Is it affordable to stay "long term" in Cuba? We live in Australia.

Question

I am considering spending up to nine months of the year overseas while renting out our home in Brisbane Australia. I would like some advice as to the cost of staying in rental accommodation and food etc in Cuba. Please explain about "convertible" Peso's and the typical weekly rent in US dollar values. Is there a period of the year to avoid such as a "wet" or storm season? If so, when is that period?

Answer 1

Basically if you want to stay for a long time in Cuba, your best option is to rent at a casa particular. They are about $25-35 CUC. Food is not too expensive and will depend on what you are looking for.

However, you would need to check with your Cuban embassy in Australia for the maximum amount of time you are allowed to stay in Cuba. From what I know, a UK resident is allowed 30 days on their tourist visa and can extend it another 4 weeks while in Cuba.

A student visa can be extended for 12 weeks.

So I'm not sure how much possible it is to stay for 9 months. That would be something you would need to discuss with your Cuban consolate in Australia.

As for wet season, the summer is typically rainier but not necessarily extremely wet all the time. Hurricane season is typically from June to beginning of November. November to April is what you would consider the 'dry' season. It's a little cooler and less humid. Don't be too worried about hurricanes...they are highly unlikely...if anything would happen, Cuba takes high protective measures for their citizens and visitors.

http://www.gocuba.ca/en/generalInfo.asp

CUC are Cuban convertible pesos that are only used by tourists.

http://fxconverter.com/

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/cub...

http://habanasol.com/cuba/pesos.htm

Here are some links that will help you with where to stay for accommodations, travel, restaurants and food expenses. I have a few more but are not this computer I'm using. So you can feel free to email me if you want to know more.

http://www.cuba-junky.com/cuba/cuba-casa...

http://webhavana.com/en/taxonomy/term/14...

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/cub...

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/cub...

http://viazul.com/asp/reserva/Default.as...

http://habanasol.com/cuba/buses.htm