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Old 08-25-2013, 07:34 AM   #1
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Cuba

Any adventurous souls ever tackle a trip to Cuba from the Keys?
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Old 08-25-2013, 08:10 AM   #2
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Nope. It's illegal for us Americans unless you're Jayze or Beyonce...
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Old 08-25-2013, 08:12 AM   #3
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I have been there twice.... Only to Guantanamo bay though.

When we had the Jax T.F. get together, Lena (Hobo) put it best:Hobo wanted to visit Cuba before the first Mcdonalds is built.
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Old 08-25-2013, 08:14 AM   #4
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Maybe I should clarify my Guantanamo visit. I didn't have any terrorists as room mates or angry marines as chaperones! I was on the outside of the bars.
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Old 08-25-2013, 08:30 AM   #5
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Maybe I should clarify my Guantanamo visit. I didn't have any terrorists as room mates or angry marines as chaperones! I was on the outside of the bars.
Gitmo already has a McDonald's. or it did in 1990.
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Old 08-25-2013, 08:49 AM   #6
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Capt Chuck I think did Cuba on his sailboat....he's not on this forum anymore though...

Voyages of Sea Trek: Cruising And Sailing Cuba On Our Boat, Click to enlarge page
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Old 08-25-2013, 08:54 AM   #7
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Nope. It's illegal for us Americans unless you're Jayze or Beyonce...
Yes, no and it depends. What is the stated purpose of ones travel is the qualifier.

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_p...y_requirements

Many Americans visit Cuba legally every year without a military uniform or paparazzi entourage complete with news coverage.

It's quite amazing how many American cruisers boats have "broken down" at sea and needed to seek "safe harbor" in Cuba to effect repairs.
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Old 08-25-2013, 09:44 AM   #8
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Gitmo already has a McDonald's. or it did in 1990.
I was there in 1961 and ate at McDonald's.
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Old 08-25-2013, 10:03 AM   #9
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Any adventurous souls ever tackle a trip to Cuba from the Keys?
Yep. Twice. One in 1996 and again in 1997. :-) Not in a trawler, though. In a sailboat (and went on from Cuba to Mexico). Beautiful country, nice people, but definitely a police state. Or was then, anyway, and I doubt that things have changed.

John
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Old 08-25-2013, 10:14 AM   #10
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Yes, no and it depends. What is the stated purpose of ones travel is the qualifier.

Cuba

Many Americans visit Cuba legally every year without a military uniform or paparazzi entourage complete with news coverage.

It's quite amazing how many American cruisers boats have "broken down" at sea and needed to seek "safe harbor" in Cuba to effect repairs.
Great link, thanks.
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Old 08-25-2013, 10:31 AM   #11
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It used to be several years ago that if you wanted to visit Cuba (not on a boat) you could just fly down to Mexico (Cancun or some place like that) and then fly from there to Cuba, have your visit, and return back to Mexico. Cuba did not stamp your passport, so there was no record of the visit. (I am not taking a position as to whether that is good or bad, merely stating a fact that I happen to know, because I lived in Mexico for a while on the sailboat).

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Old 08-25-2013, 11:27 AM   #12
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It used to be several years ago that if you wanted to visit Cuba (not on a boat) you could just fly down to Mexico (Cancun or some place like that) and then fly from there to Cuba, have your visit, and return back to Mexico. Cuba did not stamp your passport, so there was no record of the visit.
For the most part same drill, no flights out of the US. Fly to Mexico then on to Cuba. State Department blessing for your trip is not THAT difficult to obtain if you follow their guidelines. I'm considering a trip next year myself(plane, not boat)
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Old 08-25-2013, 01:00 PM   #13
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So why go to Cuba and give your dollars to a communist regime? Bahamas are prettier and friendlier
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Old 08-25-2013, 01:43 PM   #14
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Many if not most of my customers and employees either made the trip or their parents did. Of course it was a one way trip from Cuba to the USA. A good customer of mine, I call him Surfer Dude, came on a sailboard. I've seen the rafts. I know how desperate those people are to get out of there. Because of that I choose not to go.
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Old 08-25-2013, 02:07 PM   #15
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Can't wait till the knuckleheads are out of power and the country opens up.....it seems beautiful from all my time in Gitmo and flying around the island in CG helos...at least the topography.

Was in Key West and aboard USCGC Vigorous for the Mariel Boatlift in 1980...just amazing how they came over...then again that lift was too many criminals...so Castro is/was no one's fool in some ways.
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Old 08-25-2013, 02:09 PM   #16
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Many if not most of my customers and employees either made the trip or their parents did. Of course it was a one way trip from Cuba to the USA. A good customer of mine, I call him Surfer Dude, came on a sailboard. I've seen the rafts. I know how desperate those people are to get out of there. Because of that I choose not to go.
Agree.
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Old 08-25-2013, 02:49 PM   #17
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I spent 8 days there, legally, in 1994. 7 guys from our company went for a Sugar Cane Industry conference. We stayed in Havana at the Habana Libre, ex Hilton, most of the time except for a few gov't organized field trips to some nearby sugar mills. The people were friendly, all looking for dollars, or goods from the foreign exchange stores. The place is very run down, but I think a trip on a trawler for a few months would be great.
To give you an idea of how things are there, we had a Hospitality suite to entertain clients, quite a few of the Cuban Sugar mill managers came by for drinks. We had coca cola in cans for Cuba Libres and other drinks. The Cubans would keep the empty cans, when I asked why a friend who had been there often told me they bring them home and put them on a shelf, seems it is a status symbol to have been able to drink a Coke. These are guys who run a muti millon $ sugar plantation, kinda sad.
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Old 08-25-2013, 03:19 PM   #18
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It's mostly a matter of "forbidden fruit" and "Pandora's box." ... There are countless (a life-time's) of tropical islands/beaches U.S. citizens can readily/legally visit. ... There's lots of bad blood between Cuba and USA (invasion, nuclear threat, assassination attempts/success), and particularly with former small businessmen formerly from Cuba.
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Old 08-25-2013, 03:39 PM   #19
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Cuba is a huge island that has many different topographic regions as well as climatic ones. It is rich in many areas and the Cuban people in general I say can hold their own against any country...at least below the political level.

In my mind...with the right government and infusion from the outside world...Cuba would quickly blow most other tropical islands/resorts away as a place to visit

I can only hope it opens soon so I may have the pleasure of cruising a wonderful place so close to the US which in itself is a huge factor.....
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Old 08-25-2013, 03:52 PM   #20
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Yes, Cuba has lots of potential!
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