IYBA FAM TRIP
January 17-21, 2017
Join the International Yacht Brokers Association in Havana, Cuba !
Cuba is the new and most exciting destination for yachting in the Caribbean. With nearly 3500 miles of coastline and hundreds of islands in the pristine archipelagos, seven international marinas and another half a dozen local marinas, it is a natural destination for the US yachting community. This is an opportunity to experience what your clients will experience when they book their Cuba charter! Let us show you Cuba first!
Program Includes
- Custom People to People Itinerary
- Pre-trip briefing in USA
- Cuban Visa
- OFAC Travel Certification
- Airport transfers to and from hotel
- Private luxury transportation for 8 hours
- Professional guide
- Professional tour management in Cuba (Maria Romeu at no cost)
- Day trip to Varadero to explore Marina Gaviota Varadero
- Visit to Marina Hemingway/Hemingway Int’l Yacht Club
- 3 lunches (2 Havana/1 Varadero)
- 1 dinner at the best paladar in Havana
- *meals include 2 drinks (water, soda, wine by the glass, beer)
- 2 cellular phones (for use in Cuba)
- Assistance in planning free time and entertainment
Program Does Not Include
- Airfare Fort Lauderdale - Havana
- US Passport
- Travel from home city to South FL
- Dinners day 2, 3, 4
- Tips for marina and restaurant personnel
- Tips for driver and guide
- Anything not listed in “what’s included”
Day 1 - Tuesday, January 17 - Florida to Havana
Meet at Fort Lauderdale International Airport - Southwest Airlines at 9:00 am
You will be met by Maria Romeu at the Southwest Airlines ticket counter to receive your Visa and assistance with check-in.
Southwest Flight 3922 Fort Lauderdale to Havana at 11:45 am
For those who booked their flights with us, your confirmation #6ZQCP
Arrive in Havana - Check into Hotel Telegrafo
You will be met by our manager, driver and guide at Jose Marti International Airport and transferred to Hotel for a welcome cocktail and appetizers.
Free to stroll the area and become familiar with the hotel - one of the most beautiful areas in Havana
Sunset/Cocktails Hotel Nacional de Cuba
The Hotel was the favorite hotel of the era, founded in 1924 and located high on a coral rock bluff looking out over the Caribbean and the opening of Havana Harbor. A sunset cocktail on the natural coral terrace of the Hotel Nacional will make for a perfect aperitif.
Dinner at San Cristobal
Set in an early 20th Century mansion in the “Centro Habana” district of the city, San Cristobal Paladar is probably, the best restaurant in Havana. Restaurateur and Executive Chef, Carlos Cristobal Marquez, has created a uniquely engaging ambiance within a cluttered, but warm, eclectic décor; each room offering a journey through a particularly iconic aspect of Cuban culture. The cuisine, Cuban Creole with a very refined and international twist, has a five-star rating by many international food critics and was enjoyed by President Barack Obama and his family during their recent visit to Havana.
Return to Hotel/Havana After Dark (not included in price) - we’ll help you plan
Your guide will help you select from an array and wide range of evening activities based on what is happening in Havana. Enjoy live music, dance, baseball and other cultural activities scheduled nightly throughout Havana, including traditional and popular activities enjoyed by the locals. We will help you arrange transportation for the night (not included in price)
Day 2 - Wednesday, January 18 - Havana City
You will be met by your guide in the lobby after breakfast to begin the day’s program.
Old Havana Four Plazas (City tour)
The morning begins with a walking tour of the Four Plazas; a magical journey through five centuries of history and architecture that culminate to comprise Cuba’s first of many UNESCO World Heritage Sites – “La Habana Vieja” or Old Havana. The tour takes you on a stroll through the four main plazas, Plaza de Armas, Plaza Vieja, Plaza de San Francisco de Asis and Plaza de la Catedral, giving you an insight to the truly magnificent and powerful place Cuba held in the Caribbean for centuries. You’ll see colonial fortresses and opulent palaces highlighting the majestic architecture spanning from Spanish Colonial to Neo-Classical interspersed with a mix of Baroque. Old Havana is packed with churches, cathedrals and monuments, as well as a homogeneous ensemble of private houses with arcades, balconies, wrought iron gates and internal courtyards -- many evocatively time worn, but many restored to their original majesty. The plazas host outdoor cafes, bars, and restaurants where live music is always playing, as well as art galleries and quaint shops that can range from touristic items to handcrafted gourmet chocolates and exotic spices. You will want to return to explore La Habana Vieja on your own to explore and discover its magic and mystery for yourself.
