So many people are afraid to travel to Cuba because of internet access. But I have good news for you. Yes it exists! But there a few things you need to know.
I first started traveling Cuba in 2017 to write a Cuban food guide. I based myself in Havana. It is crazy to think that a digital nomad would choose Cuba.
Initially I used data roaming from my Canadian phone company, bought scratch cards and went to the park. It was expensive and slow.
Thankfully it got better quickly, and prices decreased. I last visited in December 2025 and can share it’s actually quite easy to get a Cuban SIM card or an eSIM
Four Ways to get Internet in Cuba
You have four ways to get mobile data in Cuba. Over the years I’ve used all three! Each option balances cost against convenience differently.
- The tourist SIM (CubacelTur) is the easiest choice.
- The local SIM is cheapest.
- eSIMs work for newer iPhones that don’t have SIM card trays.
- Roaming (non-US travelers)
All three connect to the same network. Cuba has one state owned cellular provider called ETECSA. Your connection speed and coverage will be identical regardless of which option you pick.
Tourist SIM Cards: Easy But Pricey
CubacelTur offers two packages designed for visitors.
The Básico plan runs $13.99 for seven days. You get 4GB of data, 20 minutes and 20 texts.
The Plus plan costs $34.99 and includes 10GB of data, 100 minutes and 100 texts. It lasts 30 days from activation and includes unlimited WhatsApp and Facebook.
This is what I chose in December and it was great for everyday use as Whatsapp was the primary method to communicate with Cubans.
I ordered it in advance on the official Suena Cuba website. You can pay with credit card and you give them your flight details. Your SIM will be at the ETECSA counter, next to the luggage carousel when you land .
The booths are open 24/7 at major airports like José Martí in Havana, Varadero and Holguín.
You can extend your tourist SIM on the website. Each purchase extends your expiration date. The Básico extends by seven days per purchase. The Plus extends by 30 days. But there’s a hard limit of 90 days total.
After that, your SIM stops working permanently. You can’t extend it further or reactivate it.
NOTE: You can also buy your sim card at the airport but you must pay in foreign currency. I saw people do it but it seemed to be a hassle as not everyone’s credit cards worked.
Local SIM Cards: Cheap But Harder to Find
Back in 2020 I used a local SIM card. This is when foreigners could use them. The regular Cuban SIM costs 1,000 CUP. That’s under $3 USD if you exchange money well.
The catch? ETECSA stores often run out of stock. You might wait in line for hours only to hear they’re sold out. Or they just won’t sell to a tourist because they are low and tell you to go online to get the tourist SIM.
Local SIMs don’t expire as long as you add credit once every 11 months. Miss that deadline and your number disappears forever. But if you visit Cuba regularly, this is your best deal. You keep the same phone number year after year.
Data packages for local SIMs are heavily subsidized. You can buy 16GB for 950 CUP (around $2.50 USD). Compare that to tourist pricing and the savings add up fast.
If you’re on a budget message your casa particular host to see if they will get you one as waiting in line is a hassle and often involves a bribe to get to the front of the line.
eSIMs: For Newer iPhones Only
If you have an iPhone 14, 15 or 16 sold in the United States, you don’t have a physical SIM tray. You’ll need an eSIM instead.
Two providers work reliably in Cuba for 2025. GigSky offers plans from $19.99 for 1GB. GlobaleSIM and Kolet also serve Cuba with similar pricing starting around $9.99.
All eSIMs are data only. You won’t get a Cuban phone number. But WhatsApp, FaceTime and other apps work fine over your data connection.
Install your eSIM before you leave home. Cuban wifi is too slow and unreliable for downloading and activating an eSIM after you arrive.
Data Roaming
I don’t recommend this option as it’s not cheaper nor faster. If you run out of data you cannot top up like the Cuba SIM.
This won’t work if you’re American, but if you are Canadian or European check into your data roaming charges and if it covers Cuba. I recently switched to Freedom Mobile for their international roaming plan which is $45/month and includes 50GB of data abroad. It also covers Cuba!
