Puerto Rico – The All Star Island!

Puerto Rico has been in news over the past couple months…..yes its coffers are empty but still this Caribbean island (unincorporated U.S. territory) has lots to offer to its tourist  – landscape of green mountains, waterfalls and the tropical rainforest of El Yunque National Forest, white-sand beaches, and colonial architecture  downtown, sailing.

How to Reach San Juan:

We took a flight from SFO to Houston and from Houston to San Juan Airport. The flight was long almost 10 hours including an 90 minute layover. Another option was to take a connecting flight from Miami.

Layovers could be as long as 12 hours on many flights. So be careful while selecting your connecting flights.

Where to Stay:

We stayed in Isla Verde area of San Juan. We had rented a one bedroom beach faced condo.
Isla Verde area is known for its beach bars, nightclubs and casinos. Its very close to Old San Juan and the airport.

One can also plan to stay near Fajadro area for couple days, as it is close to the ferry and El Yunque National Park. However Fajadro does not offer all the services Isla Verde offers. Vegetarian food may be an issue.

One could also spend couple nights on various islands like Vieques and Culbera.

We had rented a car from the airport so drove around all over Puerto Rico.

When to visit:

We went to PR in July. It was hot and humid. There were couple days with mild showers throughout the day.

However December to April is the most popular time

What to Do:

1) Old San Juan

Old Spain lives on in Old San Juan, the centuries-old walled seaside town within the vast urban sprawl that is modern San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Old San Juan, the 500-year-old centre of the nation and an engrossing, vibrant window into the past. Fuerte San Felipe del Morro is an endlessly fascinating and enormous Spanish fort dating from 1539.

Plan to spend time walking down the old colorful streets, hoping onto tourists vans running all over the city and soak the culture and the history.

If you choose the island’s capital city of San Juan as a base, it’s easy to spend the morning shopping, the afternoon on the beach and the evening dancing salsa in one of the nightspots.

Old San Juan has an amazing cafe culture. These cafe’s are mostly family run businesses and have lots of unique flavors and personalized service to offer to their customers. Surprisingly most of them had a small vegetarian menu with pastas, salad, sandwiches and desserts (with eggs).

Some Cafe/ Restaurants to try

St Germain Bistro and Cafe in old town (very very good vegetarian crepes).  Small family owned cafe with excellent friendly staff, good food and mouth watering desserts.  We had couple of meals here and truly enjoyed every meal.
– Maramalade restaurant in old town – a bit expensive but if you want a fancy dinner then this is the place in San Juan. cocktails are great.

Cafe Caficultura again great food and coffees. Enjoy the window seat, hot coffee and view of the cross street.

Bangkok and Bombay Curry had decent Indian food.

As long as you are around Old San Juan, vegetarian/vegan food shall not be a problem.

Bio Bays:

What is Bio Bay

A bio bay is a body of water that contains millions of micro-organisms, called “dinoflagellates”, that glow in the dark for a second when agitated. It is a rare, natural wonder that you can easily experience while visiting Puerto Rico. Bioluminescence exists around the world, but there are only a few biobays on our planet. Puerto Rico has three of them.

There are three bioluminescent bays (bio-bays) in Puerto Rico. One in the SouthWest – “La Parguera”, one on Vieques – “Mosquito Bay”, and the one in Fajardo – “La Laguna Grande”. Out of all three, Mosquito Bay is the brightest, and La Parguera is the least bright. La Laguna Grande in Fajardo is very bright, and it is convenient to do from San Juan and the main island.

If you plan to go to Vieques you will have to spend the night there as there are no ferries back late in the night. But this BioBay is the best!!!!

It is best seen on a dark night, try to go when it is moonless or close to it. It also is best on a warm night (summertime is brighter than wintertime, no rain is better than rainy days). But even on a less than ideal night, the bioluminescence will be visible. Here is a moon calendar that will guide you to select the best night.

http://viequesadventures.com/vieques-moon-phase-calendar/

A  kayak or boat-ride tours are available.

We took Motor Boat tour to Laguna Grande. Kids below 6 not allowed on Kayaks. But Kayak is a great way to enjoy the bioluminescent bays.

