My wife just got another job and has a week in between. We decided to use that week to take a vacation – our first in four years! I got a deal through Priceline and we’re going to be staying in Dorado, about 30 minutes west of San Juan.
Where should we go? What should we see? What should we do? What should we eat?
I know almost nothing about Puerto Rico. Help!
Will you have a rental car? If so, bear in mind that the whole island is only about 100 miles by 30 miles, so more or less everything is a day trip. The main roads which ring the island are good, the rest are usually less so, particularly in the mountains (where there can be rare and rather disconcerting washouts) I’m far from an expert, but you may want to go see:
El Yunque, the only tropical forest in the US national forest system, it’s close to San Juan and probably good for several days of walking around, if you like plants and mountains and waterfalls and such.
The Arecibo radio telescope, which is impressively large, and surrounded by forest.
Camuy caverns, if you like karst, underground rivers, and bats. Who doesen’t?
The Bahia Fosforecente (Phosphorescent Bay). It’s full of dinoflgellates, it glows in the dark, it’s really cool. You can take a boat from Parguera (5 bucks when I was there).
There are nice beaches, with trees on them, near Rincon, which is also a big surfing area (during the winter I think). The composition of the sand varies quite a bit from one beach to next. I suspect the rest of the island has nice beaches as well, but those are the only ones I can vouch for.
Things to eat: mofongo (sp?), pernil (sp?), tostones, pressed sandwiches, empenadillas, fish, tropical fruits, Malta India, coffee, rum. Bacardi is made in PR, but you can get that at home, there is a staggering variety of local rums. I am partial to Ron de Barilito (three stars). Also, if you like really, really light beer (somebody must) there is Medalla Light (don’t know if they make regular). Presidente, from the Dominican Republic is better, kind of like Heinekin.
Good luck!
“We’ve gone on holiday by mistake!”
Yes, we will have a rental car. Thanks for the suggestions!
My wife and I are really keen on cheap, local street food. Any suggestions on the best places for that?
More things to eat:
Lechon
Pasteles
Rice and Beans
Arroz con Gandules
Arroz con Pollo
Arroz con Dulce (dessert)
Papas Rellenos
Tembleque (dessert)
Wear plenty of sunscreen.
Drive a Buick through San Juan, and give all of your cousins a free ride.
And bring a TV.
Seconding El Yunque. Unless you have a great self image stay out of the pictures you take. I have an entire album of a chubby lobsterburned white guy posing in front of nature’s beauty. Nature doesn’t deserve that.
We did the Phosphorescent bay on Vieques. It was amazing. It felt oddly like we were in the movie cocoon. Bring goggles, because the underwater view is unreal. Magic is not real, but the bay still manages to be magical.
F_M got the most of it.
For a street food extravaganza, go to Piñones (it is only 10 minutes away from the airport). It is better on weekends, but you can go there any day or time and find several places open.
Food you must have if you want to claim you tried Puerto Rican food: Alcapurrias (they come with all different fillings, you should try jueyes, a local land crab). Piononos, Bacalaitos, Whole Fried Red Snapper, Lechon Asado. Pasteles are also a big item here, but they are not as easy to find. We are close to Christmas, so you might get lucky as this is the season for them. Mofongo is the flagship of the local cuisine. Order it stuffed with whatever fancies you. You will see Pinchos everywhere. Feel free to skip them. They are nothing out of this world.
Las Cuevas de Camuy (the caves) are right next to the Radiotelescope at Arecibo. It would be kinda silly to go to one and miss the other. At the entrance to the caves, they will hand you a flier for a nearby restaurant that is actually pretty good (I forget the name)
Definitely head west. That’s where the best beaches are. If you really hate your skin, go to the beach right next to the Lighthouse at Cabo Rojo (Playa Sucia, I think is the name). Beautiful spot.
There are also some good beaches in Isabela. You can go see El Ojo de Jacinto (a natural bridge and blowhole on a rock promontory, right next to the excellent beaches of Villas del Mar Hau.
At the risk of this post being intercepted and getting myself thrown out of here, Puerto Rican rum sucks. Sorry. Try before you buy. A surprising find, though, is Anis Paloma. Even if you don’t like Anise (does anyone?), you have to try this stuff. Incredibly smooth. They serve it mixed with 7-up (I think the name for that is Chichaito, which is kind of a dirty word, btw), but I reccommend you try it alone as a shooter.
I will reccomend El Ynque if you hail from the frozen north. If you have ever been to any other tropical rainforest, think nothing of skipping it. Unless you are into hiking, then go. If you do, wear a swimsuit. There is a couple of falls that are good for swimming.
If you are going to the place I figure you are going in Dorado, you will like it. It is a nice place.
Oh, and of course, you must schedule a day to visit Old San Juan. Weekends are best. IF you go on a Sunday, I will be glad to join you over there with my family. We have some bitchin’ kites that I can talk my boy into sharing. Expect a beer on the house. Otherwise, you can buy regular kites for $3 right on the lawn to the Fort (a must visit, btw). Don’t miss the chance to fly one there, they literally jump off your hand.
Now that I am subscribed to this thread, fire at will with any more questions you might have. I have been receiving tons of guests recently and I am mostly current in the touristy scene.
Are you all about beaches? Drving some segments of the panoramic road through the mountains can be a real treat if you time it right. Let me know if you care about this and I will advise where and when to go.
Are you willing to sleep out of your prearranged hotel? That could make it possible to add some more distant destinations. Drive times here can be deceiving. Although you could easily drive around the island in one day, that doesn’t mean it will be fun. Do not estimate 60mph when computing travel times. 30mph is more like it.
