CUBAbility: Friends of Cuba

“For folks planning travel to Cuba from Canada, here is an updated list of alternative flight routes to Cuba from Canadian airports from the Ministry of Tourism of Cuba / Ministero del Turismo di Cuba.

NOTE: for the mandatory Cuban eVisa, you can either order from the Cuban Embassy in Ottawa or either of the Cuban Consulates in Canada for $24 Canadian (at https://evisacuba.cu/en/inicio), which requires two to three days turnaround and which requires either an Interac e-transfer *or* a money order, *or* you can order from Novela Cuba for $25 USD (at https://novelacuba.com/en/visa), from which you can obtain the eVisa instantaneously (within seconds of placing the order), and where you can pay by credit card.”
-Tony Tracy

🌴✈️ Alternative Routes for Canadian Travellers Visiting Cuba — Summer 2026
🇺🇸 Via Miami (American Airlines) to Havana, Varadero, Santa Clara, Camagüey, Holguín, Santiago de Cuba.
🇺🇸 Via Miami (Delta Air Lines) to Havana.
🇵🇦 Via Panama City (Copa Airlines) to Havana.
🇲🇽 Via Mexico City (Aeroméxico) to Havana.
🇲🇽 Via Cancún (Viva Aerobus) to Havana and Camagüey.
🇧🇸 Via Nassau (Bahamasair) to Havana.

📌 Before You Travel
1️⃣ Mandatory e‑Visa for Canadians travelling to Cuba via a third country.
2️⃣ D’Viajeros Form. All travellers must complete the D’Viajeros – Advance Information of Travelers Form to obtain the required QR code.

🛂 How to Get the e‑Visa
🔹Option 1: Cuban Consulates. Purchase online through the official platform: evisacuba.cu
🔹 Option 2 (NEW): Hola Sun Holidays. Travellers can now also obtain the e‑Visa through Hola Sun Holidays (Tour Operator) by calling 905‑882‑9445 ext. 434 / 436


www.gocuba.ca [email protected]

Together for Cuba is an AMAZING organization!
Known primarily for bringing hundreds of pounds of medical supplies to Cuba, they are really stepping up to help feed people in this current situation!

Here is a message from Stan Dotson about May Day in Cuba and a mention of Christopher Levan and me. Maybe a play could be in the works, collaboratively created by Kim and us!
"Saludos family and friends,

Today is May Day, the International Workers' Day, one of the most celebrated annual holidays in Cuba (and in other countries where the labor movement is still strong). It will be yet another one of those surreal days back in Cuba (Kim and I are in North Carolina for a couple of weeks), with parades in every city and town, led by working people who for the most part are out of work due to the blackouts and gas shortage.

But still, despite the official unemployment, they are not by any means idle. They are out there, working, every day, to find food, to find medicine, to keep going. And on this day, I want to remember specific people there whose work is, on a day to day basis, harder than any work I've ever done. There's the young couple I met in Las Tunas who go out into the countryside every day and cut marabou wood, bring it back and start the arduous task of making charcoal (a much-sought after commodity these days). There's the mother and daughter who sweep the streets of Matanzas every day. There's the farmer I met in Bayamo who still cuts his cane by hand, with a machete. There's our neighborhood delegate to the People's Power (local government), who spends most of his time at the forge as an ironwork sculptor. There's the choreographer working with her class of young dancers. There's the doctor at our church who sets up a clinic to dispense donated medicines in the foyer of the church on Fridays, consulting with each of the 100 to 150 people who started lining up at daybreak outside the church door.

There's the bread vendor, pushing his cart down the streets, singing out in his rich tenor voice "pan suave". One of our Canadian friends, Chris Levan, once dreamed of writing an opera, all based on the voices of the various street vendors (Chris' wife, Ellen, is an opera singer, so they could definitely pull this dream off).The word "opera" (like the word "opus) literally means "work;" the Spanish word for "work" is "obra" and workers are "obreros". So, here on May Day, I am thinking of all the dramatic sights and sounds of a country in crisis; we could title it "Opus number 65" if we were counting the years. And we can join our voices in singing "The Internationale", the workers' anthem song composed for the alliance of workers who met in 1864 and inspired our annual May day. Here is Billy Bragg's English version of the original French lyrics:

Stand up all victims of oppression
For the tyrants fear your might
Don't cling so hard to your possessions
For you have nothing if you have no rights
Let racist ignorance be ended
For respect makes the empires fall
Freedom is merely privilege extended
Unless enjoyed by one and all

Let no one build walls to divide us
Walls of hatred nor walls of stone
Come greet the dawn and stand beside us
We'll live together or we'll die alone
In our world poisoned by exploitation
Those who have taken now they must give
And end the vanity of nations
We've but one earth on which to live

And so begins the final drama
In the streets and in the fields
We stand unbowed before their armor
We defy their guns and shields
When we fight provoked by their aggression
Let us be inspired by like and love
For though they offer us concessions
Change will not come from above

Chorus:
So come brothers and sisters
For the struggle carries on
The internationale
Unites the world in song
So comrades come rally
For this is the time and place
The international ideal
Unites the human race


And so we pray...
Stan

Ensancha el espacio de tu carpa, y despliega las cortinas de tu morada. ¡No te limites! Alarga tus cuerdas y refuerza tus estacas. Porque a derecha y a izquierda te extenderás. —Isaías 54:2-3a (NVI)"

✈️ Alternative Routes for Canadian Travellers Visiting Cuba This Summer:
🇺🇸 Via Miami (American Airlines) to Havana, Varadero, Santa Clara, Camagüey, Holguin and Santiago de Cuba.
🇺🇸 Via Miami (Delta Airlines) to Havana.
🇵🇦 Via Panama City (Copa Airlines) to Havana.
🇲🇽 Via Mexico City (Aeroméxico & Viva Aerobus) to Havana.
🇲🇽Via Cancun (Viva Aerobus) to Havana and Camagüey.
🇲🇽 Via Monterrey (Viva Aerobus) to Havana.
🇲🇽 Via Mérida (Viva Aerobus) to Havana.
🇧🇸 Via Nassau (Bahamasair) to Havana.
📌 IMPORTANT
• Apply for your eVisa at evisacuba.cu at least 72 hours before your flight.
• Complete the D’Viajeros entry form before travelling.


www.gocuba.ca [email protected]

More Canadian tourists arrive in Cuba in July 2025 - Sol de Cuba The close of the month shows that 50,083 visitors from that country crossed the borders of the Caribbean archipelago