Beaches
Luquillo
Balneario La Monserrate Luquillo Beach, Puerto Rico 3, Luquillo: This is your
go-to beach--it’s calm and chill. It has facilities like bathrooms, showers, water sport
rentals, etc.
Punta Bandera: Shallow, calm waters, less crowded, but not much going on.
Playa Azúl: The waves on this beach are rougher but it’s close to the house.
Playa La Pared: Rough waters, body surfer beach, near the city center of Luquillo
San Miguel Beach: This is a solitary beach that no one goes to because it’s hard to
get to. You need to have a 4x4 and enter through the “Corredor Ecologico del Noreste”
or go to Playa La Pared and walk East towards San Miguel.
Fajardo:
Playa Seven Seas is in Fajardo and is a bit of a further drive, but also a beautiful, long
stretch of beach.
Go to the end of the Playa Seven Seas and hike to one of the following:
Playa Colora and Playa Escondida: Both tend to be pretty solitary with not many
people because it’s a good 20-30 min walk to get to them.
Toward San Juan
Pinones beach, you can put “Playa Vacia Talega” in google maps. This is just the start
of a long stretch of beach. You can keep going and park anywhere.
Warning! Some people get their vehicles stuck in the sand—so ensure that the sand is
packed when you turn off the road.
Rainforest
El Yunque is very close to our place.
The hike up to the top is definitely worth it for avid hikers, but it takes about two hours
of leisurely hiking one way to get to the top (1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 and a half
hours one away if you are going fast). You can see a panorama of everything from
San Juan on the West to Fajardo on the east—the view on a clear day is breathtaking
and simply gorgeous.
The view from Mt. Britton is also beautiful. Even when it’s cloudy, you feel like you are
literally in the clouds because the rainforest becomes enshrouded in mist. That is
about a 40 minute one way up and 40 minutes down hike from the trailhead. (Again,
I’ve done it in 20 minutes, but was walking very fast).
If you don’t want to do any hiking, Yokahu tower observation is right off the road. You
can drive right into it and the view is also spectacular. You can see into the valley
below and the beaches of Luquillo and Seven Seas in the distance.
If you want to go to El Yunque, consider the scenic route and take a left towards
Sabana Field Research Station before you down the mountain. You’ll go through a
windy road through the green mountains.
Note, tickets are required to go to the rainforest. Reserve here:
https://www.recreation.gov/ticket/facility/300017
Other Nature Activities
Las pailas: Literally a few minutes from the house. It’s a natural water slide. Lots of
fun.
Angelito Trailhead: You hike down to a river where you can swim.
BioBay http://www.biobay.com/ Recommended by one of our guests. This company
takes tourists out to the bioluminescent bays in Fajardo. They take you out at night to
special areas of the bay where special kind of marine life glow in the dark.
Zipline through El Yunque:
https://www.junglequipr.com/
https://rainforestzipline.com/
El Toro Negro http://www.acampapr.com/page.cgi?pag=tour&id=71416708568
This was recommended by one of our guests. It’s an all-day adventure tour in which
they pick you up in the San Juan area and take you to the second highest peak in
Puerto Rico. You then do some hiking, go down a waterfall zipline, eat a homemade
lunch, do some more hiking with great views, and they drive you back into town.
Cultural Activities
Agriculture Fair: 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month at the Centro de Arte y Cultura
de Lquillo.
Art Museums in San Juan:
Museo de arte contemporaneo and Museu de arte moderno are both relatively near
each other. Both museums, located just outside San Juan, are good and we
recommend them if you like art.
Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico
Avenida De Diego #299
Santurce, Puerto Rico 00910
Museo de arte contemporaneo
Av. Juan Ponce de León, esquina Ave. Roberto H. Todd,
San Juan, 00910, Puerto Rico
(For this museum, they have a lawn that you can park on. Just drive into the gate and park on the grass.)
Movies:
Movies in Puerto Rico are so inexpensive. The closest theater is in Fajardo
If you want a more sophisticated viewing experience where you can order a glass of
wine or a beer and some cake and eat it during the movies, go to the Fine Arts
Cinema in Miramar near San Juan. The movies are usually really good here. Just
google map it and it will take you there.
Night Life
Los Kioscos: There are a few bars that open late on a weekend night.
Plaza San Turce:
This is the place to go on a Thursday or Friday night. It has outdoor restaurants, music,
drinks, and a great vibe. Imagine hundreds of people from all different
generations—older folks to younger folks—drinking outside, having a good time, and
chilling out.
Google “La Plaza del Mercado de San Turce”
We like the bars “Taveran Los Vazquez”, which has live music on Saturday nights
usually, la bodeguita del mojito for a great mojito, and a bar that is unnamed but where
there is a bunch of percussionists playing on the street. All of these can be found in
and around the main square.
La Respuesta: Monday nights a great DJ named Andres starts playing late but you
can check out their programming to see what works for you.
A note from a fellow traveler:
Spending a late afternoon at the Lechonera Los Pinos in Guavate with an excellent
Latin combo and happy dance floor was well worth the 1 1/2 hour ride.
And as first time visitors, we would say that the day trip on the ferry to Culebra and
the ravishing top-ten-in-the-world Playa Flamenco is a highlight you don't want to miss
(despite the hassle of standing in a long, mysteriously slow-moving line for tickets -
with people cutting in line with the help of a man in uniform - turns out as seniors we
could have cut in too). GO TWO HOURS EARLY! [IF you’re traveling during off-peak
times and during the week, two hours early is excessive. You can get tickets going 4
minutes early].
Casa Bavaria just north outside of Orocovis is also worth a moderately strenuous
drive. Fantastic German and Criolla food at very honest prices and utterly spectacular
panoramic view of much of the northern hills and coast.
For those venturing into Old San Juan, El Jibarito Restaurant on Sol street, is the
perfect place for good criolla food, in a charming casual atmosphere, up the hill a few
blocks away from the madding crowd and the tourist prices.
Well, we saw a lot and enjoyed ourselves immensely, and we'll definitely pass the word
along about your comfortable and well-located apartment to any friends who might be
headed to la Isla Encantada.
(If you have any suggestions, we would LOVE to hear them!)
