Espíritu TravelReviews of espiritutravel.com

It has now been several months since my beautiful custom trip to Eastern Cuba organized through Espiritu Travel. My experiences on my trip reside deep in my heart and mind. Their main person in that region, Anley, is one of the most professional, positive, supportive and knowledgeable travel organizers. I was meeting a family member in Cuba, whose travel plans were subverted by a canceled flight and could not get another flight until 2 days later. Karen of Espiritu spent a lot of time, as did Anley in Cuba, rearranging our itinerary very substantially (and with quite a bit of inconvenience to them) so that my sister and I could meet up at another location after 2 days. Anley personally escorted her many hours to get to me in the mountains. And all this with never an indication this was a problem for them. I feel so grateful I had such professional, kind and open Cubans directing my trip on the ground. I will never forget my guide Miguel who guided my trip in the Sierra Maestra. I'd say he's one of the great souls on this earth. Laida was a fun, open, and kind tour guide for part of the trip- making a lot of effort to prepare our outings and communicate what we needed to know. There's so much more I could say, but for now I'll just say it was a trip of a lifetime with my sister, learning about Cuba, enjoying the natural beauty, eating good food and talking with lovely Cuban people. They made and saved that trip, when other companies might have said "too bad" when my sister's flight was cancelled and she arrived 2 days late. I highly recommend Espiritu!

Dear Karin, I want to thank you for arranging to have Carlos be our "Ambassador" while in Cuba. I found him to be an extraordinary fellow and an outstanding representative for Espiritu Travel! Selecting a tour company from the Internet was a scary proposition. After all, we were booking a trip that would require extensive direct contact with our guide and mentor for a full week. My extensive initial conversations with you (yes, I can go on and on) followed by the online reviews helped build confidence that we had the right agents to show us this wonderful country. That said, when we met Carlos (soon renamed "Ambassador Charlie") I was impressed by his; depth of knowledge, perfect English, courtesy, professionalism, confidence, and understanding of our needs. But, most of all, Carlos is an open hearted, colorful, warm, honest, proud Cuban man and a clear credit to your organization as well as his beloved home! Carlos knew everybody! People of all types and in all locations walked up to him and greeted him warmly with a hug! That in and of itself says it all about a man! We even visited Carlos' home and met his family. Now, following our week long journey, I am proud and honored, with love and gratitude, to call Carlos a friend! I would recommend his services to my family, friends, and (for that matter) anyone. Thanks again!

To celebrate my 60th birthday, I asked my husband to take me to Cuba. It has always been my dream to go there and WHAT A DREAM IT WAS!! This trip met my expectations and more. Besides the constant rain, and waiting for our luggage (it took over 1 1/2 hrs), I don't have any other complaints! We had the best time of our life! Our guide Oscar and our driver Abadelio were the BEST and took care of us 24/7. They went above and beyond to show us Cuba and their culture, which are very proud of. Oscar was extremely knowledgeable, funny and very professional. Abadelio was the best driver you could have. He was helpful, attentive and he took us through parts of Cuba that few people get to see. You could see they are extremely proud of whom they are and what they are doing. The best part was staying on private homes. The "casas" we stayed were very clean and comfortable. The people were very gracious, hospitable and accommodating. I am glad that we spent time in knowing them and talking to them. We also had the pleasure to meet Carlos. What a character, you have to love him!! We spent a wonderful afternoon with him and his wife. I will always treasure the opportunity and the time I spent with them. They are genuinely warm, welcoming and proud of their country. I have fallen in love with the island and their people. When I left, a piece of my heart was left behind. I feel I made new friends and I can't say enough about the trip and the people we met. I just know that I want to go back! I have been telling my friends about our experience and have been recommending them to go and visit Cuba and their wonderful people!

We had a wonderful time in Cuba! Our guide was a wonderful person who became more of a friend to us than a guide. The accommodations were charming and it was the perfect way to immerse oneself into local life. The itinerary was jam packed with interesting and enlightening tours but it was also flexible and they were able to accommodate us during logistically challenging times. I especially enjoyed learning the music traditions at a local music school. It was a blast and I would love to come again because our time was so short. Thank you for everything Espiritu Travel!

If you haven't been to Cuba yet, you are missing out!! Karin was very responsive when we first inquired about the tour and was very thorough to prepare us in the weeks prior to our trip. When we arrived in Havana, I felt like i could sit back and experience Cuba without worrying about any of the details. Santy was an amazing tour guide - knowledgeable and thorough. I knew what to expect and really got a great cultural tour with a ton of history - in just 3 days. Our trip was really well organized and we did not have any issues. Highly recommended tour and Santy was the best tour guide. Ask for him!

After three months of self-guided travel through seven Latin American countries, we had Espiritu Travel organize our final two weeks in Cuba. That was the best possible decision. Cuba is unique. None of the usual expectations apply. Every day, across the length of the island, we stayed in the homes of gracious, personable families. Each morning our driver, guide and translator picked us up on time for the next amazing day. Espiritu incorporated our own plans into the schedule, but on our own we never could have made sense of the realities in Cuba. Our conversations were refreshingly honest, and informative, but not romanticized. We could not have been happier with this unbelievably high quality experience with all the staff and the itinerary. Thank you! Roger and Claire Dewey

Shore Excursions from RCCL DON'T compare We used Espiritu Travel for our 1.5 days in Havana. Worked with Karin who tailored their itinerary to meet our needs. Our guide, Fernando was there as anticipated and provided an excellent Cuban experience for us. We enjoyed the visit so much we are returning in August on NCL and using the services of Espiritu again. Jack and Donna Haughn The Villages, FL

Wow, what can I say, Karin did an incredible job getting us to Cuba. To be honest, I feared the worst, especially with the recent travel restrictions reinstated by the Trump administration, but our trip went off without a hitch. Karin was very low key and low pressure throughout the entire process, and she knows the island well. That was especially important given where we were traveling, a very remote region on the island's southern tip. If you are planning a trip to Cuba, especially one far off the normal tourist trails, I honestly do not think you could do better than Espíritu Travel. Seriously, I am not sure you would even want to try. Karin makes everything easy.