WHATSAPP IN CUBA
Yes. It is possible to use WhatsApp in Cuba. Make sure you download the WhatsApp app onto your phone before you leave your home country as it is difficult to download in Cuba, especially if you have an iPhone. You can not access the Apple App store in Cuba unless you use a VPN.
I like using WhatsApp in Cuba to keep in touch with friends outside of Cuba. The best way to use WhatsApp in Cuba is to connect onto the internet long enough for you to receive your messages. I then disconnect, listen and read my messages on WhatsApp, reply to them all while I am offline, both text and voice messages and then when I reconnect to the internet all my messages are sent. This way I don’t use up valuable internet time responding to messages from friends while I am in Cuba.
WIFI IN CUBA
Since writing my blog article in 2015 “
WIFI in Cuba” internet accessibility has changed very little.
Be prepared for the following when you visit Cuba:
- You will NOT have 24-hour access to WIFI in Cuba, hence you can only use WhatsApp once you are connected to the internet in Cuba
- Data roaming packages for Cuba are usually very expensive
- You will NOT be able to access online banking when you are in Cuba
- You will NOT be able to access all of your apps on your phone when you are in Cuba (e.g. I always lose access to Adobe Spark Post after a week of being in Cuba)
- Don’t expect things to work like they do back at home
Most of the information from my article “
WIFI in Cuba” still stands so you can refer to that for more information. However, there are a number of things to bear in mind when you are on holiday in Cuba:
- Once you are in Cuba you will need to buy an ETECSA NAUTA internet card in order to access the WIFI in Cuba, the price is now 1 CUC per hour from ETECSA.
- Try to buy more than one NAUTA card at a time as queues to buy the NAUTA card from ETECSA are usually very long.
- Sometimes they ask for photo ID at ETECSA when you buy a NAUTA card so keep a photo of your passport on your phone.
- Make sure there are NAUTA internet cards available for sale before you join a queue (as ETECSA do run out quickly) and make sure you join the right queue (as Cubans go to ETECSA to pay their phone bills). The best way to do this is to ask the security guy on the door if there are any NAUTA cards for sale and which is the right queue.
- Even though ETECSA is the official place to buy the NAUTA cards, it is now possible to buy internet cards from other places for example, some casas in Cuba sell the NAUTA internet cards to their guests, hotel bars or on the street. It will be more expensive from 1.50-2 CUC per hour but you will avoid the queues in Cuba.
- If you buy the NAUTA internet card from a hotel bar, you will have to buy a drink and you can sit down and use their facilities instead of connecting to the internet on the street in Cuba.
- There are now more WIFI hotspots in Havana (usually in parks and squares) and in Trinidad (Parque Cespedes, Casa de la Música & outside the Clínicas del Sol International Clinic).
- Some restaurants now offer WIFI to their customers, not always free so you will have to use your NAUTA internet card.
- Some Casa Particulares now have access to WIFI or NAUTA hogar. So, you can use your NAUTA internet cards at the Casa. You will need to ask for the password from your Casa in Cuba.
Accessing the internet in Cuba is all part of the experience, so enjoy being disconnected while you are in Cuba. If for whatever reason you need to have 24-hour access to the internet e.g. because you run your own business then maybe think twice before coming to Cuba.
EXPERIENCE THE REAL CUBA – SUPPORTING CUBAN BUSINESSES
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