CAN WE GET FROM HAVANA TO MIAMI?
Have a question? Ask our expert Simon Calder
Q A friend and I are travelling from the UK to Havana in March for 10 days. The exact details of where we will be staying and travelling in Cuba have not yet been finalised: Havana for a few days, Varadero and maybe Trinidad.
I realise that Miami is just over an hour away and there are direct flights between the two every day. However, I've read online in a few places that these direct flights are only for Cuban/US citizens, and that travellers of other nationalities will have to find another way into the US, most likely through Mexico or Nassau. Is this true? And if travellers of other nationalities are allowed on these flights, and correct visas
are obtained, would there still be a problem? Our return flight back to the UK is from Havana so we would need to then fly back to Cuba for the planned flight. Would this be possible and if so, would it be hasslefree or more of a nightmare?
Maryam A
A The short answer to your question: yes, you could easily fly direct from Cuba to Florida, and (not quite so easily) fly back to the island. But I advise against it. I have visited Cuba many times and still not seen all the corners of the island I would like to see. So the prospect of sacrificing one (or more) days of a trip to the nation in order to make a cumbersome journey to a different country is one I find difficult to comprehend.
If, though, you are determined to go ahead, there are now plenty of non-stop flights from Havana and other cities to the US. All you need to travel on one from Cuba is to have an ESTA (online permission to travel to America).
Flying from the US to Cuba, you are supposed to have a good reason to travel to the island besides wanting a holiday – perhaps an educational motive, or a “People to People” exchange.
The opening-up of links between the US and Cuba is great news for British travellers, as well as Americans and Cubans. But from the UK perspective I see it as a benefit specifically for someone who wants to combine the two countries; typically, you could fly outbound to Havana or Varadero on Virgin Atlantic, take a quick hop across the Florida Strait and then fly home from Miami or Orlando. Perhaps try that next time?
Every day, our travel correspondent, Simon Calder, tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder