Puerto Rico
Thanksgiving break this year took us to Puerto Rico. The island is bigger than Big Island in Hawaii, but small enough to cover in 4-5 days time. San Juan and areas near it are pretty busy, while places to the west are slightly less crowded.
Day 1: Old San Juan
Old San Juan is a pretty, historic area with colorful houses and cobblestone streets. The balconies, the atmosphere and the friendly people reminded me of French Quarter in New Orleans. The streets are lined with great restaurants, cafes, salsa bars, souvenir shops and market squares. As you can see in the picture below, finding a parking spot in the city is impossible. A couple of public parking places are available though.
All kinds of hotels exist in this area. If you like the regular American comforts there is a Sheraton. Most of the historic hotels and apartments (found on vrbo.com) are tiny and may not meet the typical American expectations. For lunch we tried some mofongos and pina coladas (we were on vacation!!) at Puerto Rico cafe. After spending some time at the market square, we walked to San Cristobal fort. There are two forts in San Juan. Entrance to each is $3 or to both combined is $5. The ticket is valid for 7 days. On Saturdays guided tunnel tours are offered at San Cristobal fort that are worth taking. Both the forts have tons of sentry posts, also called as "Garritas".
Free trolleys exist in San Juan and are very convenient. There are two slightly different routes though, so make sure you check them out before hand. We took the trolley from San Cristobal to El Morro fort. The San Juan cemetery is also near the El Morro fort and worth a look.
The El Morro fort has a light house that can be seen from San Cristobal, while the cemetery can be seen from El Morro. The El Morro fort and the cemetery are great places to photograph at sunset.
The city is protected by city walls along most of the periphery. It's hard to decide whether to walk in the city or outside the city near the city walls. On our way back from El Morro fort we walked along the city walls to Raices fountain.
The Raices fountain looks very pretty when lit up in the evening. It should be visited at sunset. Unfortunately we visited it on a weekday and the lights did not turn on that day. By this time we were tired and it started to rain, so we returned to our hotel, Da House in Old San Juan and ate at a nearby restaurant. But there are more things to see in the city. Check out http://www.puertoricodaytrips.com/old-san-juan-walking-tour-1/ for information on a self guided tour. There are parts 2 and 3 to this article as well. Another option is to do a guided walking tour or a food tour. We were interested in a foodie walking tour offered by Flavors of San Juan, but it did not fit our schedule. It is recommended that you take this tour at the beginning of your stay so that you can enjoy the city and the special spots throughout your stay. There are also some restaurants that host flamenco shows along with buffet dinners. Again, we were there on a weekday and these are offered only on Fridays and Saturdays. Most reviews suggest that the shows are great, while the food is OK. I would have definitely tried it if we were in San Juan on a weekend.
Day 2: Arecibo and Bio Bay
Next day we woke up early morning and drove about an hour west to Arecibo. Here we met a group of explorers at a small bakery cafe and drove another 20 mins up a winding mountain. At the very top of the mountain there was a casita (small house) where we geared up and hiked the dense forest behind the casita. Hiking was combined with caving and stopping to observe the flora and fauna of the rainforest. The hike was moderately strenuous and the humidity did not help, but it was totally worth doing. The best part was an amazing shower at the end of the hike right behind the casita. This open shower had the best views of the forest. There are some exciting body rafting and rappelling adventures available in this forest through explorapr.net. Other options in Arecibo are Rio Camuy caves and Cueva Ventana. It is advisable to be at Rio Camuy as early as possible (they open at 8 am) as it gets very crowded.
That evening we left San Juan and went to Fajardo. Although most people like to stay in San Juan because it has many restaurants and clubs, if you are in PR for 4-5 days, you can spend a few days either in Fajardo or Vieques. There is a ferry terminal in Fajarado that is convenient to go to Culebra for beaching and water sports. The El Yunque forest is close to Fajardo and the bio bays are also in Fajardo. Vieques has water sports and bio bays options as well. The bio bays in Vieques are supposed to be the best. That evening we took a moonlight kayaking tour to visit the bio bays. The bio bays have micro-organisms that thrive where the sea water and fresh water meet. The salinity and water temperature are ideal for their survival. These micro-organisms emit light when the water is disturbed and the water glows. There are 6 places in the world where these micro-organisms are found, 3 of which are in PR. More than 3 years ago we had visited such a bio bay in Monetgo Bay, Jamaica in a ferry boat. This time the experience was even better because we kayaked in the moonlight to the spot. The glistening water looked beautiful as our paddles went in the water. One thing to be careful when planning this activity is to check out the moon calendar. The darker the skies the better the experience.
Day 3: Snorkeling in Culebra
Once again we woke up bright and early and headed to Fajardo ferry terminal to catch our ferry to Culebra island. Once there, our tour company boarded us in a bus (which for some weird reason called taxi) and took us to Playa Tamarindo. This beach actually has tamarind trees. Our friend A, actually took some tamarind off the tree for us to try. Here once again we kayaked in the ocean all the way to the reef and then jumped in the water. The snorkeling experience was great.
After what seemed like a long time snorkeling, we kayaked back to the shore and rested for a bit. Then we swam again to a different area to look at some sea turtles and manta rays.
From Playa Tamarindo we then went to Playa Flamenco where we had some good beach time and great street sea food. Culebra Island Adventures were the best group ever to tour with. Very friendly! After getting back to Fajardo on the same ferry we had some amazing sea food right across the street from the ferry terminal.
Day 4: El Yunque Forest
We planned on hiking at El Yunque on the last day. An approximately 3-4 hike takes you to the peak of the rain forest and the views are beautiful. We had an early flight to catch, so instead we did some touristy things at El Yunque. You can drive to most of the points and park and do small hikes to spots that you are interested in. We spent a lot of time at La Mina Falls and the observatory tower. We took a few short hikes to points in between that had great views of the forest. But the hike to the peak remains on my wish list. There are tons of souvenir shops and food stalls near the entrance to the forest that are worth browsing.
Comments