Puerto Rico Travels
Hello all,
Well if you are reading this, you probably want to know what
the perfect itinerary is for this beautiful island. So let's get straight to
the point :)
Minimum Number of Days: At least 5 full days
Airport: San Juan is the more popular airport.However, we saved
up on airfare by flying into Aguadilla - YAYY!
Budget: This is one place where flight and stay only make up
for half of your expenses (combination of AirBnB and resorts) and the rest is
activities. If you plan well, you might still end up spending less than $1500.
Day 1:
Cueva Ventana and the Bio-Bay in Vieques!
We landed the previous night in Aguadilla and crashed at an
AirBnb that was within 3 minutes of a drive from the airport. Very affordable
place to crash for barely 6 hours.
Scooters for Rent picked us up from the airport to help get our Polaris. Yes, we were driving a cool buggy around the island - HELL YEAH! Stay at Acacia Guest House in Vieques - Very relaxing & clean place, that gives you a proper island guest house feel. After all, it's all about island life there! 💃😎
However, there was this other place that was a little more pricey, but looked very interesting and different - El Blok Hotel. It's located in Esparanza, right on the main strip of bars and restaurants by the beach - their downtown. Also, a lot of the activities do free pick up shuttles from hotels in Esparanza, so you might want to check with the tour companies before you book a hotel.
After checking into our hotel, we drove to Esparanza (5minutes drive) and stopped for a drink at Bananas. Nice ambiance, and good for a drink - but do not order the Mango Mozzarella cheese sticks. After, we drove to Sunbay where JAK water sports picked us up for our Bio-Bay adventure. Very beautiful experience at the Brightest Bioluminescent bay in clear-bottom kayaks. Unfortunately, it's hard to capture this on camera so photographic memory is the way to go!
Grabbed a bite at Lazy Jack's since that was the only option open at that time, and crashed to bed.
However, there was this other place that was a little more pricey, but looked very interesting and different - El Blok Hotel. It's located in Esparanza, right on the main strip of bars and restaurants by the beach - their downtown. Also, a lot of the activities do free pick up shuttles from hotels in Esparanza, so you might want to check with the tour companies before you book a hotel.
After checking into our hotel, we drove to Esparanza (5minutes drive) and stopped for a drink at Bananas. Nice ambiance, and good for a drink - but do not order the Mango Mozzarella cheese sticks. After, we drove to Sunbay where JAK water sports picked us up for our Bio-Bay adventure. Very beautiful experience at the Brightest Bioluminescent bay in clear-bottom kayaks. Unfortunately, it's hard to capture this on camera so photographic memory is the way to go!
Grabbed a bite at Lazy Jack's since that was the only option open at that time, and crashed to bed.
Day 2:
Exploring Vieques!
We started out with the Black Sand beach (Playa Negra). There is a little sandy area on the main road where you can park your car, and then walk towards the path through the greenery for about 10 minutes, into the beach. You will see a sign that says Black Sand Beach outside the house on the main road. We spent about an hour over there - it's a beautiful place to be at with the views of cliffs and beach together.
We then headed for horseback riding by the beach with Colon Horseback Riding - gorgeous views. It could get a little long, since the tour is about 1.5 hours. It was just the three of us doing the activity, so was a serene ride with turquoise waters and green grass, sands, rocks on the other side. Definite recommend. We just spent sometime at Sunbay and Media Luna after that before catching our flight back to Ceiba.
I would suggest you do horse-riding before you head to the beaches, that way you experience the breath taking view for the first time on the horses, and then have the rest of the time to chill on the beaches. Sunbay was definitely the best beach we went to there. Media Luna was a little overrated, and we didn't have enough time to explore Navio beach (which apparently is really beautiful as well).
One of the BEST Mofongo's during our entire trip was relished at Bieke's Bistro.
