LEGAL TO TRAVEL TO CUBA IN 2018!
The answer to the question, "Can Americans legally travel to Cuba?," is yes! In 2018 it is still legal for U.S. citizens, and others under U.S. jurisdiction to legally travel to Cuba under the same people to people category that gives anyone the option of visiting the island without having to fall under one of the other eleven authorized travel categories. As you can see traveling to Cuba is complicated, but at least it’s still legal in 2018! Americans may travel to Cuba if they fall under one of twelve authorized categories, but unless you’re going there as a journalist or part of a trade delegation, your best bet is to visit the island on a people to people tour. People to people is simply a bureaucratic name for a tour that requires participants to have a full schedule of activities to learn as much as they possibly can about Cuban culture and history in a few days. You must be accompanied on your flight by a guide from the tour operator that plans your trip if you travel under the People-to-People category, and you must keep a copy of your travel records for five years in case you get a legal Cuba travel audit. The only difference between the Trump policy that was announced in November 2017 and the previous Obama policy is this requirement that American travelers be accompanied by a guide on their flight to Cuba.
Trump left the door open for solo travelers by leaving intact OFAC's eighth category, “Support of the Cuban People”, which allows Americans to travel by themselves to Cuba. To properly travel under the “support for the Cuba people” category you must take certain relatively complicated steps. According to the November 2017 OFAC FACT SHEET, these steps include meeting with independent Cuban groups and individual Cubans who contribute to Cuba’s “civil society” and “promote a rapid, peaceful transition to democracy…” You must meet with “regular” Cubans who are not associated with the government, and who desire regime change. You must keep records of these activities to substantiate the legality of your trip to the U.S. Treasury Departments OFAC division for five years. Good luck planning this trip! People-to-People is without a doubt the easiest way for Americans to travel to Cuba.
THE BEST CUBA TOURS & WORKSHOPS
Our specialty is custom Cuba tours, with loads of one-on-one time with your guide, and the various experts you will encounter during your trip. We plan your trip around your schedule and promise to never put you on a tour bus, or make you listen to a guide from the Cuban government. Our tours and workshops are the best in Cuba, and you don’t have to take our word for it, check out the many happy and extremely satisfied guests who say so on our Facebook page, cubatraveltripsofficial. Or look at the joy and satisfaction on our guest’s faces on our Instagram account. Check for yourself, and you’ll know it's best if you let us be your guide to Cuba!
To comply with the “full schedule of activities” requirement we have created the most unique and spellbinding tours and workshops that exist. We will show you the real Cuba, the one with long lines to get your eggs and bread, and the stores that run out of all kinds of things on a regular basis. Scarcity of many consumer goods is a reality of life on one of the world’s last communist outposts. Some of our workshops include Cuban Baseball, Jazz & Son, Classic Cars, Rumba, Resolviendo, Santeria, and many more. We are one of the few tour operators who can work a SCUBA diving adventure into your tour, and we are divers ourselves. Our religious tours will show you another side of Cuba, one in which you will be interacting with Cubans of your faith. Our religious tours include our Cuba’s Jewish Heritage Tour, Catholic Tour of Cuba, and our Afro-Cuban Religion Tour. We are your guide to Cuba!
By Frank Gonzalez