Tap water in Cuba

Not safe to drink

This reflects the CDC's travel health guidance for Cuba; no WHO coverage figure is published for this country. National figures describe a country, not the tap in front of you.

What the sources say

US CDC Travelers' Health

Advises travellers that tap water is generally not safe to drink in Cuba.

Numbeo

48.61/100 on the water drinkability and accessibility index, which Numbeo reads as “Moderate”. This one is crowdsourced from residents rather than measured.

Lonely Planet

Tap water in Cuba is not reliably safe to drink and outbreaks of cholera have been recorded in the past few years. Bottled water called Ciego Montero rarely costs more than CUC$1, but is sometimes not available in small towns. Stock up in the cities when going on long bus or car journeys.

This is a national picture, and it varies. Some cities treat their water to a standard the country as a whole does not reach. Where the water is not safe, boiling, filtering or sealed bottles are the usual options, and ice and raw salad washed in tap water carry the same risk as the water itself.

What bottled water costs you here

Drinking tap water instead of bottled would save one adult about 686$ a year in Cuba, and keep several hundred plastic bottles out of circulation.

Work out your own saving

Places in Cuba

Water quality is local. These places have their own readings.

Elsewhere in North America