- An Educational Activities license makes trips to Cuba possible.
- An Educational Activities trip should include contact with the people of Cuba.
- Visitors must have a valid passport, a travel visa and special health insurance.
- Multiple airlines fly from the United States to Cuba.
- Plan to book lodging well in advance of your trip.
The U.S. Department of State restricts tourist travel to Cuba, but that doesn’t mean that you’re unable to take a trip to this island nation. To go to Cuba, you must qualify for one of the American government’s 12 acceptable reasons to travel there.
Fortunately, it is relatively easy for your trip to qualify for the educational activities category.
How to Qualify for Educational Activities
Strictly speaking, Americans are not permitted to engage in Cuba tourism. Rather, travel to Cuba requires that your trip falls into one of the categories covered by the general license for travel to Cuba.
For the American public, the easiest and most appropriate category under which to qualify for permission is the Educational Activities license.
A Cuba Educational Activities License
The specific wording that applies to this particular license is "people-to-people" contact. In other words, this license isn’t intended for you to spend your whole trip lounging at a beach resort.
Rather, you are expected to have some personal contact with the people of Cuba so they can learn about your culture, and you can learn about theirs.
Cuba travel requires that you keep records of your trip and what you did there. You should hold onto receipts, flight documents and even names and dates of the people with whom you met.
Americans are required to keep this information for five years in case government officials ever request to see it.
Required Documentation for Flights to Cuba
If the purposes for your trip fall into the categories set forth in the general travel license for trips to Cuba, you do not have to apply for a license or get specific permission to travel. If your trip does not qualify for one of these 12 categories, you will have to obtain special permission from the U.S. Office of Assets Control before you fly to Cuba.
Before traveling to Cuba, you must have a valid passport with at least two blank pages. You will also need a travel visa.
The Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy in Havana can give you information about how to obtain this, and the airline on which you fly can also advise you on their particular policies.
Finally, the Cuban government requires visitors to purchase special health insurance to cover their medical needs in Cuba. Normally, this can be purchased at the airport once you arrive in Cuba.
Booking Flights to Cuba
One of the biggest questions that arises when people consider how to travel to Cuba is how they will get there and where they will stay.
Multiple American airline companies have received permission from the U.S. government to fly to Havana and other Cuban cities. These include JetBlue, Delta and Southwest. A travel agent can help you book a Cuban flight.
Booking Accommodations in Cuba
There are a limited number of hotels in Cuba that meet American standards, and these are typically booked as much as a year in advance, so start your plans early. Also, you might consider staying in a Casa Particular, which is comparable to American accommodation-sharing arrangements.
One thing to know as you plan your trip to Cuba: You must take cash with you. Neither your credit card nor your debit card will work there, so you need to have cash on hand.
When you have made your arrangements, you are ready for an educational introduction to the culture in Cuba.
