Trip to Puerto Rico – Step out of your comfort zone

If you really want to spend time in Islands with stunning resorts and unspoiled beaches, know Spanish culture, feel majestic mountains, do adventures, know historical facts, hike in tropical rain forests, YES this is the right place. We have been here for our anniversary to give a good amount of time to ourselves and we really enjoyed the stay.

From my personal experience I can say that “Puerto Rico isn’t all beaches” it had everything, Nights in San Juan made me feel like as I’m in New Orleans. I know its hard to remember the names of these places, I tried to put as many pictures with captions as I can to let you get familiar with the place, for more pictures you can check gallery.

Best Time To Visit

Year round destination (keep an eye on forecast)
Preferred time : March – August
Hurricane season: Summer and Fall

Despite Hurricane MARIA damage and still being developed after that great disaster, it still had plenty to experience. I heard from locals that there were no visitors to the island after this natural disaster for almost a year.

Visa/Currency:

I want to put this as the first point as I was asked many questions from my blog visitors on the same. YES, You don’t need any VISA to visit Puerto Rico, It is a US Territory but not a US state. So, you can happily leave your passports at home. No need to exchange currency, US $ is the currency here. But make sure you have a few bucks in your pocket, we had some experiences where they refused to accept credit/debit cards for few services.

Create Accurate Itinerary :

Be specific when you have limited time to spend, we are here for 3 days and 4 nights and we have done everything we want to. we did spend one day in San Juan, One day in the beach and one day in the forest, Creating an itinerary on your personal interests will give you satisfaction.

Language:

People here speak Spanish, official language, but it is not all mandatory to learn Spanish before you get on to Island. English is widely spoken all around the Island especially in the tourist places, If you were into some situation where you are unable to communicate you can request a language translator as they will have 1-2 people who speak English on their facilities but still communication is always possible. The more you get into rural areas of island the more difficulty you face for communication.

Be prepared to see all road signs in Spanish, even though google maps is in English it is really hard to get the names of the streets which are Spanish.
Few words I learned on this trip 🙂

English – Spanish
Hello – Hola
Thank You – Gracious
Thanks a lot – Machas Gracious
Pare – Stop
Exit – Salida
No Entry – No Entre

Trip Budget:

OMG, Puerto Rico is not at all cheap. Everything here is pricey.

Stay – Stay per night will start from 100$ excluding resort fees (50-70$ per stay), parking fees(20-50$, few facilities here charge for the number of In’s/Out’s) and etc. Even most of the Airbnb hosts are Spanish people so make sure you choose the right place if you want to go with this option.

All gas stations here sell-by liters, usually gas ranges 0.70$-0.98 $ per liter (3.80$ per gallon).

Food: Food is really cheap on beachside local restaurants, I decided to encourage them rather than picking some chained restaurants which are too pricey. I really loved the grilled stuffed plantains. We went on a date night in Old San Juan which cost us almost 70$ for dinner (2 people). Don’t miss seafood in Puerto Rico, really awesome.

Traffic:

Traffic really sucks, you will find traffic jams everywhere. Uber is not available and Lyft is non-existent, but you will find a local cab service that costs you more, I prefer renting a car on your own to get around the Island. You got to be very very careful, no one here follows proper traffic rules, and believe me I’m really scared to get on to the roads.

Network coverage:

Not too bad in urban areas.

Carry on Items:

Be prepared for outdoors, I prefer layered clothing with comfy shoes.
Don’t forget to pack bathing suits, sunglasses, sunscreens, insect repellent (I don’t want anyone Coming back from vacation with Sand Flea/dweller bites, ahhh that sucks! I know that pain)
Avoid visiting beaches during dawn, dusk and after rain any day.

Places to cover on and around the Island:

Old San Juan:

This old city had lots of historical places to hang around. Beauty of old San Juan Streets cant be described, it should be felt.

Trip time: You can spend half a day to one based on your interest.

How to get there?

Old San Juan has few parking spots available, which will cost 5-10$ per vehicle per day. You could probably drive into the city to pick a spot to park and walk around the place.

Paseo de la Princesa:

Admission: Free

This place is on the seaside and really calm with many shady trees and a fountain in middle. Perfect place to walk around enjoying the Island views. I heard that this place represents the spirit and bravery of the people. If you want to capture a few pictures, YES this place had lots of good views around.

La Fortaleza:

Admission: Free

This is the official residence of the Governor of Puerto Rico, This is a very oldest fort which is built to protect the city.

El Morro:

This is the most popular historical site of Puerto Rico which was built to guard San Juan harbor. You can take a quick stop at Red Gate, called the San Juan Gate is the city’s official entrance during their times.

Admission: 7$ per per Adult

Another interesting fact about the walls of El Morro – These historical walls are under attack but not by the foreign troops, the attackers are the plants, you can see plants spread their roots that crumble the walls of the fort bit by bit. Plants here are considered as the more powerful natural forces that can damage these fortifications that took Spain centuries to build.
Notice the large rocks along the shore, these are coated with concrete to reduce the erosion caused by wind, rain and ocean waves which continually erode the hills.

El Yunque National Forest (Rain forest)

Admission: Free

This is the beautiful part of nature, the only tropical rain forest. If I remember correctly it is 12 km drive on ghat road to get into the forest, this drive is really refreshing, Check this video on our vlog. this forest had lots of short, medium and hard trials. Views from Yokahu tower are breathtaking, waterfalls are amazing, the best part for me is climbing the waterfall. Little disappointment is left in me seeing poor progress of the park, management of this forest is poorly done.

Puerto Rico Beaches:

Oh my God, I can’t put that beauty and joy in my heart in words, They are really really good. The best part of these beaches is they are not at all crowded. We’ve been to many beaches in different parts of the world but Puerto Rico beaches are my favorite. Lots of shade from gorgeous palm trees, calm and clear water, perfect for all ages. I have spent almost 5-6 hours just walking along the beach and dipping into blue waters. You can drive along the seashore and take time whenever you find a place with a good view with a clean beach, carry chairs, blankets, cooler and you can easily spend the whole day, you will love it. Few beaches are surrounded by gated neighbors and so it feels less touristy. I can say that Puerto Rico is like exploring a brand new world every time you get to one of these beaches.