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ABOUT US

Over 35+ years experience leading sustainable, small group tours

How it all began?

Simply Cuba Tours started when Orsolya, an Australian traveler, met Yoanis, an enthusiastic Cuban tour guide on her trip to Cuba. Yoanis’ passion for his country, its history, wildlife and people ignited the spark of love of Cuba in Orsolya. They connected deeply over the desire to create value-driven experiences and together with their team they aspire to show Cuba’s beauty to the rest of the world.

WHO ARE WE AIMED AT

Our trips are curated for people who want to explore and be a part of an intimate experience rather than joining an overcrowded tour or all-inclusive hotel. We think joining a handful of others is the perfect way to experience the nature, culture and the environment of Cuba.

We run sustainable tours in small, intimate groups to maximise the experience and minimise the environmental impact. We are passionate about protecting the places we visit, experiencing them and then leaving again with no trace. Or even better, leaving behind a positive impact.

Our trips are suitable for most people of reasonable fitness. If you have any questions regarding this please get in touch and we will be happy to assist you.

Check our Tours

Our Promise

We make every effort to provide all guests with outstanding. authentic and personal experiences whilst supporting the communities that we visit.

Cultural Immersion

We choose local casas, restaurants and service providers to provide you an authentic cultural experience.

Operate Ethically

We take into account the wellbeing of communities and ecosystems of which we are a part of.

Shared Values

We are proud to partner with socially and environmentally responsible companies and individuals.

Protect Nature

We show commitment to reducing environmental impact by reducing energy use, and waste production.

WHY WE EXIST

We exist to inspire people to reconnect and recharge through intimate, cultural experiences. We are passionate about making each interaction unique and creating powerful connections. Our aim is to show you the real Cuban way of life through our sustainable small group tours.

Our passion for the nature and people of this country drive us to making it accessible for those who love to make a difference in the world.

Our Team

Yoanis Blanco Santos

Born and raised in Cuba, Yoanis is the Co-Founder and Lead Tour Guide for Simply Cuba Tours. Passionate about his country, its history, wildlife and people, Yoanis honed his craft as a host and tour guide for over 14 years. He has a specialist interest in birding and photography. He is very knowledgeable and goes over and above the line of duty every time, to ensure that visitors have a trip of a lifetime.

Orsolya Bartalis

Orsolya is an experienced traveler with many countries under her belt, but none have captured her quite like Cuba. She is a compelling, and passionate storyteller; writer, and author who has been inspiring others to realise their dreams for over two decades. Her passion is showcasing the real Cuba powerful written content, transporting her readers to the streets of Havana and beyond. Orsolya hopes to inspire you to take a journey to this island paradise.

Yunior Galvez Perez

From Havana through and through, Yunior is our Senior Tour Guide at Simply Cuba Tours. He has over 20 years experience of guiding sustainable, small group tours around Cuba, knows the place like the back of his hand. He loves nothing more than sharing experiences his home has to offer, especially if it also involves diving! He’s an absolute champion at creating unique experiences and making sure that you are well looked after on your vacation.

START PLANNING YOUR TRIP

Whether you are interested in birding, diving, photography, old cars, culture, history, we can help! Let’s have a chat to see which itinerary best suits your needs.

Our Photography Expert Team

Shane Gross

Ten years ago he decided to dedicate his life to telling the ocean’s story through photography. The ocean is home to the most stunning creatures, great and small and it also tends to be the first place impacted by the modern, human way of life. Shane’s goal is to show both sides in as powerful and emotional way possible to help inspire change.

Over the last decade his commitment to marine conservation photojournalism has only strengthened. Shane hopes to be able to do this for rest of his life. With your support he can take more and better images. Shane can spend his time working in the field and be free to fight for the ocean.

Thank you for your support. Shane cannot begin to tell you how grateful he is. He strongly believes that together we can make a real difference.

Bruce Hargrave

Bruce is a UK based wildlife and nature photographer. He has been interested in cameras in the ages of dark rooms! ? His Grandad built him a darkroom in the loft so he could develop and print the black and white photos. Those were the days!

Nowadays, he uses digital SLRs and mirrorless cameras, in many different versions. As Bruce says – “for a passionate portrait and wildlife photographer, there can be no such thing as too many cameras!”

Bruce likes to get out in nature and shoot wildlife photographs in wild places, even better when he can take others with him, so he can teach them how to capture some stunning photos and magical moments. His specialty is birds in flight.

