Can I easily make international phone calls and have access to Internet while in Cuba?

In many hotels and ETECSA cybercafés – ETECSA being the national phone company – you can by ETECSA “calling cards” (minimum CUC 10) and make calls from designated pay phones. This tends to be the least expensive way to make international phone calls from Cuba.

Email and Internet services are also available at ETECSA cybercafés located around the city of Havana and in many other larger urban centers, as well as in many hotels. The cost for services varies from place to place, but is generally more expensive than outside the country, and there’s a wide price range from one location to another. For example, in the Vedado district, Hotel Habana Libre charges CUC 9 for one hour, whereas Hotel Presidente charges CUC 6 for one hour.

If you have your own laptop computer in Cuba, wireless service (or inalámbrico in Spanish) is now available at some hotels. For instance, at Melia Cojiba (Tel 833-3636) in Vedado, the cost is CUC 12 for a two-hour card (minimum) which can be used at different times and days during a maximum 15-day period. They provide wireless service 24 hours a day, seven days a week. At Hotel Nacional (Tel 873-3564) the cost for wireless is CUC 8 per hour. Other hotels have other costs, so you might want to call around to check it out. Ask for the Centro de Negocios. It’s also wise to call beforehand to make sure that the hotel in question has cards available for using wireless, as sometimes these aren’t available. A hint: if you use wireless at the Melia Cojiba, apparently the transmission speed is quicker if you sit by the windows than if you sit in the middle of the lobby.