Other Ways to Get Online
You don’t need a SIM card to access the internet in Cuba. But the alternatives come with limits.
Cuban airports offer 30 minutes of free wifi. You’ll need your passport number to connect. Additional time requires purchasing wifi cards.
Hotels and resorts usually include wifi for guests. Speeds can be frustratingly slow. You’ll likely get a login code at check in. Some hotels sell wifi access to non guests by the hour.
In December I went to several restaurant cafes and bought a wifi scratch card for 5 hours of internet for $1 USD. At Hotel Capri they’ll let you use it at the rooftop pool. Although the card can be used several times it only works at that hotel.
Many casa particulars now offer wifi. Ask about charges when you book. Some hosts include it free, others charge hourly. The connection is often slower than hotels but works fine for email and messaging.
Public parks and plazas throughout Cuba have wifi zones. You’ll spot them easily when you see locals clustered on their phones. Buy an ETECSA wifi card to access these hotspots.
Some restaurants and cafés offer wifi to paying customers. Your server will give you a login code. You usually get 30 minutes to an hour of access.
Must Have Cuba Apps
Although Cuba has internet it is not equal in every locations. Most tourist destinations are prioritized with strong signals. But if you’re driving between cities there are lots of stretches with no signal.
And if the power goes out so do the cell towers. In some cases I have indicated when the app has a component that can be delivered to your phone to work offline.
Remember your phone must be unlocked to use any Cuban SIM or eSIM. Call your carrier before you travel. Most North American carriers can unlock your phone over the phone.
VPN (Virtual Private Network)
It sounds techy but is actually simple. A lot of companies that are affiliated with the US must block traffic from Cuba to comply with the embargo.
This is a program that masks your location so that you appear like you’re in a different country and can view the pages. This is important for everything from banking to flight information, the Apple App store, Airbnb or TikTok.
iPhone users, especially iPhone 17 users have reported having issues even connecting to hotel wifi without a VPN.
I have used several over the years and while people often say the free VPNs are fine you get very slow connections. I use NordVPN because it’s fast and never fails. My referral link gives readers 75% off and the program can be used on multiple devices, both laptops and phones.
Part of the Meta/Facebook/Instagram group, this app is used by most of the world for messaging, calling and video calls. It is so legit you can usually message hospitals and government offices around the world with Whatsapp.
It’s free and works on wifi. Get your family at home on Whatsapp before you go so you have a guaranteed connection with them.
If you want to organize transit between cities, airport taxis etc there are also two Facebook groups of legitimate taxis:
You can search for these groups on Whatsapp. the second called PIKERA and coordinates both car and motorbike taxis in Havana.
For travel between cities I’ve always found that the casa particular host can arrange a better price. I usually ask for a shared “colectivo” taxi which means you pay for a seat in a car vs the entire taxi, which is cheaper and on my last trip the taxis were never full.
Google Maps
I know people will disagree but it works in Havana. Download the offline map to all of Cuba. I also download Maps,me as a backup.
Parts of Cuba still run on slow 3G or have no coverage at all, especially in the stretch between Havana and Viñales . Having offline maps and translation apps downloaded ahead of time isn’t just convenient. It’s essential.
Google Translate
It’s easy to use, you can type a message, dictate one and even take a photo of a menu to translate it. But a fair warning that just as English varies from country to country so does Spanish. I like to compare Cubans to Scots – sometimes no one knows what they are saying.
But in two years living in Havana I learned to win people over with local slang and Cuban Spanish.
Once you download the map make sure to download the Spanish library to your phone so you can use it offline.
El Toque
Forget the XE currency conversion app. It doesn’t work here.
With increased inflation and for demand for foreign currency there is an official state currency rate and a street rate.
The street rate is more common and so “official” there is an app that sets the daily rates based on demand.
You can find the rate on the website or use the El Toque app.
I don’t recommend trying to change money on your own. Once you get the El Toque rate ask your Airbnb host to do it for you, they may charge a slight “commission” but you’re guaranteed not to be scammed and it usually has rates that are up to 40% better,
La Nave
Cuba’s version of Uber, you need to use your phone number with La Nave and unfortunately it doesn’t work with American numbers. However, if you get a Cuban SIM that gives you a Cuban number.
