Granma province
Sierra Maestra Photography Expedition
Three days chasing golden hour with a Cuban photographer who knows every ridgeline by name.
3 days · Granma · max 6
Vol. 01 · A travel journal
Discover the Cuba
you’ve never seen.
Hidden gems, insider experiences, and unforgettable moments with the most interesting locals on the island. Your real Cuban Bucket List starts here.
LYTR
2,847travelers on the list
Begin the journey
II.The premise
We’re not another
tour company.
from a newsletter, with a small black book
We started as a newsletter to share Cuba’s true hidden gems and introduce you to our network of remarkable locals — photographers, chefs, scuba instructors, mountain guides, mechanics who can rebuild a ’57 Chevy with a butter knife. Every story we publish, and every vote you cast, helps us build exactly what you want to experience — before anyone turns it into a brochure.
- No coaches.
Max group sizes of 3–12. Often just you and the local.
- Real cuts.
Locals get paid first, paid fairly. That’s the whole moat.
- No clichés.
No Varadero, no cigar-rolling photo ops. The other Cuba.
III.Featured this month
Experiences people are falling in love with.
A handful of the moments locals have let us in on. Tap one to tell us you’d love to live it — your interest decides what we build first.
← swipe through the album →
Granma province
Sierra Maestra Photography Expedition
Three days chasing golden hour with a Cuban photographer who knows every ridgeline by name.
3 days · Granma · max 6
Havana
Havana Family Kitchen Night
Cook a four-course Cuban supper in a Centro Habana home. Music, rum, real conversation.
1 evening · Centro Habana · max 8
Pinar del Río
Secret Scuba with a Local Legend
A dive with the man who taught most of the divers on the island. Reefs the boats never reach.
1 day · María la Gorda · max 4
Sancti Spíritus
Hidden Waterfalls & Local Life
Trek to falls that don’t appear on maps. Lunch with the family who keeps them secret.
2 days · Topes de Collantes · max 6
IV.Vote on what’s next
Help shape the first real Cuban Bucket List trips.
Drop your email to vote on the experiences you want us to turn into real packages. Top voted ideas get launched first — and voters get early access + special perks.
Trending this week
Drop your email to start voting ↓
We won’t email you unless you ask us to. Just used to make sure each vote is a real human.
← swipe to see them all →
live
Granma province
Sierra Maestra Photography Expedition
Three days chasing golden hour with a Cuban photographer who knows every ridgeline by name.
482/ 500 to launch
add your email to vote ↑
live
Havana
Havana Family Kitchen Night
Cook a four-course Cuban supper in a Centro Habana home. Music, rum, real conversation.
671/ 500 to launch
Funded ✓add your email to vote ↑
live
Pinar del Río
Secret Scuba with a Local Legend
A dive with the man who taught most of the divers on the island. Reefs the boats never reach.
358/ 500 to launch
add your email to vote ↑
live
Sancti Spíritus
Hidden Waterfalls & Local Life
Trek to falls that don’t appear on maps. Lunch with the family who keeps them secret.
294/ 500 to launch
add your email to vote ↑
live
Cienfuegos → Trinidad
Vintage Car Mountain Road Trip
A ’57 Chevy, a route through the Escambray, and a mechanic who can fix it with a butter knife.
412/ 500 to launch
add your email to vote ↑
live
Havana
Salsa Night on a Secret Rooftop
A live septet, a rooftop most Cubans don’t know exists, and lessons that work even on you.
537/ 500 to launch
Funded ✓add your email to vote ↑
Voted experiences hit their goal in front of you. The first to reach 500 gets built — and voters get the first dibs.
V.Latest from the journal
Field notes from the other Cuba.
Stories, hidden gems, and dispatches from the people who let us into their corner of the island.
01
Field notes
Apr 2026
The fisherman who feeds half of Baracoa
On the eastern tip of the island, where the road runs out, we spent a morning with Reinaldo and his grandson.
Read the dispatch
02
Hidden gem
Mar 2026
A coffee farm in the clouds
Three hours up a mule track outside Santiago is a finca where the beans dry on the porch and the rocking chairs are always free.
Read the dispatch
03
Local hero
Feb 2026
Yoandra, the only female luthier in Holguín
She builds tres guitars in a converted bedroom. The waiting list is now eighteen months long.
Read the dispatch
VI.The network
The remarkable people behind the magic.
Photographers, chefs, divers, mechanics, mountain guides. Most have been doing this their whole lives. We just opened the door.
LM
Lázaro MendietaPhotographer · Bayamo
YC
Yamilet CruzChef · Centro Habana
TD
El Tigre DomínguezDive instructor · Pinar
RO
Reinaldo OrtizMountain guide · Topes
YP
Yoandra PérezLuthier · Holguín
OM
Onel "El Mecánico"Vintage cars · Trinidad
+ 38 more locals across 11 provinces
vetted personally · paid fairly · always credited
VII.Want in?
We’re building this together.
Cuban Bucket List is in its early days — and we’re looking for the right people to help shape it. Whether you’re a local with a story worth telling, someone who knows Cuba deeply, or a professional with skills that fit, we’d love to hear from you.
a personal note ↓
We read every message, by hand.
Usually within a few days. Sometimes longer. We promise it will be a real human writing back — never a template.
— Cuban Bucket List
VIII.Why Cuban Bucket List
01
Real Cuba, real people.
Not a single cigar-rolling photo op. Every experience starts in someone’s home, workshop, or boat — never a tour bus.
02
Locals get paid first.
Fair, transparent splits with the photographers, chefs, and guides who make the moments. That’s the moat — and the right thing.
03
Stories worth telling.
You will come back with a phone full of moments, a name in your contacts, and one story your friends actually want to hear twice.