In this video I’m in Havana, Cuba doing what I always do when I travel: making time for crate digging. Most people told me Seriosha’s Record Shop is basically the only record store in the whole country, so I went in with high hopes. What I found was a lot of Melodiya Soviet pressings (tons of ABBA, plus stuff like Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, and even Beatles titles), but the big issue was condition—many of these records were not just dirty, they were badly scratched and honestly not worth dragging home. I also share a very real “digging in Havana” tip: cockroaches. If you buy anything, take the records out of the sleeves and clean the sleeves before they go anywhere near your luggage. Price-wise, I paid about 5 CUC per record at the shop, which is high considering how beat up most copies were—ripped covers, heavy wear, and scratches that won’t play well. The upside is that some Cuban music is hard to find anywhere else, so I still grabbed a few. Then I show a better alternative: an independent seller running records and books out of his backyard (26th Street near 21st). The move is to ask for the cheaper pile—after I paid 5 CUC for one, he suddenly brought out more for 1 CUC each, and some were actually in decent shape. Bottom line: yes, you can dig vinyl in Cuba, but you’ve got to be careful, negotiate, and manage expectations.