In 2000, we spent our 25th wedding anniversary in Puerto Rico. We stayed in Isle Verde for a few days and then stayed in Dorado at the Hyatt Cerromar for the rest of the week. The beach is really nice there, and it is a short drive to Old San Juan. We spent a day hiking the trails in El Yunque, a couple of days in Old San Juan (while we were there, the Tall Ship Regatta was there for a pretty continuous party) and lots of time just seeing the sights.
Just so you know… the numbers on signs (distances) are in kilometers. The signs announcing speed limits and such are in miles. The gasoline is sold in liters. 
All the suggestions above are really good… get out of Old San Juan, really… It’s pretty, but Puerto Rico is more than that and the metro area.
Whatever you do, don’t lead with the Mayor phase. You really want to go builder first…
Oh wait, the ACTUAL Puerto Rico. Nevermind.
Thanks for all the suggestions, folks!
I was in Puerto Rico about two months ago and I full-heartedly agree with all of these suggestions. It will probably have a lot more people and be a little cooler tempurature wise.
El Yunque was a ton of fun, especially if you like hiking. Unless you abhor the out-doors, or have already seen something better, it’s one of the best things to do on the Island.
From what I’ve heard, the Bioluminescient Bay on Vieques is the best. I can’t confirm this, since it’s the only one I saw, but if you have the time to visit Vieques, definitely do that, you will not be disappointed.
Similarly, the snorkelling on Colebra is supposed to be unparalleled… we didn’t have time to go there, but we did snorkel on Vieques and it was great. If you don’t have time to make it to Colebra or Vieques, it’s still worth doing off the main island as well.
El Arecibo was fun mostly because I’m a computer nerd and it shows up in a few movies (like Golden Eye… except only the receiver, the dish was completely different AFAICT). The caves that someone mentioned are also very close to there. You can easily do both on the same day and still have time for the beaches.
I also recommend going into old San Juan to see the fortresses. They’re a blast if you’re even remotely into that sort of thing.
You can also see the Bacardi factory if you’re into that. We decided beach time was worth more than a tour there, so… I can’t add any more on that.
If you’re into the fine dining, there’s plenty of great restaraunts around there that have a cuisine distinct to the Carribean. Definitely have some mofongo… yummy!
And, of course, the beaches… fine white sand, clear blue water… they make every other beach I’ve been to look like a complete dump. All the beaches we went to had very little to almost no surf, which was a bit disappointing for me (though, there are supposed to be beaches with good surf elsewhere on the island). Either way, make sure you spend plenty of time on these beaches, because that’s one of the best parts.
Enjoy your vacation!
Just in case you didn’t see it, there’s a good article about Old San Juan in today’s NYT. Linky linky.
I’m back! Old San Juan was fantastic!
Glad you enjoyed it! Did you take pictures? Where you able to go to other places?
Post pictures and tell us what you ate.
Glad to hear it was a good time.
For privacy reasons, I’m not going to post pictures (not that I have any fantastic pictures).
My main goal was to try mofongo, which is a plaintain mash eaten only (?) in Puerto Rico. I had it once at Cafe Tompy in Ponce and once at Cafe Manolin in Old San Juan. Better the second time, I think. But the pork chicharron at Tompy that accompanied the mofongo was better than the shrimp at Manolin.
We also had really good food at the gazebo at El Princesa, where the tourism company sets up along the avenue. The absolute best ceviche I’ve ever tasted. The sorbet sold by the street vendors (agua friia?) was, again, the best sorbet I’ve ever had. My wife liked the coconut. I’m partial to what they said was “tropical cherry,” whatever that is (acerola?).
We had one really expensive meal (expensive for us — $50 for two, including taxes and tips) at a Spanish restaurant half a block from the Hotel El Convento. What was it called? Rosa something? The food was absolutely fantastic (though minuscule portions) – only problem is that the restaurant is in a cellar and I got eaten alive by mosquitos.
In general, I found the street food to be great, much more satisfying than restaurant food. I tried a variety of fried things made from various tropical fruits and vegetables (usually stuffed with a pork product. Yum!). Unfortunately, the vendors seemed to largely disappear during the work week. (I did get tricked into a $5 non-alcoholic pina colada, but small loss. Anyway, I was suffering from a coughing fit and needed the beverage.)
The weather was a bit difficult to take – hot and humid alternating with rainstorms. We usually ended up soaked in sweat by the end of the day. But hey, it’s a vacation. It’s not like we had to be somewhere looking good and smelling sweet.
We enjoyed both the large castles in the old town, El Morro and San Sebastian. They were interesting, but the presentation was disappointing. I expected to see displays in each section of the castle illustrating life there or how it was used. Most of the rooms though were entirely empty with not even a placard describing its purpose.
The thing that made the biggest impact on me was the architecture of the old city … very colonial, very tropical, and absolutely stunning … row upon row of brightly coloured townhouses featuring balconies and interior courtyards. Coming back to the United States, our cities look almost maliciously ugly in comparison.
Of course we peeked into several of the souvenir shops for gifts. We met a very nice guy, Paul Kelly, who owns a gift shop on Calle Fortaleza. He directed us to several of the locations we wanted to see.
Oh, because of the rain and also because of all the time we spent in Old San Juan, we didn’t get much beach time in. Only about two hours in Isla Verde in front of the Hotel El San Juan. If we were to go back (and if the weather were cooperative), I think we would like to spend more time there.
Oh, and our worst meal EVER! was late one night at a Taco Maker in Isla Verde.