Lunch at La Guarida - Pick up 12:30 sharp
There is a mysterious aura to Centro Habana, battered by the sea and left to decay, but there remains a ghostly essence of its former brilliance and a vibrant inner-city life fueled by the locals. Remarkably, some of the city’s top paladares (privately owned restaurants) are located in Centro Habana and among the best of them is La Guarida. The location for the acclaimed Cuban movie, “Fresa y Chocolate”, the first Cuban film ever to be considered for the Oscar.
El Prado – Capitolio, Parque Central, and more (City tour)
El Prado is one of the most exquisitely designed and splendid major avenues in all of the Americas and home to the quintessential structures that define Havana, ranging from Colonial to Baroque to Neoclassical to Art Deco. Designed in 1772 by French landscape architect Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier, El Prado runs for many blocks from the dramatic fountain, La Fuente de la India, to the iconic Malecon, marking the boundary between Habana Vieja and Centro Habana. El Paseo, a marble promenade lined with a natural canopy of trees, marble benches and bronze lions was recently chosen by the House of Chanel for one of the most dramatic runway shows in the history of fashion. It is home to El Capitolio (1929): El Gran Teatro de La Habana (1918), home to the National Ballet of Cuba; The Bacardi Building (1930), a testament to Art Deco and dozens of other structures immortalized in photography and film for decades. Havana’s Central Park, is home to first statue of Jose Marti in Cuba. The gardens stand out for the 28 magnificent royal palms. Some of Havana most recognizable buildings surround the park. El Prado encompasses all of the mystery and magic, all of the historic and cultural wealth that Havana has offered from the 17th to the 21st century.
Rest of the afternoon to stroll Old Havana, Prado, go for drinks at Sloppy Joes’ or El Floridita or visit Havana’s renowned fine arts museum. We’ll help you plan.
Dinner on your own
Tonight's dinner is in a paladar of your choice or at one of the three wonderful Paladares we have made reservations at, all walking distance from the hotel. You can choose from La Concordia, Nazdrovie or Ivan Chef Justo, or you can take your chances on your own. This is an opportunity to get away from the larger group and dine with a smaller group of friends. You will take a taxi to the meal that we will find for you. The group will have a chance to speak with the Chef and owner of the establishment to discuss food and new opportunities in the food industry in Cuba. The cost of this meal is not included in the trip price.
Havana after dark (not included in price) - we’ll help you plan
Your guide will help you select from an array and wide range of evening activities based on what is happening in Havana. Enjoy live music, dance, baseball and other cultural activities scheduled nightly throughout Havana, including traditional and popular activities enjoyed by the locals. We will help you arrange transportation for the night (not included in price)
Day 3 - Thursday, January 19 - Varadero
You will be met by your guide in the lobby after breakfast to begin the day’s program.
Day trip to Varadero
On the northern coast of Cuba in Matanzas Province there a long thin peninsula named for a rare type of cactus, the Hicacos Peninsula. Lying between the Bay of Cardenas and the Caribbean Sea, this thin strip of land offers some of the most coveted beaches in the world and the quintessential beach resort town of Varadero at its eastern tip. Varadero has many unique, historical sites within the city limits offering a peek into a luxurious past where this town was the definitive Caribbean playground for wealthy Americans until 1959. You can still play 18 holes and have cocktails and the oceanfront mansion built by the American industrialist, Henri Dupont, in the 1920’s. Varadero is home to a world-class, state-of-the-art marina for luxury and recreational boating primed for the near future when Varadero will again become the resort destination for affluent visitors from the North. For the adventurous in spirit the stalagmite and limestone caves, some not even miles away from town, feature clear, fresh-water swimming holes and you can experience an open ocean wild dolphin swim at the dolphin center that is just off-shore. When anyone imagines the glory of Cuban beaches, the clear turquoise Caribbean and absolute paradise, it is Varadero that they conjure in their imagination.