He brings a vast of experience a budding photographer could take advantage of!

Cat MacRae

Cat is a surgeon turned passionate outdoors enthusiast, writer and photographer. She focuses on finding stories in remote parts of the world, with a special interest in conservation and local connections. These days, you’ll find her searching for new adventures from the drivers seat of a Russian 4×4 van.

She loves teaching others how to make the most of their photography skills and see places through new eyes. Although she drags 12kg of camera gear up literally every single mountain she climbs, she’s become somewhat of a convert to simply shooting with her phone. The best camera, after all, is the one that’s easy to carry!

Cat learned after getting stranded in Russia for 7 months that every day is a new adventure, so there’s no better person to go exploring with.

Lea Unwin-Smith

Australian photographer Lea Unwin-Smith, loves nothing more than to get out and share the beauty of the world we live in through pictures. She goes by the “If I can make someone feel something and create emotion, my work as a photographer is complete”.

Lea began her photographic journey back in the late 1990’s, with an entry level film SLR camera, but It wasn’t until about three years ago on a trip to Canada, that she developed a true passion for photography.

Her photography includes Travel, Animals, Nature and Astrophotography. When not busy looking after her small farm, Lea loves nothing more than to get out into the great outdoors and document this great world with a camera.

Lea’s images have been used in promotional campaigns and sold across the world. Lea also does private vehicle photography, photography instruction and leads group photography tours.

Kate Crock

Kate is an Australian photographer with a passion for birds (she’s a self-confessed bird nerd!), wildlife and landscapes, and desire to travel as much as she can in the coming years. After a lifetime of having a camera in hand, she graduated to a DLSR in 2016 for a world trip and hasn’t looked back. She loves to tell a good story and shares her knowledge of places and
things with her followers on Instagram.​

While she uses and loves her big girl camera, she also believes anyone can take a great photo on their smartphone and is keen to share her knowledge of camera basics to foster that skill in others when they travel.​

Her favourite things are spending time at the beach near her holiday home on Phillip Island, Victoria, and to wander the bush looking for birds and finding new angles to capture in nature. At the same time, she is also enjoys manmade landscapes, and has a good eye for detail and composition.

Chase Teron

Chase Teron is a full-time photographer, videographer and photography instructor based on Vancouver Island. He is extremely passionate about nature and animals and he hopes his work will drive positive change in the protection of sensitive ecosystems and habitats.

Chase is an expedition leader and photography teacher guiding International clients all over the world focusing on the Polar Regions. These locations include West and South Greenland, Iceland, Svalbard, Northern Norway, Canadian Arctic, Antarctica, Africa and now wondrous, Cuba!

Chase Teron, is a proud co-founding member of the Canadian Conservation Photographers Collective and his goal with this organization is to have an energetic team and network of conservation photographers who can come together and collaborate on Canada’s pressing environmental issues to make a greater impact to protect precious ecosystems.

Kerrie Burow

After a childhood filled with swimming and lifesaving, Kerrie first started diving while living in Asia in the mid-1990s, taking the sport up again six years ago on a trip with scientists tagging dwarf minke whales off the outer Great Barrier Reef – a journey filmed in a David Attenborough documentary.

Kerrie is now a technical and CCR diver and a multi-award winning underwater photographer. She loves documenting her underwater adventures in cold to temperate to tropical waters, and particularly enjoys adventurous travel and diving in remote locations.

In 2021, Kerrie was named one of Australasia’s Top Emerging Photographers for her shipwreck photography. 

Jono Allen

Australian born and raised, for over a decade Jono’s been devoted to searching for unique wildlife encounters, this pursuit has led him to extraordinarily wild places across all corners of the planet. While the location and wildlife consistently change, the motivation and drive behind these expeditions remains the same, the pursuit of connection.

Jono strongly believes the difference between merely ‘ticking a box’ and having a life changing experience purely comes down to our connection with nature. The difference between simply seeing a whale underwater compared to having one you’ve connected with spin around you in bursts of joy is incomparable.

Along with engaging wildlife to evoke powerful encounters and photography, Jono possesses a deep love for capturing the relationships between individual animals and uncovering their unique personalities. No matter how often you encounter wildlife, nature has an infinite amount to teach us, all we need to do is learn to listen and understand.

Would you love to discover Cuba?