Photo
Cayo Coco sandy beach and reef, Jardines del ReyMarek Ślusarczyk (Tupungato), CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Cuba
Four Cuban kite spots cluster in the Jardines del Rey archipelago and on Varadero's Hicacos Peninsula, all running December to April.
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Playa El Paso, on Cayo Guillermo, is the best-documented of them - a warm, shallow, sandy-bottomed lagoon with room for lessons and freestyle. Cayo Coco spreads its kiting across several hotel-zone beaches rather than one launch, while Varadero Kite Beach sits inside the Marina Palace resort strip.
It suits couples and families booked into an all-inclusive, not independent travelers chasing infrastructure of their own.
SeasonNovember to Aprilsomewhere in the country
How we count
- Places
- 1 town and 2 single spots
- Beginners
- where a spot record says a beginner can ride; the Beginners page also asks for a school there, so it lists fewer
When to go
month by month, from the towns' own wind series
The windiest town in season each month: its share of windy days
Nothing has been measured or modelled for this place: twelve months and no figure in any of them.
No place here is in season in May, June, July, August, September and October, so those months carry no figure rather than a zero.
Which place is yours
Grouped by region, the most spots first
How this list is ordered
The places are in the order of how many spots each place holds. None of them carries a wind score: the atlas scores wind reliability one spot at a time, against a named weather station and the distance to it, and a place that groups several spots has no single station to stand behind one number.For wind by month, see When to go above.
Standalone spots
Single spots with no town of their own
By region
The country's regions, the most spots first
Destinations
All 3 places, by name
Destinations
All 3 places, by name
Every place in the lists above, by name only, in the order the country guide keeps them.
Visa & entry
EU passportGreen Tourist Card required (not a visa waiver) for most nationalities including EU, allowing up to 90 days, extendable once for a further 90 days while in Cuba. A digital 'Cuba eVisa' alternative has been available since August 2024 as an online single-entry authorization replacing the traditional paper card for eligible travelers.
US passportPink Tourist Card required specifically for passport holders flying direct from the United States, regardless of nationality. US travelers must additionally self-declare one of 12 OFAC-authorized travel categories (e.g. support for the Cuban people, educational activities) due to US sanctions/travel regulations - this is a US-side requirement layered on top of the Cuban entry document.
UK passportGreen Tourist Card, same terms as EU passport holders (90 days, extendable once). Comprehensive travel insurance is mandatory under Cuban law and may be checked at immigration.
Digital nomad visaNo dedicated digital-nomad visa identified for Cuba.
NotesPassport must be valid 6+ months beyond arrival with at least two blank pages for stamps. Mandatory travel insurance (see insurance section) has been Cuban law since May 2010, with a minimum USD 10,000 emergency medical coverage requirement; entry can be refused without proof.
Money
CurrencyCUP (Cuban peso); USD and EUR cash are widely accepted informally alongside CUP
Card acceptanceEffectively a cash-only economy for tourists as of the 2026 update below - see contradictions.
ATMs and feesThe UK government's travel advice (2026) states international Visa/Mastercard cards are 'no longer accepted' in Cuba with effect from 6 June (the year is not stated), and that international cards are unlikely to work at ATMs at all going forward. This supersedes older advice that some non-US-affiliated foreign Visa/Mastercard cards might work.
Paying by phoneTransfermóvil (the Cuban state banking app) is used domestically but requires a Cuban bank account, so it is not realistically usable by short-stay foreign tourists.
Scams
- Unauthorized/street currency exchange is illegal and can carry fines or imprisonment - only exchange at official Cadeca houses
- Dual-pricing confusion between CUP and informal USD-equivalent pricing at tourist-facing businesses
TippingTipping is expected and forms a meaningful part of income for many service workers (guides, instructors, waitstaff) given low official wages.
Cash tipsBring small-denomination USD or EUR cash specifically for tipping; a common rule of thumb is to budget roughly $100/day in cash for the whole trip, given the lack of reliable card and ATM access.
SIM & internet
Operators, best coast coverage first
- ETECSA (sole national operator - no competitor exists)
eSIM options
- ETECSA has begun offering temporary tourist SIM/mobile-data packages purchasable at the airport on arrival, easing what was previously a cumbersome process
ID needed for a SIMYes, passport required.
StarlinkNot officially licensed for consumer service in Cuba as of 2026; unofficial or smuggled Starlink kit reportedly gets used, but it is not a supported service.
NotesNauta prepaid WiFi cards are the traditional way to get online at hotspots, officially priced around 25 CUP/hour (125 CUP for 5 hours) - but the real-world price tourists pay at hotel/hotspot resellers is often quoted informally in USD (roughly $1-5/hour) rather than at the official CUP rate; this gap is a recurring point of confusion in trip reports.4G LTE now functions in major tourist areas including resort zones.
