Arriving at Havana Airport – Cuba Airport Arrivals

Arriving at José Martí International Airport is one of those moments where your trip to Cuba starts to feel real. You’ve read the blogs, sorted the visa, double-checked the cash situation, maybe even warned your bank you’re traveling, and then the plane doors open and you’re in Cuba.  Havana Airport doesn’t run like a major European hub. There aren’t endless digital screens, automated passport gates, or fast-moving conveyor belts. Things move at their own pace. Sometimes quickly. Sometimes… not. And that’s completely normal.  Nothing is very obvious.  The airport is dimly lit.  There are lots of people, mainly standing in queues, and there’s not much signage.  Welcome to our guide to arriving in Havana for first-timers.

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN COMPENSATED AND AFFILIATE LINKS. MORE INFORMATION IN OUR DISCLAIMER

If you know what documents you need ready, what immigration will ask (spoiler: not much), how money works at the airport, and how you’re getting into the city, then it’s all very manageable. If you land expecting strong WiFi, instant ATM access, and Uber waiting outside, then you’ll feel frustrated within minutes.  I’m going to walk you step-by-step through what happens after landing: immigration, baggage, customs, money, SIM cards, and how to get from the airport into Havana without overpaying or worrying about it.

Ready? Let’s start with what you need before you even step off the plane.

Before You Get on the Plane

Havana Airport is not the place to start digging through emails looking for confirmation numbers or trying to download forms on patchy WiFi.  Here’s what you should have sorted and easily accessible:

Your passport

It sounds obvious, but double-check the validity before you travel. Immigration will check it carefully.

Your Cuban eVisa

There are no Cuba Visas on arrival, and no visa on arrival. You need to get this before you leave on your flight.  My guide to the Cuba eVisa is here. It replaced the Cuban Tourist Card in January 2025.  If you flew directly from Canada (not currently possible in February 2026), the cost of this is included in your flight, but for all other flights, you need to buy one before you get on the plane.

EASIEST WAY TO GET AN EVISA

Easiest Way to Get a Cuba eVISA

Buy online, get your Cuban eVisa without needing to visit a Cuban consulate, send money to the embassy. Buy from EasyTouristCard – an approved Cuban evisa vendor. It’s quick, easy and safe. AND they include a pre-filled D’Viajeros form too!! Choose standard or expedited delivery!

Buy Cuban eVisa Now

Your completed D’Viajeros form

Cuba requires an online entry form before arrival.  It’s a combo health/customs/information form.  It’s called the D’Viajeros form, and you need to complete it in the 7 days before you travel. If you have bought your Cuban eVisa from EasyTouristCard, then they will prefill and complete the form for you. This replaces the old immigration and customs form. My guide to completing it is here.

Travel insurance details

Make sure you have your medical insurance handy.  It’s a requirement when you travel to Cuba that you have medical insurance for the duration of your stay.  We kept ours handy on a phone.  If you’re asked at immigration and you can’t prove that you have medical insurance, then you will be required to buy insurance from a Cuban government agency.  Here’s an in-depth article on the requirements of Cuban Travel Insurance.

Note that not all insurance companies will provide insurance coverage for US Citizens traveling to Cuba – check with your provider.

Your first night’s address

Immigration may ask where you’re staying. That can be a hotel or a casa particular. You don’t need a full speech; just the name and area are usually enough. Read my guide to Casa Particular in Cuba here.

These are the key things you MUST do before arriving in Cuba.  Check out our article on what to do before you go to Cuba.

The Havana Airport Arrivals Process

When you deplane, you’ll walk to immigration.  Then you’ll go through immigration.  After immigration, you’ll collect your bags, and then you’ll go through security.  After security, you’re in the Havana arrivals hall.  It’s here that you can change money or use an ATM in the airport. (read my guide to ATMs before you do this.  And then, you’re outside where transfers are met and where you can take taxis to Havana and beyond. The easiest way to get from Havana Airport to Havana is to take a pre-booked transfer. Prebook and prepay your transfer to Havana here. This now includes shared Havana airport transfers.

Immigration at Havana Airport

Once you step off the plane, you’ll follow the signs for immigration. There’s nothing complicated about the layout, just join the line and wait your turn.  And yes, there will almost certainly be a line.  However, Havana airport is not a big airport, and it is unlikely that there will be another plane-load of people trying to go through immigration.  Arrivals at Havana Airport is a small, un-air-conditioned area.

It’s important at immigration that each individual approach the immigration counter individually.  I don’t know why the rules are different in different countries, but hey.  These are the rules here in Havana, Cuba.  The hall (and all of the arrivals part of the airport) is pretty dimly lit.

Once you’re cleared, you head toward baggage claim. And this is where the pace can slow down a little.

The Baggage Hall and Collecting Bags at Havana Airport

After immigration, you collect your checked bags.  The baggage hall at Havana Airport is pretty dated, but they’re standard luggage carousels.  This will probably be your first and not your last experience of waiting in the country.  Welcome to Cuba!