Marina Varadero Visit
Marina Gaviota Varadero is a brand new, state of the art, floating dock, luxury marina with all the amenities including power, water, wifi, spa, boutiques, restaurants, night clubs, bowling alley, dive master, fuel dock and more in Cuba’s world-renowned resort town of Varadero, a paradisiac peninsula in Cuba’s culturally, geographically and anthropologically rich province of Matanzas, not frequented by US travellers since the 1950s.
Lunch at Waco's Club
Travelers to Varadero love this sequestered-away spot, which was once Varadero's Club Nautico or Yacht Club. The restaurant is clearly aiming high with its impressive international menu (nothing as wacko as you might think with a name like this, but all well-presented and flavorsome) and refined upstairs dining terrace. Enjoy the food, the custom cocktails and the cordial staff while being part of the Cuban experience.
Driving tour of Varadero City Highlights - Xanadu Mansion
Perhaps one of the most interesting things to the US visitor to Varadero, is learning that it has been a luxury destination for Americans since the first quarter of the 20th Century. The mansion, built in the 1920s by U.S. millionaire, Irenee du Pont, the former president of the DuPont Company, overlooks one of the most beautiful beaches in the world and houses a world-class restaurant where our yacht charter guests will enjoy lunch after a historical tour of the mansion and the grounds. And if you desire, you can squeeze in a few holes of golf at Varadero Golf Club with the ocean on one side and the Bay of Cardenas on the other.
Stop at the Bacunayagua Bridge/Yumuri Valley Mirador for Pina Coladas
The Yumuri Valley is among the most beautiful and breathtaking natural phenomenon of Cuba. Over 89 Acres wide and reaching altitude of 150 meters, extending to the shore of the Caribbean Sea, it is also a unique ecosystem and home to important archeological sites. The Bacunayagua Bridge traverses the valley, a feat of engineering that offers spectacular and unforgettable views.
Return to Havana and Hotel
Tonight's dinner is in a paladar of your choice or at one of the three wonderful Paladares we have made reservations at, all walking distance from the hotel. You can choose from La Concordia, Nazdrovie or Ivan Chef Justo, or you can take your chances on your own. This is an opportunity to get away from the larger group and dine with a smaller group of friends. You will take a taxi to the meal that we will find for you. The group will have a chance to speak with the Chef and owner of the establishment to discuss food and new opportunities in the food industry in Cuba. The cost of this meal is not included in the trip price.
Havana after dark (not included in price) - we’ll help you plan
Your guide will help you select from an array and wide range of evening activities based on what is happening in Havana. Enjoy live music, dance, baseball and other cultural activities scheduled nightly throughout Havana, including traditional and popular activities enjoyed by the locals.
Day 4 - Friday, January 20 - Havana City
You will be met by your guide in the lobby after breakfast to begin the day’s program.
Marina Hemingway & Ernest Hemingway International Yacht Club
Fuster Studio/home (Artist Studio Visit)
Visit the Gaudí-like whimsical park-residence of Cuban painter, printmaker, and ceramicist José Fuster. Fuster has used the fishing of Jaimanitas as the backdrop for his unique work and it is only a couple of blocks away from Marina Hemingway on the Jaimanitas River.
Lunch at Rio Mar
Amazingly for a city by the sea Havana has precious few places to eat with a view to the deep blue ocean. Rio Mar has a whole terrace overlooking the Caribbean where the Rio Almendares flows into the sea. This little bay is sheltered but gives you a sense and smell of the ocean without the waves. Considered one of the best restaurants in Havana, the selection of fresh seafood is wonderful and the service is five star.
