Cuba Update March 2003

[gulliver]

Just returned from a three night stay in Cuba with Floridarob and wanted to update the community about my experiences. So many people seem to wonder how it compares to Brazil and is it really worthwhile to go since travel from the US is a bit of a pain.

 

Here's the scoop in a nutshell. You can not easily bring boys back to a first class hotel so you end up staying in a casa particular (a form of B and B). The cops clamped down a bit so the whole gay scene revolves around one block - street cruising in front of the cinema till 9:30 or so, then a trip to the bar/pizzeria (the Alcada) where you sit at a table and nosh and drink, ending with late night at the waterfront Malecon. Thats is it.

 

On the Friday nite i was there, approximately 5 hot boys. Saturday -one. Sunday -rain.

 

BOYS - no bounty here. Nice to be with a few are hot but nothing like Brazil. More dangerous as the only place you can bring a boy is your casa particulare and there is nothing keeping you from getting robbed. No vetting system of OK boys like the Rio saunas provide. No

one to check anyones ID, not the front desk or security staff of the Atlantico Hotel. It is a destination for someone who is into adventure, some risk, few but longer hookups, and is not uncomfortable with seedy and old housing. During bad weather this would be a near imposssible cruising situation.

 

For those who are trying to decide between rio and Cuba - stick with RIO. It is safer, cheaper, more bountiful, and has better accomodations.

 

It may be a nice change of pace for someone who grows tired of Rio - but - since I have not been to Costa Rica or spent much time in

Spain, Cuba may not be a great choice.

 

Do not get me wrong as I had a wonderful couple of evenings with a charming young boy and I was only robbed once BUT think twice before going alone and dont think about it at all if you are not full of adventure and can deal with rooms that make a Motel 6 look like the Taj Mahal.

 

I will return for a longer visit someday, but not alone and only if i am ready for a break from Rio.

[Driver]

Thank you for this post - I love the cuban lad look and was tempted but I shall have to have a rethink. Maybe a holiday without the boys :-(

[BillyZ]

Thank you, Gulliver, for the summary of your experiences.

 

Mine experiences were so very different that I have to comment.

 

The scene in Havana changes constantly, depending on the waxing and waning of the government's crackdowns, so I am not challenging anything you said so much as adding another perspective and experience.

 

I've spent a total of six or seven weeks in Cuba over the past couple of years, and never had anything stolen (although I've never had anything noteworthy available to be stolen) while averaging two coming to my room per day.

 

I never picked up the boys in front of the Cine Yara (I assume that is the cinema you referred to). That crowd was always way too scary even for me. (I'm impressed with your courage if you cruised that bunch.) I meet much nicer regular guys (an accountant, a teacher, a medical technician, students, etc.) via eye contact and smiles on the street.

 

As for the casas, it takes a certain amount of looking around to find the best ones. But for a mere $20 a night, I always had an excellent, clean, spacious private room in the Vedado area.

 

I did not find Rio to be cheaper -- airfare is about a draw and the rooms and boys are less expensive in Cuba but the bad food in Cuba is a bit more expensive. Accomodations? Well, Rio does wins there if you pay three or four times more money. But, I agree with you completely that Rio wins on the ¨bountiful¨ category when you have saunas with dozens of handsome escorts awaiting you -- nothing like that in Cuba.

 

I also agree with you that Havana (like Cairo, Morocco and many other places) is indeed for those who are more adventurous! And I love Rio and plan to return there this summer (and maybe Havana next November).