averyglenn

Greetings all:

We are U.S. citizens and thinking of going to Cuba next February. Does anyone have any experience with waystocuba.com? It's a Panamanian travel agency.
Many thanks,
Avery

tigerhawk

I would be VERY leary of any scuba outfit offering to book US Citizens on scuba trips to Cuba. Undercurrent magazine has reported on a number of these providers being scam artists - one of two things happens. Either there is no trip and your money's lost OR they aren't really registered appropriately with the US Government and you end up paying BIG fines for running afoul {albeit inadvertently} of Federal Law regarding spending money in Cuba. You can look at the March 2005 issue online at www.undercurrent.org but you do have to register as an online member.

You might also post your question on the Rodales ScubaDiving website BB at www.scubadiving.com but I suspect you will get similar information.

Canuck_at_Canada_eh

Well I'm not sure where Tigerhawk got the Scuba idea, as your question seems to just ask about going to Cuba in general. I've tried the link www.waystocuba.com and can't get a connection. Is this link correct.

Also, what area of the USA are you travelling from? There are many Canadian travel agencies that take lots of Americans to Cuba through a Canadian gatweay. Other gateway cities that are popular with Americans travelling to Cuba are Nassau Bahamas and Cancun Mexico.

The odds are strongly against you getting an OFAC license to travel to Cuba, so you do understand that you will be circumventing US sanctions against Cuba. However thousands of Americans do this every year.

Your best source of advice would be the Lonely Planet Cuba Forum which is generally for independent travellers, and/or if you are close enough to Canada, or wish to fly through a Canadian TA, check out the Cuba forum at Debbie's Caribbean Resort Reviews.

Cuba is a fascinating country and my destination of choice since '98.

Steve

averyglenn

I'm not sure where Tigerhawk got the scuba idea either, but I appreciate the input. Unfortunately, we are not divers.

Yes Steve - I was just inquiring about general travel to Cuba. We are not going to bother applying for the OFAC license as we realize the odds of being approved are very slim. We will therefore circumvent. We are travelling from the South, so makes more sense to go through Bahamas or Cancun. I typed the website wrong; it is: ways2cuba.com. I will definately check out Lonely Planet's board - thanks for the tip and glad to hear you love Cuba so much!
Avery

tigerhawk

As I said - my information comes from Undercurrent magazine which caters to divers. I rechecked my March 2005 edition and they talked about several folks - names and addresses listed in the article - who were fined upwards of $10000 after returning to the US from Cuba on "approved" dive trips because the trip operator had not cleared the trips with US Gov. Also there are reports of a now bankrupt company called ScubaCan [the Can standing for Canada] that booked Americans on dive trips to Cuba then closed up shop without refunding money - and again the few US citizens who got trips got into trouble with US Customs.

Canadians MAY go to Cuba with no restrictions - and I know they like it very much. But without proper paperwork, US Citizens need to know what they are getting into - and a Panamanian travel agency wouldn't be high on my list. Fines by the US Government of several thousand $$$ a day for violating US law isn't worth it.

mhcatl

Tigerhawk:

way to cuba . com

not

way to scuba . com


they said nothing about scuba or diving...

mhcatl

Tigerhawk:

ways to cuba . com

not

way to scuba . com


they said nothing about scuba or diving...

averyglenn

Thanks mhcatl. I initially posted the website incorrectly. It is ways2cuba.com.
Was also wondering if anyone is familiar with gocubaplus.com or has any suggestions for an on-line booking company that Americans can use.
Gracias,
Avery