Tipping in Cuba is part of the culture. Sometimes service charge is added in restaurants in the cities, but if not then 10% gratuity is standard. This is a poor country and tips can go a long way to helping the people.

Having said that, the range of service quality is enormous. Some days the service was so bad we couldn’t bring ourselves to part any more CUC, other days we funded their children’s education. Hopefully, we averaged out about right.

The other good reason to carry small change is to gain access to that much-needed facility: toilets. Most public toilets have a cheery attendant sitting in the doorway with a small wicker basket collecting small change. It’s generally no more than 1CUC to gain access, but you do need to make sure you have that on you. Short of dipping into their basket yourself, there’s often minimal opportunity to change a larger note.