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Hi man, Ok, here are some answers.
- I think 40 to 45 cuc for a taxi from the Varadero airport to Varadero is a complete rip off. I have never seen prices that high before, but I just looked online and I noticed a few guys charging that much. It is crazy. I will tell you that with the influx of tourists to Cuba, people are putting all sorts of crazy prices online and in effect, they are tricking tourists to believe these high prices. The standard price for a taxi from the airport to Varadero town is 30cuc. I have negotiated them down to 20cuc. If there is a large plane landing and the taxis know that everybody will need a ride, then they ask for more. If the airport is dead, you can get a deal. My best advice – Do not try to organize this taxi online ahead of time. 90% of taxis in Cuba are organized on the ground. When you arrive at the airport, the drivers will all huddle around the arrivals door and be yelling “taxi, taxi”. Just walk right through the crowd. Then watch as other people get hustled by the taxi drivers. There is sure to be at least a dozen people who take a taxi. They might pay 40cuc or whatever. Just approach the people and ask to share the taxi ride with them and to split the cost. It’s the easiest way. You won’t have to directly negotiate prices with the drivers, which can be hell. You can get your ride for 20cuc. The other way is to walk into the parking lot and just chat with a bus driver. There will be dozens of blue buses all going to town. The tourists who have booked their stays at resorts will get these rides for free. Just offer to pay the driver 10cuc (this is the standard price) per person (if you are traveling with another person). The driver will drop you off close to your destination, but probably along the highway. It would probably be no more than 5 minutes from your casa, since Varadero town is very small and the highway is not really a highway, it’s just a large road beside the town.
- To get from Centro Habana to Trinidad – Ok, here you have several options. I always recommend leaving early in the morning as this is when you will get the best prices (because drivers go from Havana to Trinidad in the morning and then Trinidad to Havana in the afternoon). Taking a private yellow taxi will cost about 150cuc to 160cuc. It’s expensive. The bus sucks, so forget about that. The cheapest and best option in my opinion is to take a communal taxi. In Central Havana, just beside the Plaza de la Revolucion, you go to the corner of Ave de la independencia and 19 de mayo. Its the Omnibus terminal in Havana. Check this map (https://www.google.ca/maps/place/23%C2%B007’35.7%22N+82%C2%B022’59.5%22W/@23.126571,-82.3839793,362m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d23.126571!4d-82.383203) Just below the terminal you see a park and you can see there are cars lined up beside the park, all along 19 de Mayo street. You can just see them a bit in the map. All these cars are taxis going to distant towns and cities in Cuba. I would suggest you go there the day before you plan on leaving for Trinidad. Tell the drivers you want to go to Trinidad the next day and you can negotiate a price. They will probably tell you it will cost like 120cuc or something. My advice would be to speak to the taxi organizer. Ask the drivers to point him out. One organizer is called Morito and the other is called Angel. They are black and usually wear red baseball caps. They organize the taxis (they have an official permit for this). They basically group people together so that the taxis can take full loads of people when they travel. If you don’t mind traveling with other people (tourists and locals) then you can tell the organizer that you want to go to Trinidad and he will probably give you a really good price (probably about 30cuc per person or less). Then, the next morning you arrive at the place and he puts you on a taxi. Or sometimes he can organize that the taxi comes to your casa to pick you up. It’s very good and 95% of the time there are no problems at all. 5% of the time the taxis might not show up or they run late. Call Morito (54 26 86 77) and he will fix any problems. You usually pay at the end of the trip. But that might have changed. Never pay the day before. But honestly, these guys are professionals and you won’t be scammed. But you will be traveling with a few other people and the cars do not have air conditioning, but it is fun and the trip is not bad. If you are a couple, try to sit in the front, beside the driver, and there is good ventilation and you can take photos as you go through the countryside.
- I guess you speak Spanish, but if there is ever any confusion your landlord can help you with the phone calls or whatever. People in Cuba are always eager to help.
- I was in Spain again in December. I had a wonderful time. I was a few weeks in Barcelona. It was very low tourist season. The city was so peaceful. I really enjoyed it.
- I looked on Revolico.com (Cuban classified website) and found another driver who has some good rates. You can always contact him and try to get a deal for the trinidad trip. (https://www.revolico.com/autos/alquiler/servicio-de-taxi-en-cuba-17784622.html) I use this website a lot to get taxis… and actually I think I used this guy before.
Good luck man and have fun!
Mario
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