Choosing Best Time to Visit Cuba

by Mark in Cuba

Choosing best time to visit Cuba involved several factors. On one hand I wanted the best priced ticket, but I also wanted nice weather and a good time to see all sights I had on the list. In general, there is no such thing as “the best time to visit Cuba”, there is only “the best time for a particular purpose”.

By now it was already end of August and I still didn’t know when I’d take my trip to Cuba. It was profiling nicely. It no longer looked like I was gonna spend a vacation on a beach. It started to look like a nice adventure that would deliver on my expectations.

I kept keen eye on all of my favorite websites for good deals and would jump on one should it appear at any given time. I was pretty damn excited to go to Cuba. I’d read about Cuba every day. I learned from tips of other travellers who visited the island before and had pretty good idea about the country, it’s customs, proper behavior, budget travelling and places worth a visit. I basically knew all about Cuba, only I have not been there at all. And I could not wait to go. In my head it seemed like I’m already in Cuba, but I was still in Canada. It was really killing me. I wanted to go right away. I just could not wait.

So my quest for nailing the best time to visit Cuba continued. There were some decent flights for September that I was contemplating, but each of them had something not quite right about it. Either price was somewhat hiked, or dates seemed odd. September also falls within hurricane and rainy season so despite being incredibly excited about going to Cuba and wanted to take off as soon as possible, I felt like I should pass on September. But I wasn’t sure if I should do it.

October then was out of question for me for several reasons. Where I work, I’m part of the team that develops DAISY talking books for visually impaired students. Members of DAISY from Canada meet annually to discuss related issues and this year Edmonton was the host. Yes, we at Alberta Education were hosting the convention and it involved a lot of work, and then the convention itself. Furthermore, October’s prices were higher than prices for the same flights in September, which was another reason not to go in October.

Another option was to put it off till November. The main positive of visiting Cuba in November is that it’s mostly after hurricane season so you are more likely to have sunny days for the most of your trip without getting washed into the sea. The disadvantage is higher price compared to September.

There was no difference in prices between October and November, so there really was no point to try to plan anything for October. If I should go soon, it would be in September. The weather would still be risky, as it’s hurricane season so both September and October are a bit dodgy that way, but September is cheaper. Plus I had all those prior engagement from work in October making it impossible to go anyway.

The primary advantage of September was that it was around the corner and I really could not wait to go to Cuba. I no longer cared about hurricanes, I just wanted to go to Cuba real bad. And then Hurricane Ike hit Cuba and plowed pretty badly through Havana.

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2 Responses to “Choosing Best Time to Visit Cuba”

Lindsey – September 3rd, 2009 at 5:33 am

Hello Mark, My name is Lindsey. I have been planning a trip to Cuba for some time now. I just have a few questions for you. I roughly would like to go sometime in Early Feb, now the thing is ita my first time and i want to stay At Krystal Laguna Cayo Coco, just to get a feel for things. So i guess my question is (in your opion) what would be the cheapest time to go? I would book form sunwing,transat, air canada vactions. etc…. im looking for a week all inclusive. I also called a travel agent who wasnt much help. I live in Cape breton Island Nova scotia, and the only thing she really said was to wait till oct to book, as price drops, and that i would have to fly out of TO b/c of the time of yr. Anywhoo and info you may have would be greatly appreciated!! great Articules by the way!!

Mark – September 3rd, 2009 at 5:54 am

Hello Lindsey,

Go in January. Weather in January is the same as in February – still tropical and hot, but not too hot, like in Summer when it’s hard to do anything even remotely adventurous.

Good thing about January is that prices drop like there’s no tomorrow. Travelling during Christmas and New Year is extremely expensive. It’s a major rip off but most of all, unless you book well in advance, you won’t go anywhere. People are just that crazy about spending Christmas/New Year somewhere nice. That pushes prices sky high and makes for very limited availability (not only for Cuba, but basically anywhere in the world). But then as soon as early January comes, nobody travels anymore and prices go right down like you wouldn’t believe.

I wanted to spend Holyday season in Cuba two years ago. Prices were outrageous so I hesitated for a few days. I started looking in early November and it was just brutal. My few days hesitation drove prices even higher and most trips got sold out so my options narrowed significantly. After Cuba was all gone, I started looking at anywhere in the Caribbean. Again – outrageous prices and hardly any decent availability. Eventually I was forced to ditch the idea to go to the Caribbean and at least wanted a plane ticket for Memphis, TN to stay with a friend but even flights to the US were out of reach. Holiday season is a terrible time to travel unless you book months in advance.

I was forced to spend the holidays at home, but as soon as the New Year craze was over, return tickets to Cuba dropped to $49 return plus taxes. I have never stayed at a resort so I don’t know how much all inclusive stays were, but flying from Edmonton to Varadero for $49 return was amazing. And that was only a couple of weeks after same tickets were selling for $1600. So I was unhappy cause I had to spend the holidays in Edmonton, but I got the same trip for ridiculously lower price just a couple of weeks later.

People are too focused on travelling during the holidays and then when January comes, there’s no one to go. So prices go from sky high to near nothing overnight. Then they steadily grow until next peak around Easter, so going in February will still be cheap, but not January cheap. That’s when I would go.

February will be no different. Temperature will be more bearable, however when it gets windy in the evening, it could be cold enough to have to wear long sleeve jersey. Another disadvantage are short days as it gets dark at 6pm which puts a dumper on the rest of the day. You won’t find many locals on the beach either as they consider this time of year “too cold”. But value for money is incredible, it’s safely outside of the hurricane season and it’s not so scorching hot that you can’t even move, so you’ll be able to take part in fun activities.

January is your best bet. Unless money is not an issue. If that’s the case, go in April. The best time of year to go all around. I’m sure you’ve read about it already ;)

Mark

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