The risks of driving in Cuba. Your thoughts?

[Bill Hayes]

My experiences were fantastic but we were pretty naïve to the fact that if we crashed or injured someone we would be stuck. Also, my trip was back in 2002 from memory. So I imagine a lot has changed. I was with 2 mates and we travelled from Havana to Trinidad to Camaguay to Cienfuegos to Santiago de Cuba in a VW Golf with our luggage. Apparently it is tradition to pick up any hitchhiker who puts their thumb out but we had no room. I did some Spanish lessons so I was in charge of communication, one mate in charge of navigation and another in charge of transportation. It was difficult trying to organise the car and it took a few days to actually get one. Luckily I purchased a detailed map of Cuba before we left Australia from a dedicated map shop. The maps we found in Cuba weren’t very detailed. One of the hardest things was trying to get out of Havana and onto the main highway – the autopista I think it is called. There were no signs back then that we could make heads or tails of so we kept going around in circles trying to find our way onto one of the biggest highways in the world. We kept stopping to ask workmen but my mates would confuse everything and not let me speak first. Back then there were also a lot of touts. We stayed in a local house with a very nice old lady called ‘Cookie’. She organised with her network for a homestay in each of the places we were staying. But touts would see us enter the town and try and lead us in the wrong direction on bicycles and when we actually got to the address we wanted they would sit on the step and say that they had moved out but no problem we could stay with them…until we knocked on the door and they all took off. Interesting and frustrating all at the same time. I’m older now and would not enjoy the hassle but some great memories with mates looking back. If we’d of thought of the consequences of a crash I’m not sure we would of risked it. We flew back from Santiago de Cuba in a very suspect plane to Havana, not wanting to take on the multitude of potholes on the roads outside of the main highway. But we got to see a side of Cuba that perhaps not many have got to see.

[LLumley]

Sounds sketchy.... Ill take a cab!!!

[Ribeye]

If you do.....just keep plenty of cash on hand to begin paying off everybody from A to Z. And then sometimes even that won't work!

[skindiver]

I've been going to Cuba for twenty years. In the very beginning there were few cars on the road. After the first few trips I started renting cars because getting a car with driver was not reliable. with a car I could go where I wanted and when I wanted. I put up with the high cost, wait times,etc because I believed my vacation time was most valuable. Times have changed, though. In Havana, you really don't need a car, as reliable divers are easy to find now. My last trip in March, I rented a car for 3 days to go out to Vinales and San Luis, making sure to drive in daylight both directions. I am currently planning a 3 week trip to tour from Havana to Baracoa in November and will have a car and driver for that trip. Overall, I would only rent a car for a limited period depending on location and what I wanted to do.