Currency in Cuba and Central America?

purplecow1977

What is the best option?
Bring Euros and change money into CUC in Cuba?
Is it okay to rely on ATMs for Central America or should I hold some money to change into Mexican currency as well?

seanmacc

For Cuba bring Euros and Dollars. Dollars are more widely accepted but Euros are becoming more and more welcome. A lot of people I know never even bothered with the local currency.

Believe it or not a few small car parts like spark plugs, oil filters and nuts and bolts can get you a long way in the markets. ATMs are very few and far between and I wouldn't feel safe around them anyway.

I've no experience of Central America.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

lisasimpson

bare in mind there is a tax applied to converting dollars in cuba no such charge applies to euros over there

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

lisasimpson

there is two currencies in cuba one for locals and cuc for tourist. they go mad for the cuc from tourist as its worth a lot more than their day to day currencies. in some areas over there you have no choice but to use Cuban money.

atilladehun

From my experience you should change your money. If people see you paying in dollars at a bar you'll become everyones new friend and they'll all want a drink from you. Cuba is amazing but the locals are very poor and it's completely understandable. It's also a very expensive country for tourists so you don't need to be going around making a scene with dollars.

Zebra3

Euro all the way for Cuba, and change it when you get there.

No idea about Central America.

coylemj

Zebra3 wrote: »

Euro all the way for Cuba, and change it when you get there.

Are there 'official' and 'unofficial' conversion rates in Cuba? I recall that in old communist countries there was typically a black market in currency conversion and you'd get more from the guy on a street corner than official Government banks.

purplecow1977

I had heard that dollars are less desirable for a tourist as there's 2 conversion charges whereas with Euros and Sterling there's just the one. I was just wondering how widely accepted euro conversions were but it seems it's fine so I won't bother with dollars.

lisasimpson

I did mine in the airport when I arrived no hassle at all. check the hotel you are staying in as they might have a facility. often saw queues for banks

purplecow1977

Thanks. I'm doing a tour with G Adventures and it starts the day I arrive so won't have much time to get acquainted with the hotel but will try to convert at airport. Thanks.

lisasimpson

I take it with g adventures you will be staying in homestays. in stead of giving cash tips there, they will love it if you leave shower gels, body lotions pencils, pens, colouring books etc behind as tips instead of cash. so take the stuff from the hotel rooms and give them to the host as there are still loads of restrictions over there

purplecow1977

I had read on TripAdvisor that it is unfair to tip the homestays as they are already paid a higher allowance than others for doing the homestays????

hfallada

In most Latin countries like Argentina and Cuba. You are best bringing USD and getting them converted to the local currency in the non official routes as they are often 2/3 times the exchange rate you get when you go and get them converted the official way eg at the airport

lisasimpson

we all did it on the tour I did earlier in the year with intrepid. and we could see previous ones travellers did the same as we saw shower gels etc from the same hotels we had being in at the beginning of the tip. when you leave Havana (but it may also happen in around old Havana) you will have people coming up to you looking for you to give them something. they are generally not looking for cash but saops etc they recommend you don't give it to them as they don't want to encourage begging

purplecow1977

lisasimpson wrote: »

we all did it on the tour I did earlier in the year with intrepid. and we could see previous ones travellers did the same as we saw shower gels etc from the same hotels we had being in at the beginning of the tip. when you leave Havana (but it may also happen in around old Havana) you will have people coming up to you looking for you to give them something. they are generally not looking for cash but saops etc they recommend you don't give it to them as they don't want to encourage begging

But in the homestays then it's okay?

lisasimpson

yes as you will see when you leave Havana they have v little in the country areas.

purplecow1977

Will hair dryers be available anywhere in Cuba or should I bring my own? I don't mind leaving it to dry naturally but might like to dry it sometimes so it's not as wild!

lisasimpson

didn't see any in the homestays I was in to be honest the wiring in some of them wasn't great

purplecow1977

Did you have a great time?

lisasimpson

yes its an experience alright. interesting to see the restrictions and how the people want to modernise but cant. my tour group was lovely. if you've time and money the cayman islands is an hr away. if id known I would have included a trip there for a few days. I was on my own for a day either side of the tour and felt safe enough going around on my own.

Fagashlil

There's an extra 10% commission for changing US$$ due to the embargo, we brought euro and Canadian$, the exchange rate when we were there a few weeks ago was approx €1-1.27CUC. Anywhere we went we had to exchange our money as they didn't take foreign currency. As others have said, it's better to tip in the CUC as they're able to buy a lot more with it, but clothes and toiletries seemed to be appreciated a lot more.

purplecow1977

Would it be worth going to the Caymans?

purplecow1977

I don't have much/any Spanish so have invested in a Lonely Planet phrasebook - hope this will help.