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Cuba

A cloud-forest climb to the island's high point, and a karst valley still farmed with oxen.

2 expeditions across coasts & islands, 2 of which are inquire-only. Windows on offer: Nov–Apr.

Expeditions
2
Open to plan
0
Inquire only
2
Days
6–8

What Cuba is actually good at

The Sierra Maestra runs along the south coast of eastern Cuba, and Pico Turquino at 1,974 m is the island's high point. The approach climbs from coffee slopes into genuine cloud forest — tree fern, epiphytes, the Cuban trogon and the bee hummingbird — and from the summit ridge the Caribbean opens south with no land between you and Jamaica.

Viñales, in Pinar del Río, is a UNESCO cultural landscape and the listing is agricultural rather than scenic: limestone mogotes standing out of red tobacco soil, with the crop still worked by oxen and hand-strung in thatched curing barns. Both Cuban itineraries are inquire-only, and that is a compliance matter rather than a difficulty one.

Access and permits

Country-level constraints that decide whether a date is possible.

  • US law prohibits travel to Cuba for tourist activities. Travel by US persons must fit an authorised category and be documented accordingly. We structure to that or we decline.
  • We do not transact with entities on the Cuba Restricted List, which shapes lodging and dining toward private-sector alternatives — which is also the better trip.
  • Pico Turquino requires park-assigned guides. Independent ascent is not permitted.

The Cuba catalog

Cuba

Coasts & Islands

Inquire only

Cuba Sierra Maestra Ascent

Sierra Maestra (Granma / Santiago de Cuba)

Cloud forest trails climb Cuba's highest ridge. Coffee farms cling to slopes; from Pico Turquino the Caribbean spreads south without edge.

8 daysModerateNov–Apr

On inquiry

Access notes →

Cuba

Coasts & Islands

Inquire only

Cuba Viñales Valley Circuit

Valle de Viñales, Pinar del Río

Limestone mogotes rise from tobacco fields like green islands. Cave systems cut the rock; evenings smell of curing leaves and rain.

6 daysEasyNov–Apr

On inquiry

Access notes →

Inquire only in Cuba

Why some of these are not bookable

Cuba Sierra Maestra Ascent

  • US law prohibits travel to Cuba for tourist activities. Travel by US persons must fit an authorised category and be documented accordingly; we structure to that or we decline.
  • We do not transact with entities on the Cuba Restricted List. Where that constrains lodging, we use private-sector alternatives.

Cuba Viñales Valley Circuit

  • Travel to Cuba by US persons must fall within an authorised category; tourism is not one of them. We structure for Support for the Cuban People where that genuinely applies, or we decline.
  • We avoid entities on the Cuba Restricted List, which shapes lodging and dining choices.

Something else

Combine Cuba with a neighbour

Most private journeys cross a border — the Atacama to Uyuni crossing, Copán into Guatemala, Iguazú from both sides. Tell us the shape you want and we will say whether the logistics hold together.

Private & custom