Insurance
Is kiting covered?Kitesurfing is typically excluded by standard travel policies as an adventure sport, on top of the separate, legally mandatory minimum medical-coverage requirement described below.
RecommendedA policy that satisfies Cuba's mandatory minimum USD 10,000 emergency medical coverage requirement AND separately covers kitesurfing as an activity AND covers medical evacuation.
Healthcare and evacuationUK guidance notes that medical facilities in Havana are markedly better than in rural areas (Cayo Coco/Jardines del Rey would fall into the more limited category), that payment in foreign currency is required before treatment, and that Cuba has severe medicine shortages - carrying a doctor's letter listing personal prescriptions is recommended since many home-country medications are unavailable locally.
Health
VaccinesNo specific vaccines beyond routine immunizations were flagged as mandatory; check current recommendations at least 8 weeks before travel given how quickly regional outbreak status can change.
Mosquito-borne diseasesCuba's government declared an arbovirus epidemic in 2025 covering dengue, Oropouche virus and chikungunya; as of the UK government's August 2026 update this specific epidemic warning was no longer active, but mosquito-borne disease risk should still be assumed to be elevated in the hot/rainy season (roughly May-October).
Tap waterNot confirmed safe; general regional practice is to drink only bottled/purified water.
Emergency numbers104 for an ambulance, as listed in the UK government's travel advice; police and fire numbers are not published.
Hospital standardHavana has the best-equipped facilities for foreigners; rural areas and cay/resort zones like Cayo Coco have more limited medical infrastructure. Severe, ongoing medicine shortages nationwide mean travelers should bring their own supply of any regular medication plus a doctor's letter.
Pharmacy notesDo not rely on being able to buy specific prescription medication locally; shortages are described as severe and widespread.
Driving
International driving permitCommonly required or strongly recommended for renting a car in Cuba; unconfirmed against a Cuban government source.
Road safetyPoorly lit roads, wandering animals and pedestrians, and inconsistent road-surface quality are recurring themes in trip reports, particularly outside resort zones and at night.
Rental trapsFuel shortages and long queues at gas stations are a recurring, well-documented problem; rental agreements often nominally require full-to-full refueling that can be hard to satisfy given shortages. Mandatory extra insurance add-ons at the rental counter are also commonly reported.
Police stopsDocument checks at police stops are a normal part of driving in Cuba per general travel guidance.
Regulation
Drone rulesCuba is widely reported as very restrictive on drones: bringing one without prior permission from Cuban authorities risks confiscation at customs. The current permit process is unconfirmed.
Protected areasCayo Coco and the wider Jardines del Rey archipelago include protected mangrove and wetland ecosystems.
Calendar & costs
Holidays that move prices
- Christmas/New Year and the northern-hemisphere winter (Dec-March) is Cayo Coco's peak season, driven heavily by Canadian charter-package tourism, pushing resort prices up
School holidaysCuban school holidays run roughly July-August, with a shorter break around Christmas/New Year.
Beer1.8
Meal6
Coffee1.73
One-bedroom rent, per month338.19
CurrencyUSD (Numbeo nominal display; actual local economy is CUP/USD dual and highly informal)See Money
Year2026
Kite bag rules for your airline
Flying into CubaType the carrier you are flying: what it charges for a kite bag, and the year of the policy that says so.
Checked so far for Cuba:Cubana de Aviación (national carrier) / Air Canada Rouge (seasonal Canada-Jardines del Rey/Cayo Coco routes) / European charter carriers (e.g. Condor, Edelweiss on some routes)
Every carrier, with limits and what riders report at the counter →
Where records disagree
- MAJOR: Card/ATM access - some 2025-era sources describe select non-US-affiliated foreign Visa/Mastercard cards as sometimes working at Cuban ATMs; UK government guidance accessed in 2026 instead states international cards are 'no longer accepted' as of a stated '6 June' effective date (exact year not captured from the fetched snippet). Treat Cuba as fully cash-only for 2026 travel planning until this is reconciled, and re-check gov.uk/FCDO guidance close to departure.
- Nauta WiFi pricing: the official ETECSA rate (~25 CUP/hour) differs sharply from the informally dollarized price tourists commonly report paying at hotel/resort hotspots (~$1-5/hour) - both figures appear in sources and are recorded here rather than resolved.
Still being checked
We have not verified these yet — tell us if you know.
Show the 4 open questions
- The exact date (day/month/year) that international card acceptance stopped, per the FCDO note referencing '6 June'.
- Whether Visa/Mastercard cards from any non-US-linked foreign bank still work anywhere in Cuba as of August 2026.
- Current official drone import/permit process and typical outcome for tourists arriving with kite-trip camera drones.
- Kite-bag baggage fees on Air Canada Rouge and any European charter operators serving Jardines del Rey/Cayo Coco.
Last updated September 2026