The cuban island is filled with great places for diving, nearly anywhere on the coast there are many possibilities and its quite difficult to decide where to go! Because of its beauty and virgin dive spots it is almost guaranteed to have a fantastic time in the underwater world.

choosen dive spots

As a passionate diver I was really exited to do my first dives in Cuba and I wanted to take the chance to explore different dive locations.

In order to get a good overview I choose three locations to go diving!

In the east Baracoa, Cayo Coco facing to the Atlantic Ocean and Playa Giron on the caribbean side.

Dive Shops in Cuba

Almost all dive shops in Cuba are still run by the government and you cannot do dives without official permission.

Thats not an advantage for low budget diving!

There is no real competition and negotiations are not possible, because all prices are fixed. But still there are huge differences in prices between the different regions in Cuba!

good dive standards and safety in Cuba

A very good point is the saftey level in cuban dive shops. Because all shops are under frequent checks, all dive equipment is usually under very good condition.

A big plus for safe diving everywhere in Cuba!

Diving in Cayo Coco

Getting to the sand keys in Cuba is like traveling in paradise. Due to its fantastic waters and awesome beaches all the keys on the northern side are very popular. Therefore they are also one of the most expensive places in Cuba to visit.

paradise on earth: keys in Cuba like Cayo Coco

There are no casas particulares (read about casas particulares) to rent in, because locals dont live in these places. The main possibility is to get a quite expensive hotel starting from € 80/day.

But I found a much cheaper and more exclusive way to spend  4 days and nights in Cayo Coco!

Thanks to my spanish I was able to get very useful informations from locals how to visit the keys for less money! Instead of booking a hotel, you can get into a country residence run by the government.

low budget country residence: best happened to me & my budget

A stay here is much cheaper than any hotel and costs between 35-40 €/day including 3 meals and drinking water.

And a big advantage for my healthy food habits!

Because as a guest in a government country residence your food is prepared as you want it. And I got lots of salads, fruits, vegetables and fresh fish prepared for me. And I asked not to serve me any bread, sugars or processed foods!

living good & eating healthy on a low budget

So this was the most important point to save on my budget during diving in Cayo Coco. Because nearly anything on the keys is costful, also for diving it is not the best place for saving money.

Two dives did cost me € 70 including all equipment rental.

For this reason I decided to do more freediving activities. And for one of my freedives I got a great hint from a local divemaster where to go to see lots of sharks! Unfortunately the sharks where getting fed and a shark feast happened in front of me! Watch this clip about my freedive in Cayo Coco.

Another very important saving tip is getting on and off the keys.

Taking a taxi is the most common but also the most expensive possibility and you can easily spend € 100 and more for a one way drive. When I got on Cayo Coco I found a little group and we shared a taxi together in order to save money .

cuban oldtimer taxi

But using the local buses the cuban workers use to get on and off the keys is still much cheaper. Its a little bit tricky, because you need to tip the bus driver, but with some friendly spanish words and a little “propina” everything works fine.

Instead of spending for an expensive taxi I payed € 10 including the tips to get a ride back by local bus to the main island.

Diving in Playa Giron (Punta Perdiz)

Before arriving to Playa Giron I have already heared many divers talking about this huge bay and its exeptional underwater world.

Playa Giron is a little town and perfect for economic divers!

In comparison to the keys accommodation is possible at local families and I took a nice room including breakfast and dinner for only € 20/day.

driving an Oldtimer in Playa Giron

And the diving itself is also much cheaper in comparison to the keys. Here I payed less than € 20 for a dive, what made me do five dives in total!

And again a local gave me a great tip for a good dive shop!

You can go to the only dive shop in Playa Giron and dive with huge groups of divers. Or you go to a little dive shop in Punta Perdiz (only few kilometers north) where you can enjoy small groups and more individual diving!

a little bit hidden: the dive shop in Punta Perdiz

And every dive was fantastic and I was able to do some great footage underwater!

In this clip you can watch an exeptional fish in its different phases of his live:

And more great things happened during my dives.

Here you can watch a moray eel that fell in love with me and my GoPro cam and tried to give some kisses!

No joking, moray eels can be quite dangerous and I would never try feeding them. Watch this nice clip where a green moray eel is swimming very close with me.

Diving in Baracoa

Unfortunately the weather in Baracoa was very rainy during my visit. It was easy to get a connection to a local dive shop by asking my guest family. And I planed to do some dives with a local Dive Instructor, but due to the weather I had to postpone my diving experience in Baracoa. But even if I did not do dives in Baracoa it was the most magic place in Cuba for me and I would definetly recommend going there!

Baracoa is a perfect hiking location

The expenses for one dive should be around € 25, that seemed pretty fair to me. Nevertheless that gave me possibilities to do other great stuff in Baracoa.

Thanks for you interest and hope you enjoyed my saving tips! If you want to read more useful hints on saving money while traveling Cuba you should read the previous post on my blog Traveling Adventures!

Your Lui

Low Budget Cuba? Too expensive for backpackers?

If you want to know more about how I changed my lifestyle before traveling, get my free E-Book. “3+1 Power Recipes” is now available for downloading on this website. All you need to do is to subscribe with your E-Mail below this post down here or in the side bar.

[lab_subscriber_download_form download_id=2]

Then you have to confirm an E-Mail you will receive from Traveling Adventures. After that you will be directed to a Welcome page with more details about my personal change. There you can download your free version of my E-Book 3+1 Power Recipes in german or english.

Have fun and C U soon on Traveling Adventures!

La Havana: low budget Cuba

Because Cuba is well prepared for tourists and a big part of the cuban economy relies on travelers it can be quite expensive to move around, get accomodation and good food.

