taxi |
Taxi
In Cuba there are 4 types of taxis: the so-called tourist taxi, the colectivos, the particulares and the bici/coco-taxis.
Tourist taxi - The tourist taxi, Cubataxi, are readily available at/near all of the better hotels and tourist facilities. Other official taxi companies are Panataxi (+53 7 555 555), which charges a flat fee of 1 CUC plus 0,50 CUC per kilometer and Taxi OK (+53 7 204 9518, Calle 8 between Avs 1 & 3, Miramar) which charges 1 CUC a kilometer.
Your cheapest option are the older yellow-and-black (non-air-conditioned!) Ladas, which are state-owned but rented out to private operators. Most likely meters will not be used, as these are set at an unrealistically low rate, but you can bargain over the fare. To flag these taxi´s you have to move away a bit from the tourist hotels as they are not supposed to pick up passengers within 100m of those.
You can order a taxi by telephone or through any hotel reception. Taxis can be hired to get you somewhere, but also to drive you around. In that case, you will be paying for the distance covered, not for the waiting time between one place and another.
Colectivos - Colectivos are old pre-revolution American cars that function as collective taxis for Cubans. Colectivos operate fixed routes and charge a flat fee of 10 cuban pesos for short trips and 20 cuban pesos for longer trips (to be paid when getting off). If asked to pay in CUC, you should be paying respectively 0,50 CUC and 1 CUC. Colectivos are not supposed to take tourists. Nevertheless , if you are stuck somewhere far away from the main tourist areas they might let you hop on.
Particulares - Then there is a growing number of so-called particulares, private persons paying a licence to transport Cuban and tourists. The taxi-sign might be a hand-written piece of carton board and hardly any will have a meter. Fees are to be bargained, and the better your Spanish, the lower the fee charged.
Bici-taxi and coco-taxi - If you bargain hard, a bici-taxi will take you around the centre of La Habana for 2 CUC. That is a lot more than a Cuban would pay, but definitely cheaper and more fun than a tourist taxi. Officially bici-taxis are not allowed to carry tourists, and drivers may take a detour every now and again to avoid any possible police controls. (If your driver gets caught, it is their problem not yours, but be aware that you might cause him/her some trouble.)
A coco-taxi is a bright-yellow three-seater scooter, the motorized version of the bici-taxi, so to speak. This version is especially aimed at tourists and come with their matching tourist fee.
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