Is Havana safe?

Welcome to our Havana safety guide.

Forever stuck in time, the Cuban capital is becoming more popular given it’s getting easier for foreigners to enter this once heavily-restricted island.

And from watching classic cars race around charming streets to enjoying mojitos at a low-key beach, Havana is one of the best cultural destinations to visit in the Caribbean.

Havana Quick Summary:

• 📍 Where is it: Northern Cuba
• 🗺 Difficulty Getting There: Easy
• ⏱ Time needed: 3-5 Days
• ☀️ Best Time to Visit: November/February

Is Havana safe?

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore everything you’ll need to know about Safety in Havana as a backpacker or traveler.

We’ll look at all the different factors, our top safety tips, other useful information as well as an FAQ section where we answer your key questions.

As always, we would advise any travelers who are thinking of heading to Havana to prepare properly before arriving, and to get in touch with us where we can offer more guidance.

Is Havana safe Right Now?

Quick Answer: Yes! Most areas of the city are pretty safe for travelers to walk around, although Havana Viejo, El Vedado and Miramar are the very best for tourists.

Here you’ll get all the culture, along with a safer feel than other areas which can feel more rough (these are further away from these northern neighbourhoods).

Despite this, criminals do still commit petty crimes such as theft or carjackings in touristy areas. For this reason you’ll still want to take our safety precautions (we’ll outline these later), and especially more-so during the night.

Havana Travel Warnings

Within the capital the only major risks that are mentioned on travel warning sites are petty theft, and we also agree with this (from our experience here).

Much of Havana is still really poor, and although most locals are helpful and live with a community-based state of mind, there’s still many looking for a quick buck.

This means when walking around you’ll want to keep phones and wallets in your front pockets, because the moment they’re gone you’ll never see them again!

It’s wise to use taxis when traveling at night, and especially between different neighbourhoods (the best nightlife is split between Old Havana and El Vedado, which are 4 km apart from each other).

Where to Stay in Havana

The historic centre is hands-down the best area to stay in Havana, and here you’ll find Cuban culture bursting from every street corner. It’s also a pretty safe area too, although it’s still worth taking precautions when going for a stroll after dark.

Those looking to keep costs down will want to stay at Chantal’s Hostel. Here you’ll be staying in a hostel along an authentic Cuban street, where you’ll be inside a comfortable dorm room with air conditioning. It’s also the perfect place to land in Havana whilst getting adjusted to the island your first few days.

If you want a more comfortable and private experience, then we highly recommend staying at Hostal Neptuno 1915. Here you’ll have a private room (with on-site WiFi! A rare feature in Cuba), and will also be just a couple of blocks from the infamous Capitolio building.

Things to do in Havana

There’s many things going for the Cuban capital, however it’s first best to start with a walking tour around the historic centre. This way we can see many incredible buildings such as the Plaza de la Catedral and the National Capitol, as well as many colourful streets and plazas.

In Havana you can also rent your own private classic car, where you’ll hop in the back seat and get driven around the city’s highlights. You’ll also be able to visit further-afield areas like El Vedado, and even the art-eccentric museum of Fusterlandia too.

This city is also a great place to kick back and enjoy the local culture too. Bars like La Bodeguita del Medio are famous for their cocktails, and you can also lounge on the low-key Caribbean beach of Santa Maria del Mar for some tropical time-out.

Just visit our Cuba Itinerary for more ideas on what to do in the capital and further afield.

Is Havana Safe to visit?

Below we’ll take a look at the current safety situation in Havana.

Crime in Havana

Havana is one of the safest major cities you can visit in the Caribbean (by Caribbean we don’t mean The Bahamas; we’re talking about real adventure countries like The Dominican Republic and Jamaica).

You can easily walk around this city during the day alone, and although you may feel some culture shock the first couple of days, it’s still relatively safe. This isn’t a licence to walk around freely with your phone out in your hand, however you can definitely relax more here compared to other Latin cities such as Guatemala City and Rio de Janeiro.

Most reports of crime are theft, however assault can take place in the more dicey barrios further from the centre (there’s little reason to be in these anyway).

We can use data collected by Numbeo to assess the safety situation in Havana (100 being the most unsafe). Havana scored 31.73, whilst Cancún scored 55.85 and Mexico City scored 67.85.

What parts of Havana are safe?

The districts of Old Havana, Miramar and El Vedado are the overall safest for a visit in Havana.

Crime rates are lower here, so you can walk around with no problems during the day. And although Cuba isn’t the most visited country of all, these areas are still used to seeing tourists, which means locals are more friendly and approachable.

These three areas are also the most touristy, which means there’s more infrastructure setup such as nice hotels and also private WiFi routers. This makes them ideal for staying in, given other areas may be too much of a culture shock (unless if that’s what you want then by all means go for it).

