Is there Phone access in Cuba?
Please check with your phone company. For Australian travelers the answer is a definite no as at this moment.
There are a few things you can do, you can either decide to go without a phone for the duration of your stay. You purchase wi-fi card, I will cover this in another segment, or you can purchase a Tourist Sim card that is valid for 30 days from its activation – you cannot extend it further. The initial purchase will give you telephone and data access and includes a basic package of 1GB + 20 MIN + 20 SMS, you can top data up again online.
To do this visit www.recergasacuba.com – as you can only apply for this service via this website.
The price is $ 25.00 USD, you can pay with Visa and MasterCard cards or with your PayPal account.
You can order this prior to arrival into Cuba and nominate your pick up point, that can be in an ETECSA Commercial Unit or in Terminal 3 of José Martí Airport, in the Cubatur Bureau that is located in the sterile area, before checking with immigration.
You must have an unlocked phone to be able to utilise this sim card. And there are a few other specifications your phone needs to have for this sim to work, I have put these in the article on our website.
Phone requirements
To use the service, your phone must be released and operate at:
| NET | BAND | FREQUENCY |
| 3G | 8 | 900 Mhz |
| 3G | one | 2100 Mhz |
| 4G | 3 | 1800 Mhz |
To use the Data you must configure the nauta access point on your phone:
Name: nauta
APN: nauta
You can receive national and international calls. Calls received from a national mobile number and international calls will be free of charge. Calls received from a national fixed number are not free of charge. You can make national and international calls as long as you have available minutes.
If you want to send text messages abroad, we suggest you use the services available on the Internet such as WhatsApp, Messenger or Telegram.
For all conditions and information on this service go online.
I’d probably recommend not to go down this path unless it is an absolute must for emergency phone access.
For more travel tips check out our Travel Inspiration pages.