Telegram
It’s not my favorite app but locals use it. There are groups and channels for everything from buying medicine to available jobs and sharing news during turbulent times. In the past it has been blocked during protests.
To find groups just use the search function.
Alamesa
Some call it Cuba’s Trip Advisor, but a modified version that can be downloaded for offline use. It started as a restaurant app that has grown into activities as well.
Is Internet in Cuba Fast?
Yes but not as fast as the United States or Canada.
There is practically no broadband service. Wifi comes by satellite and an undersea fibre optic link so you’re sharing it with everyone else.
You aren’t going to be live streaming on Instagram and videos may need to buffer.
But Internet in Cuba is fast enough to video chat – although I wouldn’t count on Zoom unless you’re doing it in Havana at 4am when no one else is online.
The strength of wifi in Cuba depends on where you go, when you access it and the weather.
The absolute worst time to access wifi is on a weekend afternoon when it’s cloudy.
And if you’re heading to Santa Clara Cuba, it’s best to just look out the window instead of hoping for internet along the way.
Remember, you’re sharing wifi with everyone else. Weekends tend to be slow as do rainy, windy or cloudy days.
After all, it is an island.
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Wow that was extensive!
There’s a lot to say!
Great article. I plan on going to Cuba in April. Do luxury hotels in Havana have ethernet connections in the rooms?
[email protected]
No they do not but the Iberostar Grand Packard offers free wifi cards and I would expect the Kempinski to do the same.
Oh wow, okay, that was one of the most informative articles I ever read. 10 points for that goes to you. Cuba is in my to-do list, I hope I will have an opportunity to visit it soon. You mentioned a lot of useful tips, so I am going to save this article for the future. I already use Nordvpn subscription, for now, it works perfectly I tried it on my trips around Europe and Asia, so I think it should be working in Cuba too.
Thank you so much for taking the time to write a comment. I spent a lot of time on this post so it means a lot that people find it useful.
Cuba is a beautiful place to be but then there are some limitations that come with it. This Internet issues might just top the list from a visitor’s perspective. I heard about this from a friend of mine but a few things were not clear to me. Thanks for this beautiful article.
Apart from the internet issue like you narrated…I simply love Cuba. Loved reading it throughout.
I rented a WiFi hotspot from Cello Mobile.com Its not cheap but I was able to have internet with me all the time.
Dan,
We went to Cuba in January and because we stayed across the street from Hotel Capri, our Airbnb had wifi. We are looking at a new place to stay and under Internet it says pocket internet. We are not familiar with this and assume it means they supply the device but how does it work?
Ahh yes you would have been accessing the Capri hotel’s wifi the first time.
I’ve never heard of someone referring to pocket wifi here in Havana, the only thing I could imagine is that extenders are becoming very common to extend the wifi from the parks into other neighbourhoods. You would still need the etesca cards for wifi but generally the coverage is good. I see them everywhere now in Old Havana but they seem less reliable in Vedado, not sure about Centro.
Pocket wifi is like a portable broadband from what I can tell. Most places seem to rent them and you get it and take it with you. But the place we have requested to book says they have the device and you pay $10 for 1GB to them for using it. So I don’t think you have to use the internet cards.
Interesting, I’ve never seen anyone use this here or mention it.
Regular internet is 4GB for 30CUC so the pricing seema right. If you use this I would love to see a photo and hear how it went for you.
Ok so I asked around because I was surprised I hadn’t heard about this new option for internet.
No one in Havana has heard of portable broadband and they think its a misunderstanding.
The general consensus is that the airbnb owner is offering a SIM card and that it was a typo because “packets” of internet are $10 for 1 GB.
It’s common for an airbnb host to now offer a SIM card and they must have written pocket instead of packet.
If this isn’t the case let me know.