Rio Camuy Cave Park:

This wondrous natural attraction tucked into the karst region of the north coast, a perfect day trip just about 1 hour an 20 minute drive from San Juan, Puerto Rico. This cave is the third largest underground cave system in the world and the Rio Camuy runs through it.

Your tour begins with a fun trolley ride down the steep rolling mountainside that children will love. As you go down the rolling side of the mountain you’ll enjoy the lush tropical foliage covering the the grounds and towering above.

There are few tours that offer cave adventure too. We did not do the adventurous tour.

Arecibo Observatory:

Puerto Rico houses the world’s largest single-dish radio telescope, spanning almost 20 acres. It’s the only radio telescope that can accurately predict when and where an asteroid might collide with Earth, and was responsible for the first asteroid images in history. We visited the Observatory on our way back from the caves and spent couple hours here. A great experience for those interested in astronomy & science. Kids as well as adults can learn and enjoy here..

El Yunque National Park

El Yunque National Forest, formerly known as the Caribbean National Forest is located in the rugged Sierra de Luquillo, 40 km southeast of San Juan.

So many vista points, waterfalls, wildlife and hikes. Spending one full day here is just what is needed.

Take a refreshing dip in clear rain forest water and swim under a waterfall. This is  a very popular and fun thing to do during a trip to El Yunque National Forest. The waterfall is called La Mina Falls, and it can be accessed by either of two trails: La Mina trail or Big Tree trail. We did the La Mina Trail which was about 0.7 Miles. It took us about 25-30 mins to walk down the trail to the waterfalls. You could easily spend 3-4 hours at falls. Our family had a great time here! However be careful not to leave any belongings in the car and park your car in the main parking lot…break-ins are very very common.

You could also do zip lining in the park. That seemed very thrilling and exciting.

Carry your own food as it may be difficult to get vegetarian food.

Beach Day

Puerto Rico offers everything from city beaches backed by towering hotels to sunny secluded strands with translucent waters.

We spent entire day on Luquillo Beach, a family-friendly beach. Luquillo Beach can be perfectly paired with a visit to the nearby El Yunque Rainforest. There’s a full range of facilities at the beach, water sports, picnic tables and restrooms.  You will find long row of Luquillo Beach restaurant kiosks just like Juhu beach.

There is Ocean Park beach in San Juan, in middle of the downtown. Isla Verde has many beaches.

Culebra & Vieques

Just seven miles off the east coast of Puerto Rico lies Vieques, a rustic island of lush verdant mangroves and forests, idyllic beaches and a glow-in-the-dark aquatic wonder of the world that must be seen to be believed.

It is truly a destination to unwind, slow down to island time, and beach-hop, swim and snorkel your way through life.

Vieques has the famous Mosquito Bay Bay Bio Luminescent.

Culebra is mostly a smattering of private homes, green hills and beaches. The island is home to a few thousand year-round residents, a seasonal destination for nesting turtles, and a low-key Eden for tourists who seek something different. It also boasts Flamenco Beach, arguably one of the best in the world.

Culebra is a snorkeling heaven and you could find yourself swimming with huge turtles.

There are also kayaking and snorkeling tours to Culbera and tour operators pick tourists from Farjadro ferry terminal.

The cheapest way to get to one of the Islands across the mainland is take a morning ferry from Farjadro and return in evening. Its generally a 90 minutes ride.  However you need to book your ferry well in advance else due to limited capacity you may be disappointed.

Alternatively, both Vieques Airport (VQS) and Cuelebra Airport (CPX) are accessible via flights from Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU), the smaller yet centric Isla Grande Airport (SIG) in San Juan, and the new Ceiba Airport (RVR) on the east coast.

Tour Operators

Here are some tour operators that offer BioBay and Snorkeling excursions.

bio bay island 787 422 7857

bioislandpr eco 787 206 0290
baby bay 787 655 2739-

castillo tours snorkeling
east island excursion 787 860 3434
traveller cullebra 787 863 2821

snorkelling tobias culleb 787 860 3434

There is Barcardi Rum Factory too…..for those interested they can take a factory tour!

Many KVites have been to this Caribbean Holiday destination and will have much more to contribute.

Hope you enjoy Puerto Rico, Maui of the east.