In some ways, Havana can feel similar to the more popular areas of the Riviera Maya (such as Cancún and Playa del Carmen), which is ideal given it’s an easy place to fly over from.

Havana safety at Night

Walking around Old Havana is just as special at night, where the same crumbling streets get turned up a few notches in atmosphere. There’s many awesome bars to visit here, and it’s still relatively safe to walk around.

As mentioned previously, crime rates are really low here given the severe prison sentences dished out to criminals, however that doesn’t stop petty crime from happening.

For this reason it’s important to keep valuables at home and to avoid getting black-out drunk, given it makes it much easier for criminals to do their thing and disappear almost simultaneously.

Areas like Miramar and El Vedado are also really safe, and actually feel better than Old Havana given the streets are usually cleaner and less hectic.

Be sure to read our backpacking Cuba Itinerary for more tips on how to travel around the capital and beyond in this memorable Caribbean nation.

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7 Safety Tips for Havana

Below we will list 7 of our top safety tips for when heading to Havana.

1. Stay within the Touristy Areas

This sounds really obvious (the only exception being if you’re an experienced traveler or staying with friends), however most who have had issues here have wandered off into some of the less secure neighbourhoods.

Havana Viejo, Miramar and El Vedado are your best options, and everything you’ll want to see and experience are within these areas anyway.

2. Only head to the Main Plazas during the day

Unless you’re lucky and your accommodation has WiFi (more common with the nicer hotels and hostels), you’re going to need to use public wifi hotspots.

During the day this is all fine, however at night it’s not really recommended since thieves will be scanning for people with phones, and tourists will stick out more.

It doesn’t mean you can’t – however just make sure to have your guard raised higher and don’t loiter too long.

3. Wear a Safe Money Belt

This is great for keeping your valuables secure when walking around town, and is especially comforting when heading the busier markets of Havana.

It’s hidden underneath your clothes too, so you won’t need to worry about criminals catching a glance at whatever things you have on you (such as a wallet or cash). We highly recommend this secure Money Belt to help you conceal your valuables.

4. Drinks lots of Water

Havana is quite a hot city, and although there’s a coastal breeze (more in the northern neighbourhoods close to the sea), the heat can get quite sticky at times.

Always keep a bottle with you and drink up regularly, as dehydration here will happen quicker than normal.

Also make sure you’re only drinking from safe sources, such as sealed bottles of water from a shop.

5. Be Wary of “extra friendly” Ladies (Guys)

For the guys reading, you’ll want to be careful at night (even during the day) since sex workers are working all throughout the city.

Regardless if that’s your thing or not, what you need to be careful of is the fact that many can use their charm or other tactics to distract you and rob your wallet or phone with you being none the wiser.

So yeah, try to grow a sixth sense for these situations as there’s a good chance you’ll bump into them walking at some point.

6. Be Careful of “extra friendly” Locals

Getting both the gents and ladies readers back involved, this one is more general.

The majority of Cubans are really welcoming and friendly people, however there are some criminals who make convincing salesmen and will try to lure you to an unsafe area either to rob or assault you.

If they seem “too friendly” (or you have a feeling you can’t quite put your finger on), then smile and keep walking. If they keep lingering then a firm “no gracias” will do the job.

Like always, we recommend carrying this Spanish book while backpacking, but bear in mind that Cuban Spanish is its own animal, so aim to learn the local lingo too.

7. Keep your Mouth Shut

As you may already know, Cuba is a one-party state, and they are pretty keen on keeping it that way too (heavy surveillance and policing to keep ears on all things done and said).

This will have no bearing on us tourists whatsoever, unless you decide to start badmouthing the regime or anything along these lines.

Call us paranoid, however we’d much prefer leaving Havana when the flight is ready to board, not when they let us out of jail…

Havana FAQ Guide:

Here are some frequent questions we get asked by our readers about Havana.

Is Havana safe? Final Words

And that’s all for our guide on how to stay safe in Havana.

This incredible city is really like no other in Latin America, and a trip here will not only change how you think about Cuba, but also travel in general. Havana is also really safe, and tourists can enjoy a trouble-free stay as long as they use common sense and follow our safety guidelines.

In this guide, we’ve explored the current safety situation in Havana, which includes the areas to avoid, as well as any current travel advisories. As well as looking at the best things to do in Havana, we’ve also included our FAQ which answers some key questions.

While you’re still here, be sure to read our backpacking Cuba itinerary to learn more about what you can do in this unique country.

👉🏽 P.S. If you’ve found this guide helpful, buy us a coffee here to say thanks! Or, support us by downloading our South America Travel Bible to get our best content.

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