Its just enough to be a tourist and you are going to pay a completely different price for any kind of product.

Malecon, La Habana, Cuba

This fact is supported by a divided money system CUC and CUP. The worth of a CUC is more or less equal with a dollar or euro and is the currency you get when exchanging your money at official places like airports or banks.

The cubans themselves mainly operate with CUP.

In exchange you get 24 CUP for 1 CUC (equal to 1 € & $) or 1 CUP is worth about 4 cents. But anybody traveling from outside can also get CUP, its just not common for foreigners to pay in CUP that is used by cubans mainly.

Getting CUP and paying with it whenever its possible is the first step that is going to save a lot on your travel budget.

local fruit & vegetable market in la Havana

Thanks to  the explanation of Eddy & Miriam, my guest family in la Havana I exchanged part of my money to CUP and went shopping at a local mercado for ingredients for a huge salad!

preparing a big salad in my guest families kitchen

For about 250 CUP (€ 10) I bought greens, beans, fruits and herbs that lastet for a complete week!

And I also invited my guest family to share the food with me, because it was just too much for me.

super healthy salad with local ingredients

If you go to a regular restaurant for tourists in La Habana you are going to spend at least € 10 for a meal and drink.

Like this I was able to spend a week in La Habana and enjoy the most important parts of this great city on a low budget.

Cienfuegos & Trinidad: acting like cubans

In comparison to other areas in Cuba prices are even higher here. Both mentioned cities are popular tourist destinations and I was negotiating hard to be able to spend some days here without spending too much money. But it went out very fine, because it was not high season the owners of casas particulares (cubas guest family rent system) dropped their prices sometimes to half the announced price.

clean, comfortable and cheap after a short negotiation

Here is a nice example of a complete appartement rented for € 15/day.

Unnegotiated price is € 30/day.

In some cases and depending of the area in Cuba you can even get breakfast and other meals included.

typical blue sign for a casa particulare

In all Cuba its easy to find local people renting out rooms or complete appartements for a low budget.

A great alternative to more expensive hotels and you get easily in contact with cubans.

Just watch out for the blue sign and dont forget to negotiate like a cuban!

Camaguey: cuban rules cuban prices

Camaguey is one of the bigger cities in Cuba and the city has frequent tourists coming to explore the narrow streets, old buildings and beautiful downtown of Camaguey.

Not always I had the access to a kitchen, so eating outside was obligatory sometimes.

Because I was traveling with a group of friends and we shared the accommodation I learned about the pricing system in local restaurants and their rules.

Camaguey, Cuba

On the first night in Camaguey we were hungry and looking for a snack. After asking in different restaurants we were very unmotivated, because it seemed like a meal is going to cost about € 15 in any restaurant close by. Even if the price tables inside the restaurants or shops showed a cheaper price, they wanted to charge more. Again our guest family gave us a hint.

All you need to do is insist on the advertised prices, just anywhere!

Cuban law forces any restaurant or shop owner to charge only the announced price, also for non-cubans. For sure many cuba visitors get inside this trap, but only making clear that you want to pay the announced price any cuban is going to understand you.

Like this its possible to eat a huge low budget cuban dinner for less than € 3 per person.

guarapo a cuban speciality: sugar cane juice for 1 CUC or 1 CUP?

Or you can enjoy a cuban speciality the Guarapo for just 1 CUP (equal 4 cents) instead of paying 1 CUC. Its fresh pressed and pure sugar cane juice. Super healthy, extremly tasty and gives a lot of energy for hot days. Thats low budget Cuba for backpackers that want to stay healthy!

Baracoa: Cuba at its origin tip & save

The more you tip the more you save!

This basic rule works perfect in Cuba, like in all america! Even if it sounds wrong, because you are spending more money in that moment, in the end it will save you a lot of money!

drinking a fresh coconut at the No 1 viewing point of Cuba

Baracoa is a very original place in east Cuba. Here you are transformed many years back in time. And sure like in all Cuba you can find a lot of poor people here. So tips are well appreciated and rewarded if not expected!

complete meal for less than € 4

This is how low budget Cuba works! You help me and I help you!

And it really works fantastic, thats what I really like about the cuban culture! Thinking in solutions and pushing the limitations to make life easier and happier. In one very small restaurant I insisted to give a tip, because the waiter denied the tip first.

Look what happened to me 2 days later when I returned to the same place for lunch!

a happy moment: super healthy cuban food

A huge meal with salad, vegetables and fresh shrimp and fish for free! Yes and anybody can tell from my face that this healthy food made me very happy!

Watch more about Cuba:

Here you can watch some video clips I made during my Cuba visit. The first footage shows a hike to El Yunque. A quite difficult hike when its rainy and wet. And a challenging river crossing included! But definetly a great day inside the jungles of Baracoa!

The next clip is a summary of the three best viewing points in the eastern part of Cuba. Spectacular views from Guantanamo Bay, Baracoa and a viewing point from where you can see the caribbean and atlantic ocean at the same time!

If you like my videos make sure to subscribe to my channel and like the clip on YouTube!

Hope your enjoying my blog! In my nextcoming post I am reporting about the second part of my cuban experience. With more low budget Cuba tips, diving in two awesome places involved and for sure more healthy food choices!

Lui

My free E-Book “3+1 Power Recipes” is now available for downloading on this website. All you need to do is to subscribe with your E-Mail below this post down here or in the side bar.

[lab_subscriber_download_form download_id=2]

Then you have to confirm an E-Mail you will receive from Traveling Adventures. After that you will be directed to a Welcome page with more details about my personal change. There you can download your free version of my E-Book 3+1 Power Recipes in german or english.

Have fun and C U soon on Traveling Adventures!