Cuba vacation. Yeah, we said it. Vacation. Vacationing in Cuba is possible now! There are some restrictions, but they’re all met by Discover Corps tours.
Once you decide a Cuba vacation is in your future, the ways in which you can experience the country are endless. Our five suggestions: A weekend getaway in Havana, a Yoga & Culture Exploration (think: retreat), a celebration of arts and culture, volunteering in Havana alongside Cuban youth, or exploring Cuba’s natural side – including the lush countryside and biosphere reserves.
Pack your bags, grab your hats and sunglasses, brush up on your Spanish, look forward to your favorite cigar, and let’s go!
CUBA VACATION EXPERIENCE #1: HAVANA WEEKEND GETAWAY
You can experience the best of Cuba’s most vibrant city over a long weekend! Soaking up Cuban culture, art, music, history, and food is just the beginning.
Take the opportunity to explore the Malecón – a 5-mile seaside boardwalk and drive, dubbed “One of the city’s most soulful and quintessentially Cuban thoroughfares, and a long favored meeting place for assorted lovers, philosophers, poets, traveling minstrels, fishers, and wishful Florida-gazers.” by Lonely Planet.
Next up, pay a visit to the charming seaside town of Cojimar. Spend the morning uncovering Ernest Hemingway’s old haunts!
No Cuba vacation would be complete without living like a local and learning about tradition and history. Here, you’ll walk the historic cobblestone streets, gaze wondrously up at the Spanish-style cathedrals, and discover Havana’s colonial squares. Better yet, you’ll do this all to the natural soundtrack of live music echoing across the buildings.
With Cuban-American relations warming up and tourism growing into the future, there is no better time than now to experience Old Havana before it changes for good.
CUBA VACATION EXPERIENCE #2: YOGA & CULTURE EXPLORATION
If you’re a yogi who hasn’t gone a Cuba vacation, you’ve yet to experience yoga’s next frontier. Once upon a time, yoga was actually regulated by the Cuban government. These days, it’s recognized as a way to promote good health.
In addition to connecting with the Cuban people through yoga, led by the “Godfather of yoga” (Eduardo Pimentel), you have the opportunity to give back by helping the elderly with yoga and movement exercise.
While the central focus of this Cuba vacation is connecting with people through yoga, there are plenty of other amazing sights and sounds on the agenda! Fill your downtime with unique activities like taking private salsa classes, visiting Havana’s Museum of Fine Arts, spending a night on a tropical Cuban key, and visiting tobacco and coffee plantations.
CUBA VACATION EXPERIENCE #3: CELEBRATION OF ARTS & CULTURE
Say “Cuba” to someone, and what they’ll likely envision is great food, enchanting music, the magnificent architecture and colors of the island, a nation going through change, beautiful beaches, active nightlife, and a cultural scene unlike any other.
And they’d be right.
Our “Celebration of Arts & Culture” Cuba vacation immerses you in all of these things. With art and color at your fingertips at every turn, be ready to experience a nation of vibrant music, feeling, and tastes! With culture comes passion, and you’ll feel and see that from many of the locals you interact with.
Jazz and salsa music wind through the streets of Havana. The Habana Compas Dance troupe mesmerize with their performances. “Learning about history” takes on new meaning when you visit the Bay of Pigs. You’ll have every opportunity to see firsthand how life, history, and culture melt together on this Cuba vacation!
CUBA VACATION EXPERIENCE #4: BUILDING BRIDGES
While we’re known for vacations with purpose, allowing you to infuse your once-in-a-lifetime vacation with doing social good (volunteering), we won’t have you actually building bridges in Cuba. Instead, you’ll do your part engaging in citizen diplomacy. Volunteering alongside local youth and helping to revitalize the community of Lawton are just two of the ways you’ll spend some time helping during your Cuba vacation.
And just wait until you see Muraleando (Spanish for “mural making”)! It’s the place where local children come together to learn art, music, and dance.
Muraleando is part of the ongoing project aimed at both improving the aesthetics of the Lawton community and providing a creative outlet for the youth.
CUBA VACATION EXPERIENCE #5: PRESERVING NATURE’S WONDERS
Does lush countryside come to mind when you think of Cuba? What about tropical offshore islands, biosphere reserves, coffee plantations, tobacco farms, well-preserved reefs, and botanical gardens? Your Cuba vacation will be full of all of this (and more)! Welcome to Cuba, the “Pearl of the Caribbean.”
Natural beauty and the obvious absence of most pollution (in addition to government conservation efforts) combine to create this “accidental Eden.” When you step back into time to visit this place that time forgot in all the best ways, your trip will look something like this:
- Wake up to fresh Cuban coffee brewed at your casa
- Jump right into the activities of your choice, including
- Visiting the colonial squares of Havana
- Guided treks through the Viñales Valley
- Visiting a tropical Cuban Caye (offshore island)
- Riding a boat down a river that winds through caves
- Take a break for traditional lunch at a palador (privately owned restaurant)
- Continue your journey across the island
- Visit a private botanical garden
- Meet the owner of an ecological farm
- When it’s time to eat again, enjoy dinner together!
- Spend your evening exploring Cuban nightlife
Which Cuba vacation would you choose and why? Tell us below in comments!