Sutro Media has just released a very useful Cuba app for iPhone called Havana Good Time. Created by Havana-based travel journalist Conner Gorry, a Lonely Planet contributor who has lived in Cuba for eight years, Havana Good Time provides essential assistance for visitors interested in navigating the somewhat challenging Cuban capital.
All 125-plus entries were researched by Gorry herself. Restaurants, neighborhoods, bars, cafes, hotels, museums, and basic information are covered. There are recommended casas particulares in cool neighborhoods, detailed transportation tips, and tailored information for families, gay travelers, and budget travelers. There is especially careful attention to free and very cheap activities. Strewn throughout is an ongoing effort to bust a number of myths swirling around travel to and in Cuba.
There are lots of little insider tips here: a bar called Bazar 43 with whiskey shots for 50 cents; the hipster café located in the basement of the Café Teatro Bertol Brecht; a Chinatown pizza joint; and a Vedado restaurant-bar teeming with locals. There is an immediacy in these and other listings. And unlike many travel apps that feel somewhat formulaic, Havana Good Time seems like an invitation into a half-secret world.
Given the loosening of restrictions on travel by US citizens to Cuba expected to be announced soon by the Obama Administration, the timing of the release of the Havana Good Time app couldn’t be better.
Havana Good Time retails for $2.99. There is no charge for update downloads.
(Image: Flickr/malias)