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- “The electricity crisis is not a minor inconvenience, it's the defining fact of the trip. Rolling blackouts have hit 12 or more hours a day…” RuinMyTrip research
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Havana in 2026: Gorgeous Colonial Ruins, 12-Hour Blackouts, and a Cash-Only Maze for US Travelers
By RuinMyTrip Editorial
Havana is not a normal Caribbean trip for Americans, and the paperwork starts before you book a flight. Pure tourism is not a legal reason to go. US travelers must qualify under one of 12 OFAC-authorized categories, and the most common one, Support for the Cuban People, requires that your spending go to private Cuban businesses like casas particulares and paladares rather than state-run hotels or restaurants. US law…
What nearly ruins it: The electricity crisis is not a minor inconvenience, it's the defining fact of the trip. Rolling blackouts have hit 12 or more hours a day in Havana since the 2024-2026 grid colla…
Read the full editorial review
Written by RuinMyTrip Editorial from published research and official sources, not from a personal trip. It is not a traveler review and is never counted in the community rating. How we research.
Practical tips
Editorial- Bring all the cash you'll need in US dollars, euros, or pesos; Visa, Mastercard, Amex, and Discover cards issued by US banks do not work anywhere in Cuba because of the embargo.
- Qualify your trip under one of the 12 OFAC travel categories before booking, most tourists use Support for the Cuban People, and keep every receipt and itinerary for five years as US law requires.
- Pack a battery bank and a headlamp: Havana blackouts have run 12 or more hours a day since the 2024-2026 grid crisis, and the national grid was producing under half of peak demand as of early April 2026.
- Skip the $60-100-an-hour classic car tours sold through Viator or hotel concierges; drivers along the Malecon and Parque Central quote $25-35 an hour for the same convertible ride if you book directly and agree on price first.
- US citizens need the pink tourist card ($50-100) rather than the green card non-US travelers use ($25-30); buy it before flying, since airlines deny boarding without it.
- Buy Nauta wifi cards at an ETECSA office, like the one on Obispo Street in Old Havana, close to the official $1-2 per hour rate; hotel front desks commonly mark the same cards up three to four times.
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