is from NY and is used to 7" tall deli sammies.  The people were all friendly and appreciative of our cash infusion.

The museum of the revolution was an eye opener. Every problem they have is the CIA's fault, just ask the guides. Its the Cuban version of white supremacy. While I am sure there is an element of truth to some of it, not everything was passing the smell test, and that wasnt because of the abundance of feces from ferral dogs and cats in the Old Havana squares, they were much cleaner than parts of LA and SF.

All in, it was a trip well worth the education of exactly what communism is. Extreme poverty and Extreme wealth at the top. Kind of like here with a much larger amplitude fiscally

 

[A64Pilot]

Used to be the way to Cuba was via the Cayman’s, take a Commercial flight to Cuba. Short flight and not expensive.

It’s the US you need to worry about, if they can show or believe you flew to Cuba the punishment is pretty tough, and there is a tethered balloon in S Fl that will track you whether you have a transponder on or not, whether they choose to prosecute or not I don’t know, but they track even private  boats, a metal airplane is easy.

You showed Cuban immigration your passport, but don’t let them stamp it (they know the deal) instead they stamp a loose piece of paper, then you have an entry stamp that can disappear, but don’t show backup in the US with a Cuban entry stamp in your passport, CBP won’t be pleased 

There were three IFR corridors over Cuba that I assume are still there. I had heard but cannot verify that if you had an emergency and had to land, you may loose your airplane. 

US State dept inadvertently messed up me overflying Cuba in a Thrush, they were overflying and at 9,000 ft or so on an IFR flight plan saw another aircraft so the pilot logically pulsed the smoker so he would be seen, that quickly of course became the CIA was spraying chemicals on the Cuban people of course and no more US crop dusters overflying Cuba.

Edited October 17, 2021 by A64Pilot