Every visitor should have a valid passport issued in his name and a visa or tourist card, except those who come from countries with which Cuba has visa-exemption agreements. Tourist cards—both individual and group—can be requested from Cuba’s consular representatives, travel agencies and airline offices.
If you arrive by sea, the crew must communicate with Cuban port authorities over HF channel (SSB) 2760 (the national coastal network) or 2790 (the tourist network) or over VHF channel 68 (the national coastal network) or channel 16 (the tourist network) before you enter Cuba’s jurisdictional waters—which begin 12 nautical miles from the insular shelf.
Personal effects, jewelry, still or video cameras, fishing and other sports equipment, two bottles of alcoholic beverages, a carton of cigarettes and up to 22 pounds (10 kilograms) of medicines may be brought into Cuba duty-free. In addition, you may bring in other articles up to a value of US $250.00; US $50.00 worth of them will be duty-free, and a 100-percent duty will be due on the remaining US $200 worth. You may not traffic in, consume and/or sell narcotics. Nor may you bring in pornography, blood derivatives, cordless microphones and telephones, household appliances and/or firearms, except for those duly authorized for hunting. You may bring as much cash as you want into the country. However, we recommend that you declare amounts over US $5000, because you will have to present a Customs declaration in order to take out amounts equal to or greater than that figure.
On leaving Cuba, you may take up through 23 Habano cigars, either loose or packaged, without having to present any documents. If you want to take more than 23 cigars with you, on your departure you will have to give Customs the original and one copy of the bill of sale from the establishment (one of those which Habanos, S.A., has empowered to sell cigars for export) where you purchased them. The cigars should be in their original packages that bear the official authorization, including the new holographic seal. If this prerequisite attesting to legal purchase is not met, the product will be seized by Customs.
If you want to take works of art or antiques with you, you must obtain permission to do so from the National Registry of Cultural Assets; in the case of a great quantity of gold and/or silver, you must obtain authorization from the National Bank of Cuba to take it out of the country. Payment of overweight to the airline at your point of origin does not exempt you from paying the corresponding duty on articles, based on their value, when you arrive in Cuba.
All Cuban airports charge an exit fee of 25 convertible Cuban pesos.