Hotspot parks, access cards, and 3G: what it’s like to use the internet in Cuba

The recent news about Cuba has me wondering if I’ll ever be able to visit again. I went for the first time a little over 2 months ago — I came back and told everyone it was one of the most magical places I had ever been. Difficulties getting internet access was a mild inconvenience and kind of a perk of traveling there (although no-internet would be a nightmare for some, understandably). Despite the difficulties, it wasn’t impossible, and it proved to be an interesting experience.

Cuba is about 300 miles from Miami (where I’m from), and even though it was so close in distance, it always felt like a million miles away. Now that I’ve visited, I’m surprised at how similar it is to Miami. There’s a new generation of Cubans that live there now that are, in many ways, like American Millenials— and like American Millenials, they are attached to their smartphones.

Cubans use their phones the same way Americans do: they message on WhatsApp, post to Instagram, watch videos, make phone calls, and search the internet on mobile browsers. The catch is that most of the internet access in the country is isolated to public hotspots. When I spoke to a Cuban resident, he explained what internet usage is like there. Want to have a private conversation with a significant other? Too bad — hotspots make park areas and street corners look like an event is going on, except everyone is looking down at their phones. Need to download something? Make sure it doesn’t take more…