It’s been a long New York winter, as evidenced by the lack of recent blog posts (I promise with warmer weather, I’ll be more diligent!). We needed to escape the cold so we booked a trip to Puerto Rico. We chose PR because it was close, affordable, and had plenty of activities for my can’t sit on a beach for too long boyfriend and his easily sunburnt girlfriend.
The colorful streets of Old San Juan
A little history… Prior to European colonization, the volcanic island was inhabited by the Taino, a native tribe that called the land Boriquen. Christopher Columbus claimed the island for Spain on his second voyage to the New World in 1493. He originally named the island San Juan Bautista, after John the Baptist, and the town Puerto Rico, meaning “rich port”. They did not exchange names until 1521 when San Juan became the capital. Quickly the port became Spain’s most important military outpost as it served as a strategic point between Florida to the north and Mexico to the west. Puerto Rico remained under Spanish rule until 1898. The Treaty of Paris concluded the Spanish-American War and Spain was forced to cede Guam and Puerto Rico to the United States. To understand the relationship Puerto Rico currently has with the U.S. check out this link: http://www.topuertorico.org/government.shtml
Here’s what you need to know before you go:
- It’s a U.S. territory so no passport and no exchange of currency.
- Verizon will not work because there are no Verizon towers! I could not use my data while on the island unless I had a wireless connection. Good thing Brian has T-Mobile!
- Renting a car was a great idea. We had the freedom to get around the majority of the northeast quadrant of island and the roads were easy to drive. Having a car would eliminate steep transportation fees many of the tour companies will make you pay.
Coral Reef while snorkeling
We stayed 3 nights at the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar in Rio Grande (http://www.wyndhamriomar.com/), about 45 minutes east of the airport. The resort was clean and family friendly, although food options were disappointing, expensive and service lacked. That being said the location was excellent as we could drive to all of our excursions easily and quickly. For the other 2 nights we stayed at an Airbnb (www.airbnb.com), our first experience with the apartment surfing website. We did our research, found an apartment that was located in our desired San Juan neighborhood (Condado), had great reviews and booked it. Our host was easy to communicate with and the apartment was exactly as described! It was a cheaper way to travel and we’ll definitely use Airbnb for vacations in the future.
Puerto Rico has no shortage of delicious food. We celebrated Brian’s birthday at Fern, a
The beautiful entrance to the Plantation House at the St. Regis
Jean Georges restaurant at the St. Regis Bahia Beach (http://www.fernrestaurant.com/bahia-beach-restaurant.php). The food and service were outstanding and they even had gluten free pizza and bread! You should try to get there when the sun is setting so that you can enjoy the ambience of the hotel and landscape. In San Juan we ate dinner at Casa Lola (http://casalolarestaurant.com/), a Roberto Trevino restaurant. They specialize in Puerto Rican cuisine and Brian was delighted to try mofongo, the island’s signature dish made from fried plantains. We also ate at Marmalade (http://www.marmaladepr.com/) in Old San Juan. We opted for the 5 course tasting menu and were not disappointed. In fact it was not only cost effective but everything we ate was delicious and inventive. It was an excellent meal. For breakfast check out the cheap and delicious Pinky’s (http://www.yelp.com/biz/pinkys-condado), and
Lunch at Kamoli with some cafe con leche.
for lunch check out the funky Kamoli Kafe (http://www.yelp.com/biz/kamoli-kafe-and-boutique-san-juan). And if you’re looking for a great artisanal cocktail bar, make your way to Old San Juan and pop into La Factoria (http://www.yelp.com/biz/la-factoria-san-juan). Mario, the bartender, is friendly and knowledgeable and most importantly the drinks were muy bien!
For Brian’s birthday we went snorkeling with Snorkel and Beach Tour on the S.S. Tobias (http://www.snorkelandbeachtour.com/). We drove to Fajardo and departed from Villa Marina. We made 3 stops off the coast of the island of Culebra, two of which we snorkeled at and enjoyed the fish and coral reef. You could rent waterproof cases for your smartphone that worked perfectly underwater and they served lunch and drinks on board. The final stop was Tortuga Beach on Little Culebra island, that was fun to explore and swim in the crystal clear water. I highly recommend the experience and this company.
Snorkeling at Culebra
We used a tour guide named Rupert Cosme, who was recommended to me by Louie’s VIP tours, for a full day El Yunque rainforest and biobay combination tour. I suggest you either use someone else or book the excursion on your own so that you can see what you want and enjoy the excursions at your leisure.
El Yunque (http://www.fs.usda.gov/elyunque) is the only tropical rain forest in the United
La Mina Falls
States Forest System. Because the island is volcanic, there are no indigenous species so you won’t be seeing any monkeys or snakes. However you will hear the call of the Coqui frog. You can absolutely drive to El Yunque and explore on your own. We hiked down to La Mina Falls and Brian braved the waterfall. We would have liked to climb the tower to get a 360 view but our tour guide didn’t take us. There are some places to eat along the road in the rainforest that have cheap local cuisine.
We spent a few hours at Luquillo Beach. It’s a very picturesque public beach without any hotels obscuring the view of the rainforest in the background.
Luquillo Beach
A highlight of our trip was kayaking in the bioluminescent bay. I’m not exactly sure which company we used since there are so many and Rupert, our tour guide, just signed us up for one. That being said, we spent about 20 minutes kayaking through mangroves in complete darkness trying to stay in single file, with only glow sticks on the bow and stern of each kayak as a guide. The crowds are unbelievable. Once you finally get to the bay, the stars above are awe inspiring and when you dip your paddle into the water it actually glows! The ecology of the bay includes plankton that emit a light when agitated at night. It’s more a sparkle than a glow but it’s spectacular. It’s pretty frustrating to paddle back with beginner kayakers who are trying to go against the current, however this excursion is not to be missed. Here’s a great article to learn more: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/glow-flow-kayaking-eerie-bioluminescent-bays-puerto-rico-article-1.1126777
We spent a late afternoon and evening in Old San Juan. You can visit both Castillo de San Cristobal and Castillo San Felipe del Morro (http://www.nps.gov/saju/index.htm). They are fun to explore and I recommend going at dusk as the crowds thin and the temperature drops. You can take a free trolley that runs throughout all of Old San Juan between the two forts. The history and views are worth the visit.
El Morro
San Cristobal
Puerto Rico was a wonderful island to visit and exactly what the doctor ordered…a little fun in the sun!
The Primary Source 