Cancun-Havana-Miami? how can I do it?

I am in Cancun, Mexico. I wish to go one-way to Havana, Cuba. From there, I'd like to enter the United States. I have a Canadian passport. My prefered point of entry is Miami. From there, I will work my way to New York, and exit the country from there (to Europe).

My question is can this be done? If it is too much of a problem finding a flight out of Havana (direct to Miami), I will simply skip Cuba and head to the U.S direct from Cancun. I need insight from a traveller who has done this route.

Cancun-Havan-Miami. What I don't want to do is go Cancun-Havana-Cancun-Miami.

Mostly, because I don't have lot of funds.

go to the top!

Such an obvious routing. Can someone tell me whether it is the US that refuses landing permission to Cubana, or Cubana that refuses to fly there. and vv with American carriers.

Best of luck Sandy.

The U.S. embargo against Cuba means that the United States refuses to allow Cubana to fly between the two countries, just as it prohibits its own airlines from flying the route. I know there are special charters between Miami and Havana, but I don't know the requirements to be able to use them.

mexicana flies from cancun to havana. no idea how to get to miami. hopefully some of your fellow canadians will know how...


fuzzylogic: (It's illegal for U.S. citizens to fly on Cubana, as it entails a cash payment to the Cuban government -- a trade embargo no-no.)

hi again, after more looking it does appear that no one flies havana>miami. cubana, virgin, iberia, air europa & air france all do fly out of cuba.
if it were me, i would rather see havana and cuban countryside and beaches than miami or nyc (but of course i have been both those places) and might choose to simply fly on to europe and see the states some other time.
maybe you could fly to another island from cuba that is not US held and fly into miami from there.

Check out this website:

http://www.cubatravelservices.com/

There are charter flights from Miami to Havana, used mainly by Cuban exiles and Americans traveling to Cuba.

Go the Dominican Republic from Havana then direct to Miami.

I'm going to make a guess there that cubatravelservices mentioned by MikeT does not allow one-way Havana-Miama flights. My guess is that all passengers must have a round trip ticket originating in Miami. Of course, I could be wrong.

Hadn't thought of that. It's probably going to require going back to where you started, or flying to someplace like Toronto or Montreal and getting into the U.S. from there.

Thank you Jeff.

Next question - would I be right in assuming this is something to do with the Cuban Missile Crisis? 1962 wasn't it?

45 years ago. How come there isn't any kind of movement in the US to get that embargo lifted? Think on. Less than 15 years after the end of WWII six countries of Europe formed the EEC.

One of those countries was Germany, another was Italy, and the other four had been invaded by the Nazis.

1958.

What is it that makes the most powerful country on earth continue an embargo whose original purpose is long gone and totally irrelevant to the modern world.

I look forward to being enlightened.

But there is most certainly opposition to the nature of the whole situation with Cuba from within the U.S. One should not assume that everyone agrees with the current leadership or status quo.

Steve

For those who asked, there are many available books and articles relating the events of the Missle Crisis and the Kennedy years. It is an important part of U.S. history that is documented if anyone wishes to read about it. Start with the Library of Congress.

Naturally it is an emotionally charged story. The CIA planned to help the anti-communists overthrow Castro by training Cubans in combat and also promised them air cover. What happened was we simply failed to show up for the air cover part of the deal. The Cubans were left defenseless, many died, and some, like singer Gloria Estefan's dad, jailed in Cuba for many years. He later came to the USA, enlisted in the US military, and fought in Vietnam for us, before becoming ill and dying from exposure to agent orange.)

This is not an opinion just a brief recap on historical data, and our official admission of the mistake is a documented matter of record. You can do the research it is easy to find.

But this is a travel website ...

It is my understanding that Americans who do not have relatives in Cuba may still travel there on some cultural agenda such as to study dance or music, but of course must apply for special permission to do so. Citizens of some other countries are allowed entry for purposes such as tourism.

