AREQUIPA, Peru – Elena Liseykina, a Russian tourist who recently visited Cuba, posted an entry on the popular recommendation platform Yandex Zen which alerts potential visitors to scams on the Island, including the official currency exchange.
“Probably, most of the options for profiting from tourists are associated with exchange rates. And in general, the currency in Cuba,” the publication notes.
The tourist points out the variety of exchange rates for dollars and euros that exist, mentioning the bank rate, the official rate and the informal market rate.
“In the black market They will offer you about 300 pesos for one dollar, while the official rate is only 120. Therefore, if you are offered an exchange at a lower rate, do not accept,” he explains.
When making payments, Liseykina advises stocking up on information, checking the exchange rate on the “black market” and using a calculator, because although you can pay in dollars, “if you ask for the price in pesos it can be much cheaper.” She also reminds us that “it is illegal to exchange currency in souvenir markets and shops.”
In the Russian’s opinion, tourists are almost the only way for locals to make money. Therefore, prices will be several times higher than the real ones. “You just have to haggle and negotiate the price in advance,” he stresses.
“From Havana to Varadero, they may charge $100, although the real price is about $35,” Liseykina warns. When in doubt, she suggests focusing on the price of $1 per kilometer and remembering that retro taxis are more expensive than regular cars.
He also suggests negotiating the price of the trip in advance or using the La Nave app (similar to Uber) if you have a Cuban SIM card.
Other scams that the publication warns about are thefts and robberies. “Sometimes at the most unexpected times and in the most unexpected ways,” it points out.
In this regard, he cites cases related to towels in hotels, a “common” type of fraud.
“The thing is that there is a deposit of about 20 dollars for beach towels. If you lose your towel, you have to pay for it. It turns out that these towels are ‘lost’ regularly. And then the staff offers to solve the problem for just ten dollars,” he explains.
On the other hand, the tourist warns on insecurity This can happen in Havana, the island’s capital, where tourists are frequently snatched of earrings or chains. “They may try to snatch your bag from your hands. Therefore, if you go on an excursion, leave your jewelry and expensive items in the hotel safe,” she writes.
Not everything is rosy: other data and complaints
Last June, another Russian tourist also spoke out about the shortcomings of Cuba after spending some 500,000 rubles (around 6,000 dollars) for two weeks in a hotel in the Caribbean country.
He half russian Gorodoboy It includes the testimony of the vacationer, who argues that in Cuba “not everything is rosy, as seen in the images.”
The woman said that although the country is attractive to Russians, “even if you buy an expensive tour, you can face rude behavior and devastation.”
“The external appearance of the room was as expected. However, upon closer inspection, mold was found in the bathroom, stains on the sofa and armchair, and a broken plywood bed base,” the Russian said.
Among its Main complaints The hotel’s cleaning service was not available. According to the hotel staff, the beds were only made with dirty sheets and the towels were changed only once during the two weeks.
The Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) reported, citing the Cuban Ministry of Tourism, that the flow of tourists from Russia to Cuba in 2023 increased 3.4 times compared to the 184,800 Russians the previous year, thus surpassing the pre-pandemic record.
The Cuban regime expects to receive more than 200,000 Russian tourists this year and up to half a million in the future, the Minister of Tourism optimistically declared at a press conference with the Russian agency TASS.