I came home 3 weeks ago from Cuba and followed Dan’s advice to get a cellomobile device for wifi. I got a portable mifi device or whatever they call it and had internet in my pocket everywhere we went. The bill was very high, ended up spending close to $500 because I required a lot of data but it was well worth it. Sprint is my carrier at home and they wanted like 2 dollars per megabyte which is 2,000 dollars for 1 Gigabyte!!!!!!! Speeds are surprisingly fast in Cuba, no more excuse not to go because you’re outplugged 🙂
Hi, I will be in la Havana next week and will need to have an important Skype call. Could you suggest me the best place for it? Thank you!
Fra
Make it as early as you can in the morning and go to Hotel Capri in Vedado. You’ll need to buy a card from them for $1.50.
Let me know how it goes!
Muchas gracias:)
My aunt had a heart attack on a cruise and they took her to a hospital in Cuba. My cousin flew there and is having such a hard time communicating with us. There is WiFi in the hospital but only on one floor. I have several questions. Could you email me?
Sending you an email now.
Hi. Do Cubans have access to the internet at home using Cubacel?
It’s not normal for the average Cuban. Some of them have very slow wired service in their home but it’s rare and usually for people who work from home or have some reason to be online more often for a work-related service. Most Cubans just access it on their phones or bring their laptops to a park. However, as Google has partnered with the government I would expect that to change.
Thanks for replying back! I would like to know the difference between ETECSA and Cubacel. Are they both owned by the same company? Which one provides a 3G network?
I can understand, it is a bit confusing. Cubacel is a division of ETESCA which is the Cuban telecommunications company. There is only one provider of internet and it is government owned.
The term 3G is used loosely as often I find I have no service or less than 3G but Old Havana is pretty good for service. You would go to an ETECSA office in Cuba to get the SIM card and it can take up to 36 hours to activate.
Hi Ayngelina. Online English teacher here, due to fly out next Friday and only just discovered the issues with Cuban internet.
Am I absolutely kidding myself even trying to work this out? We use Zoom in our teaching, seems to work better than Skype by comparison. What do you think?
Online video doesn’t work well during peak times. If your students take classes very late at night or early in the morning and not on weekends you should be ok.
Thanks Ayngelina, that is a really helpful article. I´ll be there with some friends in June and was thinking about a SIM Card, but now I guess, it will not be worth the pain. And: it is also an interesting experiment to be almost out of the web for a while. I remember, that I paid a lot in Hotel Ingles in 2004 for just some mails. But as I know the Cubans – they always find solutions for everything. No problems como siempre.
Thanks again and all the best for you.
Ekki from Berlin/Germany
I’m so glad you found it helpful!
Getting online with wifi cards is now SO Much easier and the hotels are selling them for much cheaper. As long as you aren’t at one of the premium hotels it is usually $2/hour and there are wifi parks all over the place now.
But I agree, it is lovely to be offline sometimes. I love how when I’m with friends in Cuba no one has their phone on the table, no one is scrolling on Facebook after dinner. It’s so much more civilized.
I am connected on messenger with a couple of Cubans and we message occasionally I have been reluctant to video using messenger as I am concerned they are charged a lot at their end but is free for me Do you know the costs to them? I would be calling from UK and they live in Sancti Spiritus
I would guess that they are using wifi for internet video instead of data on their phone. If so, wifi is $1/hour for for Cubans.
CUBA IS A SHIT OF COUNTRY. I WISH THIS ISLAND BREAK APART AND I CAN GO WITH MY MOM IN USA. PLUS INTERNET HERE IS SHIT.
Oh, thanks so much for your writing style. I see you here and in Ben’s blog, love all you do 🙂
Awesome guide, thanks, I visit Cuba quite often myself, only thing that I still haven’t figured out is why I cant use my canadian cell phones for 3G data in Cuba (I tried Galaxy S7 and Iphone XR) Even though I have a cubacel sim card, I can use it to call, but the option to buy data is inaccessible. Any idea why?
You may have one of the older SIM cards that does not have data enabled on it. I would head into an ETESCA office and ask them about it as you should be able to access data now.