Modern Havana
When most people envision Havana, they see a Spanish Colonial city of cobblestone streets, baroque palaces and churches, large plazas and the vestiges of ancient fortresses with cannons and dungeons. What they don’t realize is that most of Havana was built during the 20th Century. Most surprising is that some of the best example of mid-20th century modern architecture in all of Latin America can be found in Havana; the most notable of these buildings remaining relatively unchanged from their initial construction. The Cuban modernist movement, active since the late 19th and early 20th centuries, reached its zenith in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1955, the Museum of Modern Art in New York featured the seminal exhibit and publication by Henry-Russel Hitchcock, Latin American Architecture Since 1945, introducing Cuba’s avant-garde modern architects. This driving tour will take you throughout Havana’s neighborhoods, showcasing the inordinate amount of modern architecture in contrast to the size of the city, both commercial and residential, opening your eyes to a Havana that is rarely seen in photos but of great historical and architectural significance. You’ll experience the work of the surprising number of notable architects that practiced during these two decades in Cuba, and the modern, sophisticated and stylish city they built by the first half of the 20th century.
Revolution Square ( Plaza de la Revolucion)
One of the most dramatic examples of modern architecture in Havana, if not the world, is the Plaza de la Revolución José Martí. The Plaza is among the largest civic plazas in the world, measuring nearly 24,000 sq. ft., surrounded by modern construction and featuring the enormous obelisk monument to Jose Marti, built on the highest ground in Havana. It is major attraction for visitors of all walks of life, world leaders and dignitaries, including Pope Francis who held mass their recently and Pope John Paul II who visited in 1998. The plaza was constructed prior to 1959 during the government of Fulgencio Batista, but gained popularity afterward as the center of public celebration and demonstration in Cuba. Two of the government buildings in the square, both mid-century modern (1958), are best known for the iron sculptures of Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos that cover their facades, both by Cuban artist Enrique Avila. This grand plaza is also home to the Teatro Nacional de Cuba, built in 1979. This plaza is another one of those magical locations in Havana that throw you back in time but simultaneously offer you a great vision and hope for the future.
Tonight's dinner is in a paladar of your choice or at one of the three wonderful Paladares we have made reservations at, all walking distance from the hotel. You can choose from La Concordia, Nazdrovie or Ivan Chef Justo, or you can take your chances on your own. This is an opportunity to get away from the larger group and dine with a smaller group of friends. You will take a taxi to the meal that we will find for you. The group will have a chance to speak with the Chef and owner of the establishment to discuss food and new opportunities in the food industry in Cuba. The cost of this meal is not included in the trip price.
Havana after dark (not included in price) - we’ll help you plan
Your guide will help you select from an array and wide range of evening activities based on what is happening in Havana. Enjoy live music, dance, baseball and other cultural activities scheduled nightly throughout Havana, including traditional and popular activities enjoyed by the locals.
Day 5 - Saturday, January 21 - Departures
Breakfast at hotel
You will be met by your guide in the lobby after breakfast to begin the day’s program.
Check out of hotel
Transfer from a Havana hotel to Jose Marti International Airport
You’ll be met by your guide and transportation for your airport transfer from the hotel to Jose Marti International Airport. Your guide will remain with you at the airport, assisting with check-in and to see you off, ensuring a smooth departure.
Southwest Flight 3923 Havana to Fort Lauderdale at 2:00 pm
A division of Cuba Tours and Travel
Cuba Tours and Travel has over fifteen years of experience offering expert-driven cultural travel to Cuba. Our management and program-design team, working together with a team of superb Cuban travel associates in both Havana and Miami, are uniquely suited to offer you the finest in-depth travel program to the island. We are licensed by the US and Cuba and are fully insured. Most importantly, we have an abiding love for Cuban art and culture and have strong connections to the cultural institutions on the island.
Cuba Tours and Travel is a full-service agency licensed by the U.S. Government
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Email: maria@cubavipyachts.com
Website: cubatoursandtravel.com
Location: 10631 North Kendall Drive, Miami, FL, United States
Phone: 888 225 6439
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