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Coverage / Cuba

Cuba

Caribbean

Caribbean island nation whose isolation shaped a uniquely preserved musical culture, son, rumba, Afro-Cuban jazz, and trova evolved here largely outside global commercial influence, producing one of the world's most distinctive living music traditions.

8 activities · 11 pairings · 14 verified providers

What you can do in Cuba

Driving Experiences

HavanaJan Feb Mar Apr Nov DecNowhere else can you ride a 1950s American convertible through a living city that never replaced them. When the US embargo cut off new cars and parts, Havana kept its Chevrolets, Fords, Buicks and Cadillacs running with improvised engineering, and those almendrones are now the city's signature. The best trips are not a lap of the Malecon in a painted prop but a drive with an owner-mechanic who restored the car himself, out along the seawall, through Vedado and Miramar, past the Plaza de la Revolucion. NostalgiCar, run by a Havana family who also keep a working restoration garage, and OldCarTours both put you with Cuban drivers who know the cars and the streets rather than a scripted photo stop.

Film Festivals

Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine LatinoamericanoHavanaDecThe Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano is the defining event of Latin American cinema, and it has run in Havana every December since 1979. Founded under the Cuban film institute ICAIC by Alfredo Guevara, it built the Coral awards into the region's most watched prize and turned the city into a two-week meeting point for directors, critics and audiences from across the continent. Screenings fill the grand old cinemas of Vedado and Centro Habana, from the Yara opposite the Coppelia ice-cream park to the Charles Chaplin, the Acapulco and La Rampa, and the queues and street debate outside are as much the festival as the films. For anyone serious about Latin American film, this is the room to be in.

Horse Riding / Equestrian

VinalesJan Feb Mar Apr Nov DecThe Vinales valley is made for the saddle. Between the mogotes, the round-topped limestone towers that give the valley its shape, run tobacco and coffee fields worked much as they were a century ago, and the tracks between the farms are too rough and too rural for a bus. On horseback you ride from vega to vega, stopping at a tobacco drying house to watch a farmer roll a cigar, at a coffee finca, and often at a cave with an underground river. Two family operators run the rides with their own horses and guides, Riding Vinales and JMC Vinales Aventura, both rooted in the valley rather than bussed in from Havana.

Kitesurfing

VaraderoJan Feb Mar Apr Nov DecVaradero is the easiest place to learn or ride in Cuba. A long, shallow, sandy-bottomed beach and warm water make for forgiving conditions, and from roughly November to April the northeast trade winds blow side-shore with real consistency. It is not a big-wave spot; it is flat to lightly chopped water ideal for building skills, freeriding and now wing foiling. Two operators work the beach with lessons and gear, Caribbean Riders and Ke Bola, both with local Cuban instructors. Getting your own kite into Cuba can be a customs headache, so most riders lean on a school for equipment.

Music & Culture Festivals

Festival Internacional Jazz PlazaHavanaJan FebThe Festival Internacional Jazz Plaza is where Cuban jazz shows its full range, on its home ground. Started in 1980 by the pianist and singer Bobby Carcasses and now run by the Instituto Cubano de la Musica, it turns Havana over to a week of concerts across the city, from the Teatro Nacional and Teatro Mella to hotel ballrooms and the small club at La Zorra y El Cuervo, then spreads to Santiago de Cuba and Santa Clara. The line-ups mix the giants of Cuban jazz, Chucho Valdes and the players around him, with visiting artists from across the Americas and Europe. It is the island's most important music event and doubles as the launch pad for its next generation of players.

Music at the Source

Scuba Diving

Witness / Attend

Best months at a glance

	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
Driving Experiences
Film Festivals
Horse Riding
Kitesurfing
Music Festivals
Music at the Source
Scuba Diving
Witness / Attend

Upcoming events in Cuba