Hi Ayngelina,
I read elsewhere that you can get a permanent NAUTA card that can be topped up at ETECSA offices instead of buying cards repeatedly. We are coming for two months (assuming we get a tourist visa extension). Do you know what will be required, time frame etc? Is there an ETECSA office at the Havanna airport?
There is so permanent NAUTA “card” but Cubans have Nauta accounts they they can add money to. But if you’re going into the ETESCA office anyway having an account isn’t going to save you time.
Here are your options:
NAUTA ACCOUNT: Hardest to get, easiest to top up.
You could theoretically get a NAUTA account but you would need to go into an ETESCA office in Havana, there’s one on Obispo in Old Havana. The only foreigners I know that get them have Cuban partners. To be honest it could take all morning to do and you’ll need to speak Spanish because you’ll have to be insistent and it could be very annoying because workers won’t want to do it. You’ll need your passport.
To top up you can just do it on DING. There’s a fee to do this.
BUY A SIM CARD: Takes longer but easiest to top up.
Something that may be easier if you’re staying that long is to get a SIM card, which you could top up using the DING app and your credit card. You’ll need your passport. They just introduced new 4G packages that aren’t horrific costwise, about the same as Canada but much more than the US. The only downside is that not all of Cuba has great cell service it depends on where you go.
It can take up to 72 hours for the SIM Card to work. Everyone reports different experiences. But while you’re there you could pick up a 5 hour internet card while you’re waiting.
JUST BUY WIFI CARDS: Easy to do, can’t top up.
It’s not difficult to find or buy internet cards. In fact at ETESCA offices you can get the 5 hour cards and you can buy as many as you want.
Often times I’ll go in and pick up 4. Also if you’re in a wifi park there’s always people who want to sell it to you. It’s illegal for them to do it so they are usually discreet about it…even though everyone knows they do it and I’ve never heard of someone getting punished for it.
Of all the annoying things I have to do in Cuba, getting wifi cards is one of the easiest. Now finding eggs or bottled water, that’s a whole other issue.
Thanks. We will be very internet intensive in month two as we intend to try and do internet based home schooling which requires streamed video six hours per day. We will get a sim however this will be expensive. putting in a new card number half way through a lesson might be tiresome but trying to get an account sounds like it will be a challenge as well. We will talk with our host and see how it is going by month two. Thanks again.
I’m not sure that Cuba is the best country if you require internet daily for six hours a day.
If it’s raining or windy streaming internet is not possible. Sometimes too many people are on the same network. It’s best in Old Havana other cities are much more difficult.
But also Nauta cards only work in Hotspots. You cannot access wifi all over the city or say in your casa.
A SIM card doesn’t require a new card as it’s a card in your phone. You can access it outside Hotspots but it would be very expensive to stream video daily. You could be looking to 30CUC per day or more.
Great article. Can you recommend some of the casas particulares you mention in the article that have wifi?
If you do an airbnb search you can choose a filter that only shows casas with wifi. Most of the people who stay also leave reviews of wifi strength. If there are a lot of illegal nanos in the area or it’s far from the wifi area the signal will be weak.
I found your article ESSENTIAL reading! Thank you
One question, would you say that Cuba’s New Tourism SIM Card – Cubacel Tur would be a better option for someone coming over for 2 weeks and needing WiFi access for calling, emails and some streaming?
Thank you in advance
Wifi is still the easiest, cheapest thing to do IF you only need to do it once a day and don’t mind going to a hotel lobby or wifi park.
If you need to check emails a lot or want to do it from where you’re staying then data is absolutely better. I do a mix of the two.
I use data for when I’m at my apartment but when I want to use internet for an hour or more I go to a hotel lobby. You don’t need to be staying at the hotel, you just need to buy a drink. In Vedado I got to Capri Hotel and Presidente, in Old Havana I go to the Plaza Hotel on the corner of Parque Central. It is not the nicest and it doesn’t have air conditioning but they sell their hotel cards for 1 CUC/hour and the staff doesn’t mind if you buy a coffee/beer/lemonade and stay a couple hours.
Streaming is a hit and a miss. If you want to do video chat don’t do it weekend afternoons because Cubans love to video chat so you’ll be sharing the signal with a lot of people. Evenings and weekdays are best.