Sometimes the bags are already circling when you arrive. Other times… You wait. And wait. It’s not unusual for luggage to take thirty to forty minutes to appear, especially if several flights landed close together.

There’s nothing wrong. It’s just not a high-speed operation.

Once you’ve collected your bags, you need to go through a security check.

Havana Airport Security Checks

Once you’ve collected your bags, you need to put them through a security X-ray machine.  These are exactly the same as the ones you usually use when you’re entering an airport, not leaving it.

Havana Airport Customs Checks

The rules for what you can bring into Cuba that are tax and duty free changed significantly in January 2026, my guide to the new rules is here. (It’s all good!).  That D’Viajeros form you completed online replaced the customs form, but more good news: if you buy your eVisa from EasyTouristCard, they will complete it for you.

You do NOT need to declare any laptops and e-readers on there.

Most travelers pass straight through without being stopped.  However, if you’re carrying large quantities of:

• Food
• Medicines
• Electronics
• Hygiene products

You may be asked to open your bag.  Be sure to pack any donations of food and medical supplies separately from your own personal items, as Cuba currently allows non-commercial imports of many essential goods, but quantities matter. If it looks like you’re bringing items for resale rather than personal use or gifts, expect questions.  Read my guide about it here.

The Havana Airport VIP pass – Fast Track at the Airport

If you prefer to whizz through the airport, then you might want to take a look at the VIP pass. It’s available from NovelaCuba and costs €35 for adults and €20 for children. You’ll benefit from being whisked through to a VIP lounge to wait for your luggage. Staff will meet you and take you on the fast track route through customs. They’ll also collect your luggage for you and deliver it to the VIP lounge.

The VIP lounge has WiFI, drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic), and snacks, and when you’re ready to leave, they’ll escort you and your luggage to your transfer or taxi.

The Havana Airport Arrivals Hall

After you’ve passed through Havana customs, you’ll go through a door and will be in the arrivals hall.  There’s no other way to describe it than just a big hall, with lots of people milling around.  The doors to exit (and taxis) are on the right.  The escalators UP to the second floor (and Havana airport departures) are off to the left.

Here in the arrivals hall, you will find

• Cadeca Havana Airport – Havana Airport Money Exchange
• Havana Airport Information Desks

There is an information desk on both the arrival and departure levels.  Don’t expect much help from these desks, other than pointing you at the cadecas, the Havana Airport ATMs, and the taxis.   They will, however, assist you in letting you know how much the taxi is likely to cost to where you’re going.  However, the taxi rates from the airport are all pretty standard, as you’ll see below.  Internet is available at the Airport (possibly).  Here’s our Guide to getting Internet Access in Cuba.

If you have bought a tourist SIM card for your visit to Cuba, you can collect it at the airport. The collection counter is right where you collect your bags from. Details for how to buy a Cuban Tourist SIM are in my guide here.

If you prefer the idea of an eSIM, then you can buy one here and be online as soon as you get off the plane, or read my guide to eSIMs in Cuba here.

FREE 100MB + 10% DISCOUNT AT CHECKOUT

Best eSIM for Cuba

Our top pick for an eSIM for Cuba is from GigSky, is easy to install and allows you to access the internet when you arrive in Cuba. Get 100MB for free + 10% discount with code CUBASBEST at checkout.

Buy your eSIM NOW

Money at Havana Airport

When you walk into the arrivals hall at José Martí International Airport, you’ll see an official exchange desk (CADECA) and a couple of ATMs.

The Cuban Peso is a closed currency, which means that it’s not available outside the country, so you WON’T be able to get cash before your holiday.  You’ll need to either prepay for your taxis, tours, and accommodation on your credit card or plan to get cash when you get to Havana.

While there are both ATMs and official currency exchanges at Havana Airport. I do NOT recommend you use them. Read my guide to Cuban Currency here.

If you have (and you should) foreign currency with you, then you can get a taxi from outside the airport and pay in foreign currency. You can also pre-book and prepay for a transfer? Book through our partners Civitatis and make your journey easy!

You can get cash at Havana Airport, either from a CADECA or an ATM, but I do NOT recommend you do this. You will get a much better exchange rate on the informal or black market. Read my guide to Cuban Currency and try to avoid the ATMs.

If you have NO alternative but to get Cuban pesos at Havana airport, then the details follow, but again I recommend NOT doing this.   Cards issued by US banks will NOT work in Cuba. Wise cards do not work in Cuba, and neither does Revolut.

Now you have three options to get Cuban pesos at Havana Airport

• You can put your debit/ATM card in an ATM and take out Cuban pesos
• You can go to a CADECA – a currency exchange.
• Find someone who wants to get rid of their Cuban Pesos for your currency (just ask someone in the line)

Read more about Cuban Currency and everything you need to know here.

Havana Airport currency exchanges are located on the first floor of the airport (departures).  There is also a Havana airport currency exchange on the arrivals floor, but the lines are usually much longer.

You will find several cadeca services on the arrivals floor – BUT THEY ARE OUTSIDE.  As you leave this hall, you can find them on both the LEFT and RIGHT.  The queues will likely be long.

