Cultural Island Travel - Travel To Cuba LegallyReviews of culturalislandtravel.com

CiT experience was great to Cuba with Ebony and Yusi who was our Tour guide our drivers and House Host was very great. This was our second time in Cuba , and the learning experience of the Cuban culture never cease to amaze me. I admired the Cuban mind set of resilience and determination. With such a large group Ebony and Yusi were able to make transitions very easily and successfully through our journey with not missing out any of our activities. Will highly recommend CIT travel agent great experience

if you want to visit Cuba from the US, you need to have the right guide. It is a foreign place in every sense of the word. Our family cannot imagine having visited Cuba without the aid of Cultural Island Travel. Our tour guide, Irmita, was incomparable. She was smart, knowledgeable, incredibly caring, and highly professional. She and our driver, Julio, who was amazingly patient, enabled us to get to know the Cuban people and their culture. Our family (us and our two grown sons) loved the experience, even though we saw both Cuba's sources of challenge as well as pride. Teresa from Cultural Island travel was a dream to work with. She was intelligent, detail-oriented, thorough, and highly responsive. She listened well to our requests and translated them into action. While Cuba may not have been the obvious choice for many of our US friends, we returned home and told them it was a life changing experience in a very positive way. The spirit of the Cuban people is inspirational. Bravo Cultural Island Travel!

Irma was our tour guide and Julio our driver. They were both fantastic. Irma, a lovely person with a wealth of knowledge of, and love for, Cuba and its people, and Julio, very punctual and safe in his driving. We ended the trip more than satisfied. I would highly recommend CIT to anyone considering traveling to Cuba.

We had a fabulous experience touring Cuba with CIT, from the first day to the last. Mostly this was because of Cuba--a place like no other, with warm, talented people--but it was also because of our great guides. Patricia, who chaperoned us our first two days, was warm, friendly, and knowledgeable. The experience that stands out was dancing with her and the members of the Afro-Cuban collective Beyond Roots to the drums and singing of the group members. We are neither Yoruba nor believers in Santeria (well, maybe now we are), but the spirit and the rhythms really took us to a different world. Another amazing experience--and I can't remember if it was still with Patricia or our 2nd guide, Karel--was the concert we were given by a group of children singing and playing guitars in their classroom, some of the kids as young as five or six, up to older teens. They attend an after-school program called Clave de Sol and they are so talented. Karel took over as guide on our third day and he was extraordinary. He's a university professor and all-around expert on Cuba, its history, landscape, politics, beliefs--the works. It was like being in a roving school, riding in the van and soaking up experiences while Karel taught us, so easily, just by talking with us. We rode across the island to Trinidad where we had an educational and fun walking tour with local guide Rafael, who seems to know every building in the city! Walking around the picturesque streets we stumbled across a man and his grown son--not anything planned--who invited us into their Santeria shrine inside their house, and talked animatedly with us (translation by Karel of course).  There are too many highlights to recount, but back in Havana we were wowed by the Habana Compas Dance Troupe and their incredible energy. It was an all-woman dance and percussion ensemble and they mesmerized us. We were also treated to an extraordinary concert in the home of the saxophonist Carlos Miyaures and his drummer [a well-known Cuban drummer whose name I didn't get] and bass player. It was an intimate and engrossing hour of sophisticated Cuban jazz. As proof of the warmth of the Cuban people, Carlos invited our 15 year old drummer-and-pianist grandson to "sit in" and play the drums with them. The founder of the Compas Dance Troupe, Eduardo Cordova, also invited our grandson to play. I haven't even talked about the art we saw in galleries, which was spectacular, including an exhibit of album covers for famous Cuban and other Latin American musicians. We also enjoyed the mysteriously beautiful nightscapes of the artist Carlos Mata. And we got a "twofer" when Karel arranged a visit with his friend the Cuban jazz drummer and composer Ruy Lopez-Nussa. While visiting in Ruy's studio and hearing him play an impromptu drum solo, we also saw the artwork of his late father, Leonel Lopez-Nussa, who should be famous! Again showing us the warmth of the Cubans, Ruy invited our grandson to play the drums, and autographed a copy of his book for him. Our trip to the biosphere/ecological nature park Las Terrazas on our last full day was a final treat. Our local guide, Otis, spotted and pointed out to us beautiful birds, including the Cuban national bird, the trogon. The park, created 50 years ago on barren land, is now a lush and bird-filled paradise where people live and work in harmony with nature. We would go back to Cuba in a heartbeat. But right now our task is to do what we can to get the US government to end its embargo of Cuba and stop punishing the Cuban people. Thanks to Cultural Island Travel for educating and entertaining us. What a week.

My husband, 7 month daughter, and I just got back from an amazing trip to Cuba! It was customized by Teresa, who got to know our needs, and delivered according to our preferences. This trip exceeded our expectations! We had very unique experiences and the people were so warm and friendly. Our Tour Guide, Irma, and driver, Carlos, were phenomenal! We can't think the staff and Shabi enough for the attention to detail and guidance with the visas, etc. We wouldn't hesitate to travel again with CIT.

Cuba as a destination has been on my bucket list since 2005. Our family traveled extensively prior to COVID although, after March 2020 our international travels abruptly halted. Cultural Island Travel made our 10-day trip to CUBA a reality! The information shared with us prior to our departure prepared us for this adventure. Our Visas and all arrangements for live music and dance presentations, in addition to our excursions were planned in detail. With my husband Jerry’s interest in cars and cigars along with his epic birthday, Cuba was the perfect destination to help him celebrate with an exotic flare in a country of unbelievable music and art. Irma was our guide throughout the trip- along with her sister Ivette who helped us for the first 2 days. Irma was able to add on several arrangements that catered to our interests at the last minute such as an evening at Tropicana and a custom tour at a cigar factory. Irma’s vast connections of guides with their own unique skillsets; Fernando, Christian, Otis, Barbaro and Raphael, helped educate us on the history of Cuba. Our drivers, Pedro, Jose, Argeidy and Luigi made our tour connections to and from paladares and sites smooth and safe. We stayed in two different guesthouses, both proving comfortable and quiet. Our two hostesses during our stays, Yare and Nyla, created healthy delicious breakfasts for us with ease. Nyla even prepared our breakfast on one occasion with an unexpected power outage (and it was just as delicious as the others). The entire trip was dreamlike thanks to Cultural Island Travel. Involving them is a MUST for arranging a unique custom-built trip to a destination as spectacular as Cuba.

We just returned from an unforgettable four days in Havana, all expertly curated by Cultural Island Travel. Teresa got to know us to understand our travel style and preferences, and she answered our endless questions right up until departure date. In Cuba, our wonderful guide Patricia and driver Yordan took excellent care of us. They were flexible and fun, seamlessly updating our schedule and activities throughout the week when necessary. Everything was done at our pace and on our timeline. Patricia is beyond knowledgeable and connected, making us feel like special guests everywhere we went. The same can be said for all of the amazing and warm people we met - from our hotel hosts & staff to our historian, photographer, resident artist, cigar expert, and tobacco farmers. Our only job was to relax, enjoy and immerse ourselves in the beautiful city of Havana. The trip exceeded all expectations from beginning to end. 100 stars!

My daughter and I traveled to Cuba through Cultural Island Travel. Everything was great and we had awesome time. Shabi was extremely helpful in arranging everything, and making sure everything was in order for us to go as US citizens. There was never a single glitch. The trip itself was amazing and definitely highly recommended by both my daughter and myself!!!