US citizens that are Cuban exiles may visit family members with a special authorization. Many do so and take thei relatives basic items in restricted amounts, such as clothing and shoes, but not electronics since electricity is restricted there.
Cuba is a beautiful island with white sand and warm tourquise water not unlike that of Cancun. If one is thinking of vacationing there, you should be OK even though Cuba does not have "luxuries" for it's people, it does for tourists.

Thank you, emsdon. My question about the Cuba Missile Crisis was ironic/rhetorical.

The real question is why the USA finds it impossible to move on after 45 years - doesn't exactly promote the USA as a mature democracy does it?

Well, neither did the fact that the guy who received some 2/3 of a million votes _less_ than his opponent nevertheless still got to take office, and (the real kicker) nobody really made much of a peep about changing such an anacrhonistic system.

But again, not everybody agrees with the status quo, so it would be a mistake to characterize the entire nation based on what that happens to be.

Steve

Oh my mistake.
I truly did not get the irony initially. Not meant to citicize but understand while there are mixed feelings for many of us over this topic, for those of us whose familes never lived to see their dream of returning to a free Cuba materialze, we typically respond passionately and it' s easy to miss any irony.
It is very black & white for some of us.

The U.S. Treasury Department has greatly reduced the number of licenses it grants to travel to Cuba for cultural reasons, however broadly you want to interpret that. You can no longer go there under the guise of taking salsa lessons.

But I don't agree with the travel restrictions.

hmmmm salsa lessons. Yes perhaps. ..and certainly the eternal Miss Alicia Alonso would be especially amused to hear that after all she supposedly sacrificed in the name of the people and Fidel's Cuba. But I am sure it was worth it for her even if the first things one mentions in association with Cuban culture is salsa, no?

I thank you all for your responses.

Ryberg - agree - but the problem for those of us on the outside is that there is so little noise from the inside about all the absurdities. If you were me, what would you conclude?

Amsdon - you see, I thought it was ironic because I assume people know the history. It's interesting that you assume that I don't. So I have one further question and then I'll leave this.

Is what happened betweeen the USA and Cuba in the early 60s taught/mentioned as history (or even as social studies) in US schools?

This is something it would be hard to find on the web - what search argument would you use? - so I would appreciate any replies.

And finally, Alicia Alonso and the Ballet Nacional de Cuba. Saw their Giselle in London a few years ago - not the best Giselle I have ever seen, but certainly up there. And then there's Carlos Acosta, and probably much more I don't have the faintest about.

Stuff salsa.

And like I said, will drop this now, but fascinating there haven't been any ultra right wingers along to defend the status quo.

Hope to visit one day. Australia - Europe - Cuba - CA - SA - and off for a wander - I'm lucky - I can bypass the US altogether.

All the best.

Hi Fuzzylogic:

It has been many years since school for me but nothing was mentioned in the public schools that I attended.
But that is the Los Angeles Unified district. Who knows what the situation is now I unfortunately did not have children I can not say first hand what the schools taught in the last 30 years.I am hopeful that there are some good social studies teachers there..My parents were members of the Cuban American Teachers Association in Los Angeles. Many of our dear friends along with my parents have passed away however of you wanted a a contact of someone I could get it for you .I have not kept up with anything online sorry. Books however re the Bay of Pigs: Dagger in the Heart: American Policy filures in Cuba by Mario Lazo, The Crisi in Cuba by Thomas Freeman, and the Great Deception by James Monahan & Kenneth Gilmore. There are of course many more.

I have also not kept up with the current world of dance . Re Giselle they were very foucused on the classic white ballets. You may already know, one of the greatest of the Cuban Giselles, Josefina Mendez, who was one of the "4 Joyas", passed away in January. Some feels her interpretation rivaled Alicia's...Josefina was in her prime in the 60s and 70s and until her death she was a silent force behind Alicia's company.

Thaks for the exchage yes I will drop it too...take care.