And slow-moving.  If they are, head upstairs, and again, you’ll find two cadecas on the departures level.  One straight ahead as you get off the escalator and one behind you.  Join the line.

There are two ATMs on the departure level here at Havana Airport. ATMs at Havana Airport are signposted in Spanish; these are “Cajero Automatico,” and signage will show both ATM and the Spanish words.  They are straight ahead as you exit the escalator.  After the cadeca on the wall beside it. 

This is NOT the best way to get access to Cuban Pesos. But they work, and if you have no alternative, then they are there as an option.

SIM Cards & Internet at the Airport

There is sometimes an official telecom desk in the arrivals area selling tourist SIM cards from ETECSA. Sometimes it’s open. Sometimes it’s not. Sometimes there’s a queue. Sometimes they’ve run out.  If you prebook your SIM here, then they will hold one for you.

If your phone works with eSIMs, then get yourself an eSIM.  Gigsky is generally recognized as the best option.  You can buy an eSIM for Cuba here.  Or read about them here.

If the desk is open, you can usually purchase a tourist SIM package that includes data, calls, and texts valid for a set period. You’ll need your passport to register it. Setup can take a few minutes, and speeds are fine by Cuban standards — but don’t expect 5G magic.

Airport WiFi technically exists, but relying on it is optimistic. And honestly? For most people, you won’t need data in the first thirty minutes anyway. Once you’re in your taxi heading into the city, you can deal with connectivity.

Transport from Havana Airport

Once you walk out of arrivals, you’ll immediately see drivers offering taxis. This is completely normal.  There’s no Uber. No public airport train. So let’s break down your real options.

Your transport from Havana airport to Havana city options are:

• taking a taxi (and there are two options that we’ll cover below)
• or a prebooked and prepaid transfer, which we will also cover below.
• Prebooking the Viazul Bus, which stops here en route to Havana several times a day.

If you are traveling from Havana Airport to Varadero or other areas on the island of Cuba, then you can either travel by private transfer directly from the airport or take a transfer or taxi into the city and take a Viazul Bus. (Our full guide to the Viazul Bus service is here)

I wrote specifically about getting from Havana Airport to Varadero here.

Getting from Havana Airport to Havana

You do have options when traveling from Havana Airport to Havana.  I’ve highlighted options below, but I have a full guide to all the options here.

Bus from Havana Airport to Havana

There is no local bus from Havana, Cuba Airport to Havana City; however, you can get the Viazul Bus from the airport to the city.   There are several (FIVE) buses a day that go from Havana Airport to Havana. Curiously, only two return from Havana to Havana Airport. There is also a Transtur bus that goes to various hotels in the Havana area on 3 different routes. I’ve covered the routes in my guide on going from Havana Airport to Havana.  In that guide, I cover the Transtur bus that goes between Havana and the Airport.

I’ve updated all the details on the new Viazul services in our guide to the Viazul Bus Service here.

Taxi from Havana Airport to Havana, aka the Yellow Taxis

The yellow taxis will be to your left and easily recognizable.  A yellow taxi from Havana airport to Old Havana will cost US$30 (ish). Simply tell them where you’re going, and they will tell you how much. Always agree on the taxi fare before getting in the taxi. Agree on the currency that you want to pay in (either foreign currency of Cuba pesos), and that the price is for the ENTIRE car.

It’s best if you don’t have good Spanish to have the address of your Casa Particular or Hotel written down on a piece of paper, along with the telephone number of your host.   You can simply hand it over.  It’s much easier.

The typical journey time into central Havana is around 25 to 35 minutes, depending on traffic.

Taking a Classic Car taxi from Havana Airport to Havana

Classic car taxis are likely to be cheaper.  Perhaps US$25.  They don’t have a “parking rank” as such, but you will likely be approached by several drivers asking if you want a taxi.  They are likely to speak less English than Yellow Cab taxis. Confirm that the price you agree on is for the entire car (and not per person), and what currency you’re going to pay in.

Classic car taxis are either in a lot worse condition than the yellow taxis, in which case the price is likely lower.  Or they’re in spectacularly refurbished condition, and they’ll be more expensive.  We’ve traveled in both – and it’s worth trying to travel in both, just for the authentic Cuban experience. Read about classic car tours here.

Prebooked Private Transfer from Havana Airport to Havana

Perhaps you don’t speak a great deal of Spanish (you’ll need that for Cuba), or you’d prefer to pay for your transfer before you leave home (and save your cash for your holiday).  Prebooking transfers from Havana airport to Havana or your hotel is simple. We recommend Civitatis for transfers to Havana. Book and prepay for a transfer here. Note that you can also now prebook a shared transfer from the airport.

Final Words on Arriving at Havana Airport

So you’re here, In Cuba.  And that’s it.  Arriving at Havana Airport is a little bewildering to start with because there’s little signage and lots of people.  But if you stop and think for a moment, and work out what you need to do, then it’s easy to navigate your arrival at Havana airport.  We hope your guide to arriving in Cuba helps – now all you need to do is head to your casa particular or hotel for the night and enjoy Cuba!

Cuba’s Best is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.