We needed to arrange a last-minute 3.5 hour, 220 km late night transfer. Cuba Driver delivered! Our family missed our flight to Santa Maria due to a passport issue, and the next available flight was to Cayo Coco, arriving at 9 PM, so we needed to arrange a long transfer to our resort. First, we tried booking with a foreign company based in Spain, but it fell through as they couldn't find a driver willing to do the task. We turned to Cuba Driver, which is locally owned, and is directly connected with its drivers. A car wouldn't be large enough four our family of 4 with suitcases, so we selected a 7-passenger van. Excellent communication was provided by Alejandro through WhatsApp to work out the details, including sending a photo of the vehicle and driver Yordani. This really helped ease our concern, as we didn't want to be stranded at night. Yordani invited a translator for the drive. This was a welcome and unexpected addition for the long drive, and allowed Yordani to focus on the challenging job of driving on some very dark and rough roads, and company for the return trip that they then took to go back to their home town! Three of the passenger seatbelts wouldn't fasten correctly, so one of us had to go without. This is to be expected in Cuba though! On the other hand, the roads are not busy and the speed is limited by road conditions. Yordani's driving was efficient and safe. Care was taken when the roads got really rough. The air conditioning kept us all cool and comfortable. Later we all drifted off to sleep when the road became smoother. Many items that you and I take for granted are nearly impossible to obtain in Cuba. Through Alejandro we asked if there is anything the driver would like us to bring as a small gift. We brought some family-size packs of good quality candies and other items for his son. After our return home to Canada I compared the cost of a similar transfer time and distance, and found Cuba Driver was roughly comparable, and definitely less expensive when considering there was a dedicated translator too. Note: The payment gateway TropiPay reports a merchant code of 4829, or "wire transfer". Our payment by credit card was treated as a cash advance, where a fee is added and interest starts accruing immediately. Try paying by debit card or other method if possible to avoid the extra payment expense. In short, we trusted Cuba Driver, and they delivered!