We drove to San Juan and stayed for two nights at an AirBnb in San Juan - loved the location since it was a 2 minute walk to the Plaza de Colón with live shows and we pretty much walked to everything else including the Marina area. Dinner at La Cueva Del Mar - Mahi Mahi in creole sauce was yumm, but the side of mofongo was too dry. Definitely order the Guava and cream cheese cake with ice cream - that's where we discovered Puerto Rican's typical love for Guava.
We started out with the Black Sand beach (Playa Negra). There is a little sandy area on the main road where you can park your car, and then walk towards the path through the greenery for about 10 minutes, into the beach. You will see a sign that says Black Sand Beach outside the house on the main road. We spent about an hour over there - it's a beautiful place to be at with the views of cliffs and beach together.
We then headed for horseback riding by the beach with Colon Horseback Riding - gorgeous views. It could get a little long, since the tour is about 1.5 hours. It was just the three of us doing the activity, so was a serene ride with turquoise waters and green grass, sands, rocks on the other side. Definite recommend. We just spent sometime at Sunbay and Media Luna after that before catching our flight back to Ceiba.
I would suggest you do horse-riding before you head to the beaches, that way you experience the breath taking view for the first time on the horses, and then have the rest of the time to chill on the beaches. Sunbay was definitely the best beach we went to there. Media Luna was a little overrated, and we didn't have enough time to explore Navio beach (which apparently is really beautiful as well).
One of the BEST Mofongo's during our entire trip was relished at Bieke's Bistro.
We drove to San Juan and stayed for two nights at an AirBnb in San Juan - loved the location since it was a 2 minute walk to the Plaza de Colón with live shows and we pretty much walked to everything else including the Marina area. Dinner at La Cueva Del Mar - Mahi Mahi in creole sauce was yumm, but the side of mofongo was too dry. Definitely order the Guava and cream cheese cake with ice cream - that's where we discovered Puerto Rican's typical love for Guava.
Day 3:
Fancy Day Cruise to Culebra
We drove from San Juan to Fajardo (1 hour drive) to take a catamaran cruise to Culebra with East Island Excursions. Perfect activity to explore Culebra, since they take you to Flamenco beach (unless bad weather conditions) which is the only thing to do/see at Culebra vs. taking a flight back and forth.
Our first stop was to snorkel and explore the reefs, which was an amazing experience since the reefs were literally few inches below you while swimming. We also bought an underwater camera(unbranded GoPro) from Amazon for about $60 which gave us beautiful shots/videos. For people snorkeling for the first time, I'd recommend a swimming float even if you are a good swimmer since it helps you focus on breathing technique. The cruise then took us to Flamenco beach(one of the top 10 beaches in the world), where we spent about two hours enjoying the turquoise waters and the sun.
Drove back to San Juan, to grab a sip of the pina coladas they serve in pineapples at Moreno's. The bartender was sweet enough to tell us the regular Pina Colada is $8 and $16 if served in the pineapple, but we still liked the idea of drinking from a pineapple. Sip n walk was the motto that day 🍹
We drove from San Juan to Fajardo (1 hour drive) to take a catamaran cruise to Culebra with East Island Excursions. Perfect activity to explore Culebra, since they take you to Flamenco beach (unless bad weather conditions) which is the only thing to do/see at Culebra vs. taking a flight back and forth.
Our first stop was to snorkel and explore the reefs, which was an amazing experience since the reefs were literally few inches below you while swimming. We also bought an underwater camera(unbranded GoPro) from Amazon for about $60 which gave us beautiful shots/videos. For people snorkeling for the first time, I'd recommend a swimming float even if you are a good swimmer since it helps you focus on breathing technique. The cruise then took us to Flamenco beach(one of the top 10 beaches in the world), where we spent about two hours enjoying the turquoise waters and the sun.
