Travel

A traveling must in Cuba is the Lonely Planet guide book and a little bit of basic Spanish will help. Traveling with surf boards is no problem; just take a couple of rubber straps for the taxi's and trucks. Viazul buses will carry your board for free however the train is cheaper, but they will charge you to carry your board in the luggage car about $20 from Havana to Santiago De Cuba.

Late September, October, November and December are the best months for surfing and it is also cheaper as it is there wet season and all the European tourists have gone home. A room in Havana will cost you $25 US per night; the rest of the country is $10 - $15 per night and cheaper again for longer stays.

In Havana try Calle 70 and Nautico and the bay east of the Castillo Del Morro for waves, also the point east of Guanabo near the oil refinery and Varadero has a beach break, Santiago de Cuba is a great town cheaper than Havana with great night life. The beaches are 19 kilometers out of town. Playa Marv Verde has a left hand point break and Playa Buey Cabon has a left, you can access the beaches by taxi truck.

Santiago and Baracoa both have internet access so you can check the weather maps, www.cnnweather.com and www.setsail.com have wave and swell information so you can check the wave bouys in the Caribbean and Atlantic. Cubavision T.V has a good nightly weather map with satellite images, wind and weather conditions.

Baracoa is a 5 hour Visal bus trip from Santiago and is one of the best towns in Cuba with good lodgings and cheap seafood. In September, October, November the room prices come down between $8 - $15 per night and by buying Cuban peso's you can eat at the two Cuban restaurants and the peso food stalls.

There are a few breaks around Baracoa at Rio Toa, Rio Duaba and Yumuri 30 kilometers east of town. You can access Yumuri by hire car or taxi, but a cheaper alternative is to take a horse and cart ride for a few pesos's to the Punta Del Maisi turn off, then take a truck for $1 or one of the private cars that run to Yumuri for $3.