Does anybody know if it is cheaper to buy flights over there? I could also do with somewhere to stay in Santo Domingo DR, local family etc if anyone knows anywhere!!

One way tickets from Santo Domingo to La Havana or Santiago de Cuba are nearly as expensive as roundtrip tickets. This applies to the fares between La Habana to Cancun, Merida or Ciudad Mexico. Dont plan to buy the ticket in La Habana, you loose a lot of money in exchange since the CUC is artifiall propped up against other currencies. Say the fare is 300 usd, in cuba they will say it is 300 cuc which is about 375 usd or thereabouts, but slightly less in canadian dollars