I haven’t tried to do a Facebook live or Instagram live yet. I don’t have enough faith that the signal would be consistent long enough.
How reliable is ordering tourist SIM card and have it delivered to pick up at T3?
Great article Ayngelina, well done, thank you.
Now I really understand how it workis in Cuba. I will be there in two weeks time 🙂
Unfortunately as it’s new I don’t have reports yet on if it worked or not. However, I’d print out the receipt and info just to have it on hand with you when you go.
Please please let me know if you have any issues! I try to keep this post as updated as I can.
And congrats on your trip! Cuba is an amazing place and you’ll have a great time. If you have any other questions don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m happy to help.
Great article! I clicked on the link for the tourist SIM card but it wasn’t clear where to go from that landing page.
I arrive Friday. Need anything?
Hi Ace! You just need to decide which provider you would like to buy from as you can only get this card from international providers. Otherwise you would need to use wifi cards or a regular SIM when you are there.
Thank you so much for the offer! I’m actually back in Canada this week braving the cold!
https://www.dtone.com/reloadcuba/ Is the link that you have on your page. But I have clicked a couple of the companies that pop up there and it’s not immediately clear if any of them offer the Cuban tourist Sim card. Some of them appear to be companies where people in United States could pay to reload a Cuban cell phone.
I arrived home yesterday after an awesome five days in Havana.
Here is my experience getting the temporary Sim card for tourists.
I went to Suenacuba.com and clicked on the big picture that says “cubacel tur has arrived.
On the next page you will fill out your name passport number etc. Then you will pay for the Sim card. He will email and text you a confirmation number.
When you arrive in Cuba you go to the Cuba cel office which is outside of customs and immigration at terminal three. I have read that there is one inside but I flew into terminal two so I can’t confirm that. I can confirm that the little office outside terminal two does not have the Sim cards.
The really nice staff there who actually speak enough English to help out, will take your code that you were sent from the website and put the new Sim card in your phone. Make sure to keep your home Sim card safe!
Now you are all set with one gigabyte of data, 20 minutes of talk time and 20 texts.
I use a lot of data so I went back to the suenacuba website and added another 4GB for $30. You can’t add this before leaving because you don’t know what your temporary Cuba Phone number will be.
Good luck and enjoy Cuba!
Do you know the hours of the cubacel office at terminal 3? My flight arrives at 11:30pm.
When you book your card you can talk to them about when you are arriving to ensure someone will be there. As Air Canada arrives daily at 11:30pm most airport services do stay open until the last plane arrives.
Hi! I loved how informative your article was. I’m going to be going to Cuba soon and staying in Cayo Guillermo. I know you said you’re in Havana, but I was wondering if you knew how “strong” the Internet in this area is? As in, would buying the Tourist Sim even be worth it? I’d just be using it for posting updates on social media and sending messages to friends (which I can use Messenger or WhatsApp for). Thanks again!
In this case I would just get wifi from your resort. The signal will be stronger and it will be easy to buy cards.
Hiya Ayngelina, thanks for that very interesting article, very informative, I was due to come to Cuba in March but due to the situation with the Coronavirus I am stuck in Spain for the foreseeable future, I got married last year in May to a Cubana in Santiago and now she is at home and I’m not able to come over to be with her, hopefully the situation will be resolved sooner rather than later.
Oh I love Santiago, what a fantastic city. I have been following what Cuba is doing online and my boyfriend tries to call hen he can, although even Havana is empty right now with no one on the streets. The government worked swiftly to minimize risk. It’s a hardship now but I think it’s wise to get everyone safe at home and then eventually we can all return sooner.
Wow great article! A real timesaver, thank you.
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Hola Ayngelina! Thank you very much for such a good article! I have a quick question, since this is very recent and we are in the COVID-19 era now! Do you have any idea if Zoom works in Cuba? We are considering living there for about 5 months, but I will need to have work meetings via Zoom. Please, let me know if you know anything! Thanks!