Drove back to San Juan, to grab a sip of the pina coladas they serve in pineapples at Moreno's. The bartender was sweet enough to tell us the regular Pina Colada is $8 and $16 if served in the pineapple, but we still liked the idea of drinking from a pineapple. Sip n walk was the motto that day 🍹
Day 4:
Hike up in El Yunque and Chillax
Drove to El Yunque from San Juan (about 1 hour drive). The main point of stopping at the visitor center is that they give you a map to follow and have an estimate of where you are at (it's optional). Here is a map that they provide you with. We first stopped at the Yokahu tower and parked the car in the parking lot next to it. Then walked downhill to La Coca falls. Then got back into the car and drove to the Big Tree Trail start point. The Big Tree Trail is about a 30 minute hike (one-way) to the La Mina falls. You can relax at the falls. Some people came in their swimwear as well. Overall, we spent about 3 hours at El Yunque.
Tip of advice: Try planning this earlier in the morning around 9-10am, since they have access control if there are too many tourists around to see the forest.
We needed some resort time post the hike. After checking into Marriott Isla Verde Resort, we were living the dream! Clear waters, golden sands and hammocks - now that's what I am talking about ✌They even had a pool bar, but the beach was much more charming than the mix of chlorine & drinks. Had a drink at Sirena (ocean front restaurant at the hotel), and some tuna with sesame. Dinner was at Platos - some good garlic sauce on the mofongo and we called it a night.
Hike up in El Yunque and Chillax
Drove to El Yunque from San Juan (about 1 hour drive). The main point of stopping at the visitor center is that they give you a map to follow and have an estimate of where you are at (it's optional). Here is a map that they provide you with. We first stopped at the Yokahu tower and parked the car in the parking lot next to it. Then walked downhill to La Coca falls. Then got back into the car and drove to the Big Tree Trail start point. The Big Tree Trail is about a 30 minute hike (one-way) to the La Mina falls. You can relax at the falls. Some people came in their swimwear as well. Overall, we spent about 3 hours at El Yunque.
Tip of advice: Try planning this earlier in the morning around 9-10am, since they have access control if there are too many tourists around to see the forest.
We needed some resort time post the hike. After checking into Marriott Isla Verde Resort, we were living the dream! Clear waters, golden sands and hammocks - now that's what I am talking about ✌They even had a pool bar, but the beach was much more charming than the mix of chlorine & drinks. Had a drink at Sirena (ocean front restaurant at the hotel), and some tuna with sesame. Dinner was at Platos - some good garlic sauce on the mofongo and we called it a night.
Day 5:
My Good Old San Juan
We spent our morning at the Carolina beach and Go-Pro'd for a while. Lunch stop at El Alambique - peppy place with some really good Sweet Chilli fish with coconut rice that we relished. They just have 5 parking spots in front of the restaurant, so you might have to struggle for parking a little bit unless you get lucky (another option is to walk from your hotel). My Good Old San Juan
We then headed out, refusing to accept that it is our last vacay-day, to the good old San Juan. We first walked to experience the Castillo de San Cristóbal and then San Felipe del Morro. The entry to any of the forts is $5, which would get you in at both the places. You can either walk from one fort to the other or there is also a free trolley that goes around town. With the direction of the trolley, it makes better sense to cover Cristóbal and then del Morro, which took us about 2.5-3 hours to cover.
We then stopped to grab a refreshing coffee and snack at Cuatro Sombras. I LOVED the croissant with guava butter, and my friends enjoyed the puff and carrot cake. That got us some good energy to step out and walk down the cobble-stone streets and feel the vibrance of the city. Picked up some good local snacks, and headed back to Aguadilla to catch our flight to Dallas.
Tip of Advice: Two of the days we were lucky to get street parking in San Juan, but one day parked for a whole day at La Cochera parking(San Francisco St) for $25. However, someone later suggested that La Puntilla might be a much cheaper option.
Also, when headed back to Aguadilla airport for checking in, make sure you are there at least an hour and a half prior to flight departure time, since the line extended all the way outside the airport entrance when we were headed back. Given it was a busy weekend, because of the long weekend, but they also do a quick security check when you are headed back to mainland USA.
Adios Puerto Rico - you have been nothing but wonderful! Hope to see you soon.
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