José Martí International is not a hard airport, but it is a slow one, and it hands you three problems in sequence. Baggage screening can hold you in the hall for a long time. The terminal has no free WiFi on the arrivals side, so an offline phone stays offline until you find a card. And everything after the doors, from the taxi desk to the currency window, runs on cash that US-issued cards cannot produce. A Cubacel Tur card pre-ordered from home and collected in Hall C solves the connectivity part for the rest of the trip. A small Nomad eSIM installed before departure covers the hours before you reach that desk, and it matters most on a late landing or a long baggage wait. The Cuba eSIM guide compares both in full.
What This Guide Covers
Jump to the section most relevant to you
Terminal 3, Terminal 2 and the Wait for Your Bags
HAV sits in the Boyeros municipality, about 15 km southwest of central Havana. Terminal 3 is the main international building and the one most visitors arrive at. Terminal 2 is a smaller, older building used by some flights from the United States, so check your boarding pass before assuming which one your driver should wait outside.
Terminal 3 in the order you meet it
You pass immigration and a health check, then the baggage hall. The Cubacel Tur pickup stand is in this secure area, in Hall C, before customs. The CADECA exchange window is on the ground floor on the landside, and there is an ATM on the upper level above arrivals, though it will not accept a US-issued card.
The baggage hall is where Havana earns its reputation. Checked luggage is screened thoroughly, and some travellers have reported waiting up to three hours. That is the moment a working phone matters most, and the one where you will not have it unless you arranged it before flying. Your casa host or pre-booked driver will be outside wondering where you are. A Nomad profile already active on the plane lets you send one message from the belt.
If your phone is offline in the hall
Walk to the Cubacel Tur stand while you wait, since it is in the same secure area. If you pre-ordered, you can collect the card, set it up and message your host before your bags even appear.
The Cubacel Tur Pickup in Hall C
Distributors describe the Terminal 3 tourist SIM pickup as an Infotur stand in Hall C, after immigration, open around the clock. ETECSA separately lists its own small service point, a minipunto, at Terminal 3 with official hours of 8:30 am to 7:00 pm daily. The two appear to be different desks, so a pre-ordered card collected at the round-the-clock stand is the safe plan for a night landing. Terminal 2 has a pickup point too, reported to keep shorter hours of roughly 8:00 am to 7:00 pm.
| Option at HAV | Price | What you get | Available |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cubacel Tur Basic, pre-ordered | US$13.99 | 4 GB, 20 min, 20 SMS, 7 days, +53 number | Hall C stand, reported 24 hours |
| Cubacel Tur Plus, pre-ordered | US$34.99 | 10 GB, 100 min, 100 SMS, unlimited WhatsApp, 30 days | Hall C stand, reported 24 hours |
| Nauta WiFi card | 25 pesos per hour at official rates | Hotspot access only | ETECSA points of sale, hours vary |
| Nomad 1 GB eSIM | US$21 | 1 GB, data only, 7 days | Installed before departure |
| Nomad 5 GB eSIM | US$69 | 5 GB, data only, 30 days | Installed before departure |
Bring the passport whose name is on the order, because the stand checks it. Put the card in an unlocked phone and restart it. If data does not appear, set the access point name to nauta. Buying a tourist line at the airport without a pre-order is not something we could confirm as reliably available, and paying at ETECSA counters is complicated by which cards they accept. Order before you fly.
WiFi at José Martí: What Exists and What Does Not
There is no open, free network in the Terminal 3 arrivals area. Public internet in Cuba runs on ETECSA's WIFI_ETECSA hotspots, and they require a Nauta account, either a temporary scratch card or a permanent account with a balance. Travellers have reported a free 30-minute WiFi session in the departures areas of Terminals 2 and 3, but that report dates from 2024, it does not help on arrival, and we could not confirm it is still offered.
Get a Nauta card first
Buy a card from an ETECSA point of sale. Official prices are 12.50 pesos for 30 minutes and 25 pesos for an hour, so you will need a few pesos from the CADECA window.
Join WIFI_ETECSA
Select WIFI_ETECSA in your WiFi settings. A login page should open in the browser. If it does not, go to the Nauta portal address printed on ETECSA's materials.
Enter the card credentials and log out after
Type the user name and password from under the scratch panel. Log out when you finish, since the card keeps counting while the session stays open.
The practical conclusion is that WiFi is a poor way to rescue an offline arrival at HAV. It needs cash you may not have exchanged yet and a card you may not find at 2 am. A Nomad profile or a collected Cubacel Tur card does the same job without either step.