I don’t think the Internet is reliable enough to do video on a regular basis. If it’s raining video cuts out and if lots of people are online at once it’s not great.
If you were having calls with a different time zone and it meant you calling in the middle of the night it would be possible.
You would also need to be in Havana where wifi is the best
Also keep in mind that while Canadians get a 90 day visa, everyone else only gets 30 days. You could apply to have it renewed up to three times but after that you need to leave the country and return. Mexico is only a short flight away, both Cancun and Mérida are less than an hour and there are often sales in interjet.
But if zoom calls with video are an absolute necessity I’d say it’s probably better to spend the five months in Mexico.
Hi there! Thanks for this awesome piece, appreciate all of the work you put into it. Wondering re: Zoom for when video is a challenge, could I more *easily* just dial into meetings using the phone numbers Zoom provides to join? Wondering how that would work from Cuba. Would I need to get a SIM card/my own phone line there?
Yes you could just call in and not do the video portion.
Calling international with a SIM card is about $1/ minute so that’s not very practical.
If it were me I would just roam on my Canadian SIM card and call in. But it depends on what country you’re from. A US sim card would be too expensive but other countries may be more affordable.
Having spent part of the year every year since 2008, I have to say that this is one of the most informative and accurate articles about Cuba that I have ever read. Great work! I usually cover a lot of this in my orientations with travelers, but not to this extent. I’m going to share this with everyone from here on out. One question, though, if you don’t mind – I know it changes all the time (and maybe you want to keep it a secret), but is there a hotel or wifi hotspot that seems to be generally faster than others? I’m out of the loop, not having been to Cuba in two years because of the pandemic, and I need to do some intensive online work in Havana in a few weeks.
I haven’t been back since the pandemic either but I found Hotel Capri in Vedado to be the best.
Hi Ayngelina,
It is unclear for me if I can you WhatsApp in Cuba? On many websites it says it wont work, but you wrote it works fine in Cuba, I am coming in 1 week so I really would like to know. Also what about Telegram or Facebook messenger? Also to you wi-fi I still need tourist SIM, or I can have mine?
Thank you!
Yes you can, I speak to Cuban friends all the time with Whatsapp, it’s owned by Facebook which also works there. And so does Telegram.
To be clear, you need an internet connection in order to send and receive messages on WhatsApp. Many international phone plans will work in Cuba, but with roaming charges. I recommend either getting a Cuban SIM card at the airport or just going online whenever you are at a Wi-Fi park. Wi-Fi cards cost about $2 for 1 hour.
I’ve never paid $2 for a wifi card, did the price increase with the currency change?
Oh, sorry about that! It was $2 CUC ($2 USD) for a very long time and then just dropped to $1 CUC a year or two before the pandemic. Of course, if you speak Spanish you can talk to the guy at the wi-fi park who is pirating the wi-fi signal out to everyone from his laptop, in which case it is 50 cents per hour. Most Cubans use the data on their sim card instead of wi-fi these days (much less expensive). Foreign travelers can purchase a Cuban sim card from the ETECSA office at the airport. It usually has a smaller line than the ETECSA offices in Havana.
thanks for still answering questions after having written this piece over four years ago! i’m sure you’ve answered this already, so my apologies for being repetitive. i’m going to be working from my vpn while there, but i’ll need a connection for 10 hours, for 4-5 times a week. is that doable? also, will it be best if i brought my portable hotspot with me. i am based out of the united states. thanks a bunch!
No problem. I always update the post as new information comes.
So a VPN is good for accessing some US sites but I was surprised at how few blocked them.
In terms of a ten hour connection it depends on what you want to do and when you want to do it.
If you work early in the morning or late at night it’s easier. It doesn’t matter if you have a hotspot or connect via wifi the challenge is you are sharing with everyone else as it all comes from one place.
If it’s raining it’s a huge challenge and I would often give up on rainy days. And if you’re not on Havana the internet will be challenging.
To do things like run this website it was doable from Havana on good days that weren’t peak hours.
But don’t expect to stream, run zoom calls or watch large videos. Download big files after midnight and use them the next day.
Hope this helps !