Staying Connected

Cell Phones in Cuba / Calling Home

Be aware that it can cost up to $3.00 per minute to call the United States from Cuba. Your best value is to call home and have the person return your call. Calling Cuba from the U.S. can also be expensive, especially if you don’t have an international calling plan. With a calling plan, expect to pay about $1.00 per minute to Call Cuba from the U.S.

NOTE: The set-up and use of a cell phone in Cuba is both lengthy and costly. Also, obtaining a Cuban cell phone (or SIM card) can only be done by a Cuban resident. The process listed below is time-consuming and frequently frustrating. (Not recommended)

If you are in Havana, there are two places where you can get your cell phone operational. One is Cubacel in Miramar (Calle 28 #510, Tel 05-880-2222 or 05-264-2266 for client attention). The other is at the airport, where Cubacel has offices in both Terminals #2 and #3.

You can either bring your own cell phone or rent a cell phone in Cuba. If you rent a phone, there is a CUC 100 refundable deposit, plus CUC 7/day rental for the equipment and CUC 3/day rental for a line (total CUC 10/day).

If you bring your own phone, it’s only CUC 3/day to rent a line, but you’ll have to take out a minimum of CUC 10 credit to use the phone. Obviously it’s most economical to bring your own cell phone. But to be activated for use in Cuba, your cell phone must be GSM working in the 900 MHz band width or else it won’t work. A tri-band phone is even better.

Cell phones that are CDMA do NOT function in Cuba (Verizon/Sprint).

SIM cards (pre-paid with a certain amount of time on it) are available from all Cubacel offices and enable you to call anywhere in Cuba and receive calls. These can be purchased for CUC 10, 20 or 40 each.

Wi-Fi Internet & Mail Service

Wi-Fi can be found at some hotels, (Hotel Nacional or Hotel Parque Central) with the purchase of a Wi-Fi card. At the hotel Parque Central the cost for a 30 minutes WI-FI card is 8.00 CUC. Internet connections are slower in Cuba, therefore it is recommended that you download your emails, disconnect while responding, and reconnect to send them so as to preserve your minutes, however not all webmail servers allow you to do this and using Microsoft Outlook to send emails doesn’t always work. Certain hotels may also offer use of their business center computers for an additional fee. (The Hotel Jagua in Cienfuegos does not offer W-Fi, however, their business center computers may be used for approximation 6 CUC per hour.)

Cuba's mail system is terminally slow, but otherwise efficient and reaches all parts of the island. There is a post office in every town where stamps can be bought and cards sent or picked up. In addition, most tourist hotels sell postage stamps. Postcards being sent outside of Cuba will eventually get to their destinations, and it helps to write the country destination in Spanish.