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Cuba travel advice Booking flights and arranging travel can be confusing, but the Operation Wallacea team are here to help. There are a number of starting points which Operation Wallacea would recommend based on the experience of the past few years. Updated 25 February 2011 Start and finish times Start and Finish Times The expeditions start on a Friday at 08:00 at the Colony Hotel, Isle of Youth, and finish on a Thursday at 1400hrs at the same location. You need to book your international flights to Havana and then take a Cubana Air flight from Havana to Nueva Gerona on the Isle of Youth. Most volunteers are going to be staying at the Colony Hotel on the Thursday night so you would need to arrive in Havana by the Wednesday night before your expedition and overnight there. On the return journey you would need to organise your flights from Nueva Gerona on the Friday afternoon and after an overnight in Havana would then be able to organise your flights from Havana.
Booking international flights From the UK/Ireland For the last few years the majority of volunteers have booked their international flights to Havana through the dedicated Op Wall booking service at STA Travel (0871 468 0668 or email opwall@statravel.co.uk). STA Travel offer group flights at competitive prices negotiated directly with the major airlines specifically for Operation Wallacea. It is always worth checking prices with a couple of other travel agents and STA have agreed to match prices wherever possible and you can book the flights by just paying a small deposit with the balance due 10 weeks before you fly. However, fares are not guaranteed until you pay the full sum. It is therefore in your interests to pay the full fee for your flights as soon as possible. Once you have booked your flights please email a copy of your flight itinerary to your local Opwall office. From North America Canadian volunteers can contact Victor Travel by calling toll free to 1-866-699-0199 or emailing opwall@cwtvictortravel.ca and they will send you a flight quote. Feel free to shop around online (e.g. www.expedia.ca) or visit your local travel agent for a quote as well. Once you have booked your flights please email a copy of your flight itinerary to your local Opwall office. Booking internal travel and accommodation Once you have your international flights to Havana booked you will need to organise your travel to and from the expedition start and finish points and for any accommodation needed in Cuba outside the expedition times. These arrangements are most cost effectively made by emailing Ernesto at our Cuban travel agent partners, Quick Viaggi (quickviaggi@enet.cu). You just need to email your full name, passport number, nationality and arrival and departure flight details and he will organise your accommodation and transfers to meet your international flights. He has organised a standard package for £140 consisting of:
If you are travelling on your own there is a total £15 single room supplement for all the 3 nights accommodation. Extra days in hotels in Havana can be organised for £20 per night per person. Once you have emailed Quick Viaggi with your flight details, name and passport number they will organise your flights and accommodation and will email you an invoice that can be paid by bank transfer to their parent company in Italy. Note making bank payments to Cuba is almost impossible because of the US embargo, but fortunately this problem is resolved by the Quick Viaggi arrangements with their parent company. All internal travel arrangements and accommodation with Quick Viaggi need to be made before 31 March because the flights to Nueva Gerona get booked up well in advance. We have purchased Medical and Repatriation cover to a value of £1 million each on behalf of all our volunteers and staff to ensure they are correctly covered. The cost of this is met by us and provided to you free of charge within the overall cost of your expedition. If you want to obtain additional insurance (eg loss of baggage, flight cancellation) then you would need to take out an additional insurance policy either when you purchase your flights or from another insurance provider.
Visas All volunteers on the Operation Wallacea project in Cuba will need to enter the country on a Tourist Visa which you will need to get in advance. The easiest way to do this is by booking it on line at the Visa Cuba website at a cost of £15 plus £5 postage. On the first page of the form you need to click that you have hotel accommodation booked for 3 nights or more. You can then fill in the details for just yourself or if you are part of a group you can complete the details for up to 10 people at a time. The address of the hotel you need to fill in is Colony Hotel, Carr De La Siguanea, Km 41, Isla de la Juventud.
IMPORTANT for Canadians: The first thing you should do is ask the airline/travel agent if your flight to Cuba includes the cost of a tourist card. Some airlines, specifically Air Canada, include a tourist card with a ticket to Cuba. In this case, you do not need to apply for a Tourist Card in advance. If this is not the case for your airline ticket, you will need to apply for a Tourist Card.
Please visit this link for more information regarding obtaining a tourist card: http://www.cubadiplomatica.cu/canada/EN/ConsularServices.aspx and scroll down to “Tourist Card”. The application form can be found on the left column. Depending on your province of residence, you will apply at the Toronto or Montreal consulates. If applying in person, the cost for a tourist card is CAD 24. If mailed in, the cost is CAD 54. You do NOT need to mail in your passport; a legible photocopy is required. Please contact the Canadian Opwall office for assistance.
Passport Your passport must have at least 6 months left (counting from your proposed departure date from Cuba) before the expiry date, otherwise you will be refused entry. It is important that you carry a photocopy of your passport with you because if it is lost you will have a much easier time getting a replacement. Also in Cuba it is required that you carry an ID card (e.g. photocard drivers license) or passport with you at all times, but photocopies of passports may be accepted. Once you have received your tourist visa you will need to keep it with your passport both for when you enter the country and leaving- don't lose it!
Money You will need enough spending money to cover personal on-site expenditure i.e. soft drinks, dive equipment hire etc. There are two main currencies in use in Cuba, the Cuban Peso (CUP) and Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC). You will only be able to spend Cuban Convertible Pesos, not Cuban Pesos but it is difficult to obtain these before travelling. The best way to take spending money is in £ sterling or $ Canadian. There are money changers in the airport and you can change money in Havana (either at the hotel or at the official Exchange offices called CADECA which are easily located). Do not bring US dollars as you can be taxed at a rate upwards of 18% on any exchanges! Your credit or debit cards may not always work in the ATM machines so don't rely on these for getting money out. ATM's often only allow you to take out a limited amount (roughly £100) and the amount of times you can take money out is limited per day and a 12% charge is added to each transaction. We advise against bringing travellers cheques as they are difficult to exchange. Remember to carry all personal documents and cash safely in a concealed money belt. The expedition costs cover all the accommodation and food costs from the start to the end of the official expedition, transfers between sites, on-site dive training and participation in any of the research projects or training courses. The costs paid to Operation Wallacea do not include:
Please also consider arranging a contingency fund to cover any emergencies. Cultural Advice Operation Wallacea runs in very remote parts of Cuba and you will find nothing but a very warm welcome from the local people. The research is run in conjunction with the University of Havana. Operation Wallacea have staff in their UK office who have first hand experience of the Cuba expeditions and they are happy to discuss any concerns you might have in advance of the expeditions. Alternatively Dr Jorge Angulo, Director of the Marine Research Centre at the University would also be happy to discuss any issues you might have and we can put you in touch with him directly. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) provide comprehensive travel advice, and currently state that most visits to Cuba are trouble free. |
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