Into Havana: Taxi Desk, Transtur Shuttle and Viazul
There is no train, and the public buses are unreliable in 2026. You will almost certainly leave by taxi or shuttle, and both want cash.
| Option | Where to board | Time to the centre | Fare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Official taxi | Taxi desk and rank outside Terminal 3 arrivals | 30 to 45 min to Habana Vieja or Centro | US$25 to US$35 typical, higher when fuel is short |
| Transtur shuttle | Terminal 3 | Varies by hotel stops | US$5, three routes: Miramar, Vedado, Habana Vieja |
| Viazul bus | Terminal 3 | About 40 min | €10, only two pickups a day |
| P12 and P16 city buses | Near Terminal 2 | About 1 hour | Pesos, but unlikely to be running in 2026 fuel shortages |
The taxi desk in the Terminal 3 arrivals hall is the default. The fare is fixed at the desk, you pay in euros, Canadian dollars or US dollars, and you hand a voucher to the driver outside. Pantaxi and Taxi OK are the official operators. Quotes have climbed in 2026 with fuel shortages, and some guides now warn of US$30 to US$60 depending on availability, so agree the price before your bags go in the boot. The Transtur shuttle at US$5 stops at named hotels on each of its three routes, including the Habana Libre, Capri and Nacional in Vedado and hotels around Parque Central in the old town. It has been reported running from 9:30 am to 10:00 pm.
Data on the ride in
The route from Boyeros through the southern suburbs into Vedado or the old town stays within Havana's 4G footprint for the whole ride. Use it to send your casa host an arrival time and to check the address, since many casa entrances are unmarked doorways.
Cash Before Connectivity: Why the Order Matters
At most airports on this site you sort out the phone and then the money. At HAV the money comes first, because nearly everything past the baggage hall is cash-based and a US-issued Visa, Mastercard or Amex will not process anywhere in Cuba. Cards from non-US banks work in some places, but unreliably. Cards used at state outlets can be converted at the old 120-peso official rate instead of the floating rate, which stood near 507 pesos to the dollar in late May 2026. Travellers have also reported being short-changed at the airport CADECA, so count your pesos at the window.
Arriving with Nomad already active
What it does not solve
A sequence that works
At home: pre-order Cubacel Tur Plus, buy Nomad's 1 GB plan and install it, download offline Havana maps, and withdraw enough euros or dollars for the trip. On the plane: switch the Nomad line on when you land. In the hall: collect the Cubacel Tur card at Hall C while bags are screened. Landside: change a modest sum at CADECA, then take the taxi desk or Transtur shuttle. Use the eSIM Finder if you are unsure whether a short stay needs the tourist card at all.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Cubacel Tur pickup at HAV open when my flight lands at night?
The tourist SIM pickup stand in Hall C of Terminal 3 is described by several distributors as open 24 hours. ETECSA's own separately listed minipunto at Terminal 3 keeps official hours of 8:30 am to 7:00 pm, so do not rely on buying anything else at night. Pre-order before you travel, and consider a small Nomad eSIM as a backstop for a very late arrival.
Can I get online on arrival at José Martí without paying?
Not reliably. There is no open free network in Terminal 3 arrivals. ETECSA's WIFI_ETECSA hotspots need a Nauta scratch card or account, and that means exchanging cash first. A free 30-minute session was reported in the departures areas in 2024, but that does not help an arriving passenger and we could not confirm it still runs. Arrange data before you fly.
What does it cost to get from HAV to Habana Vieja?
An official taxi from the Terminal 3 desk typically costs US$25 to US$35 for the 30 to 45 minute ride into Habana Vieja or Centro, paid in cash in euros, Canadian dollars or US dollars. Fuel shortages have pushed some 2026 quotes higher. The Transtur shuttle charges US$5 on three routes to hotels in Miramar, Vedado and Habana Vieja. Viazul charges €10 but picks up only twice a day.
Which terminal does my flight from the United States use?
Most international flights arrive at Terminal 3, but the smaller Terminal 2 handles some flights from the United States. Check your booking and tell your driver or casa host which terminal to wait at. Terminal 2 has its own tourist SIM pickup point with shorter reported hours, roughly 8:00 am to 7:00 pm, and its CADECA sits in the departures area.
Should I use a Nomad eSIM or just collect the tourist card at the airport?
For most trips, collect the pre-ordered Cubacel Tur card. It costs less, includes a +53 number and gives far more data. Add Nomad's US$21 plan if you expect a long baggage wait, land late, are on a short cruise call, or have a phone without a SIM tray. Buy and install it at home, because US cards fail in Cuba and payment apps are geoblocked there.