Autoblog In Cuba - How (not) to rent a car

Autoblog In Cuba: How (not) to rent a car
A Frustrating Look At Scoring Wheels At CubaCar
Seyth Miersma

There are places in which to vacation by way of rest. Sit on a beach,
sit on a deck chair, recline in a hammock; sip something cool and sweet
and boozy until you've forgotten the world. Rum is recommended.

There are places in which to vacation by way of adventure. Strap on
skis, clip in and start climbing, or comb the dark heart of a wild city
for a meal you'll never forget. Keep yourself hydrated, bend at the
knees, and schedule a rigorous massage before you get on the plane home.
Red Bull is recommended.

And, in the happily twisted worldview of the car-obsessed (you probably
qualify as you're reading Autoblog) there are vacations by way of
motoring joy. Wag the Tail of the Dragon, set your baseline time on the
Nordschleife, cruise Highway 1 until your tan is downright Californian.
Espresso in the morning and Gin cocktails at night are this particular
car enthusiast's way of keeping the rubber on the road and the
relaxation levels high.

I knew before boarding the plane for Havana that Cuba would qualify for
versions of vacation one and two. Canadians, Europeans, and South
Americans have been enjoying the poolside rum of the place for decades.
Intrepid Americans have risked legal fracture to walk the deteriorating
streets and take in the fading, swinging glory of the capitol and
country alike. But as a car guy there remained a question: did Cuba
offer the world traveler anywhere exciting to drive?

There are certainly great potential destinations. Varadero has beaches
that one cabbie described to me as "the ultimate, for Cubans." The place
is lousy with resort hotels, if that's your thing, and Canadians
especially have been feeding future melanomas on the sand there for
years. Cayo CoCo is another resort-heavy spot, and Santiago de Cuba
offers coastal fun, a historic city center, and, most importantly, its
own brand of rum. (I had an 11-year SdC rum that proved a splendid
sipper – tweet me if you'd like a full review.)

The roads I saw ranged from "Detroit in May" to "Dubrovnik 1992."
With endless miles of coastal route, hilly inland sections, very little
traffic, and interesting cars to choose from, Cuba seemed to have real
potential for great driving roads, too. Turns out that's the tricky
part. Even inside the boundaries of Havana, the system of roads I saw
ranged from "Detroit in May" to "Dubrovnik 1992," with fissures so vast
and comprehensive at points that to call them potholes would be
demeaning. Local drivers dodge and spelunk as needed, and I'm confident
I could as well, but not without wholly dedicating myself to the task at
hand. (See the video below, for a sense of what I'm talking about.)

Roads, be they well maintained or tragically flawed, can only be dealt
with if you can lay your hands on a car to drive. As I talked about with
the recent story on Cuban taxis, hiring a car and a driver to get you
around is both simple, and full of variety. Renting a car to drive
myself was more fraught. In fact, I couldn't do it.

Google-ing around the Internet for Cuban car rentals provides results
that are somewhat less than confidence inspiring. I knew I'd have a
guide in Havana, and I didn't trust what I was finding online (with
donkey carts and whatnot... go back and click that link), so I figured
the mission of renting a car was best accomplished in Cuba and not in
advance. And, as luck would have it, I saw that our hotel was flanked by
two car rental agencies as I arrived. Each was a CubaCar location, the
state-run rental car agency. Problem solved.

Only, not exactly. A visit to the first office – a dark two-room space
that smelled like a few decades of stale cigarette smoke and decorated
exclusively with 1990s vintage Hyundai product posters – proved less
than helpful. There was nothing like a garage attached to the first
location, and the man in charge seem perplexed at the idea that I was
trying to rent a car from him. He referred me to the place around the
corner.

I spent close to an hour at the second CubaCar, which did in fact have a
showroom-like area, and one Geely Emgrand sedan lonely in the back
corner. I was politely asked to wait while the manager dealt with a few
other customers. One of them – a transplanted German named Manfred who
brings European tourists in to Cuba for bicycle tours – had actually
used an online reservation service to secure his car. He told me that he
rented cars in the country loads of times, and that starting online was
ultimately the best route. Even so, while I was standing there I saw
Manfred get the news that his car might be available that day, and react
as if that was both normal and acceptable.

When I finally spoke to the CubaCar office manager, I got the message
that would be repeated, almost exactly, a few more times that day. No
cars were available right now; there might be a car available at
Location X; if I speak with Someone, Someone might have a car available
later today... or tomorrow. I tried offices around another one of the
big hotels in Havana before I started to get the picture: renting a car
to drive myself was going to take time. What's more, it would take an
outlay of cash.

American credit cards are useless in Cuba, at least for now, meaning I
had to plan every bit of my weeklong trip (with a three-man crew) in
terms of cash on hand. Even if cars had been available, every agency rep
I spoke with confirmed that a three-day minimum was standard, as well as
a 200 CUC deposit (more that $200), on top of the roughly 100 CUC/day
rates. Throwing an extra five-hundo on the old Amex isn't that big a
problem for many travelers, but if you're like me, carrying wads of cash
abroad is hardly second nature, and a little off-putting.

Perhaps the straw that broke this camel's back was the fact that I was
getting offers of taxi rides, from a seemingly endless slew of providers
and in a range of interesting vehicles, for reasonable rates just about
anywhere I wanted to go. All this while waiting for the rental car
people to figure out what they had for me. I had offers of 100 CUC for a
drive to Veradero Beach (a four-hour round trip), with the driver
waiting to take me back to Havana when I was ready to go. Cubans are
problem solvers, and any number of officials, passersby, and outright
strangers wanted to help, they just didn't want me to rent and drive
their cars.

Ultimately I did what most 'real' tourists would've done to begin with:
I hired a car to drive me out of town. A nice kid in a convertible Chevy
bid against a dozen driver's trying to get my business, and take me out
to Hemingway's old house on the outskirts of town. I'll have more on
that car, and that story, soon.

Cuba isn't yet a foreign driver's paradise. Between the complex path to
getting a car to drive and the unnerving roadways, the rental route is
probably too much of a hassle for all but the most dedicated of driving
enthusiasts. Still, the next time I go, I'll do things a bit
differently: 1) I'll book a car online. 2) I'll give myself 24-48 hours
of leeway to actually take delivery of the car. 3) I will in no way
expect the car I ordered to be like the car I ultimately get to drive
(hope yours worked out, Manfred). 4.) I will spend some of my three days
in Santiago de Cuba, drinking excellent rum and looking at the water.

Source: Autoblog In Cuba: How (not) to rent a car -
http://www.autoblog.com/2015/09/11/autoblog-cuba-car-rental/