Recommendations for Puerto Rico? - Page 2

- I would say Culebra is nicer than Vieques. But they're both really cool. Vieques had military restricted beaches (red beach/blue beach) that are very very solitary, you can be at an amazing little spot all by yourself with not a person in sight. However something weird happened, my dad had on a white silver bracelet and it turned rose gold in the water. They used to do chemical testing/bombs and stuff in the area (the reason they were driven out of the island was an military exercise that killed some local puerto rican). We thought it was kinda weird lol - Every Sunday they do Heineken Jazz festival in a park called La Ventana en El Condado. Supposed to be nice. - Go to Crash Boat if you can, very nice beach with a beautiful view as you drive down to it. - Ponce is the biggest city in the south to visit... if you're around. There's some coffee plantation or something like that around there. I'm just going to copy/paste an e-mail I sent to a co-worker that just visited P.R. Food: Puerto Rico has some of the best street food there is.. famous for fried stuff, usually made from plantains or other local starches. In Old San Juan, to get authentic puerto rican cuisine, you shouldn't overlook Raices (call to see if they do reservations, everything gets packed in P.R. on the weekends) Raices (dinner) 315 Calle Recinto Sur San Juan 00901, Puerto Rico (787) 289-2121 La Bombonera (breakfast, lunch) - Also in Old San Juan. Try a Mayorca rellena de queso (filled with cheese). Basically a super soft fluffy bread pressed with cheese in the middle and confection sugar on top. 259 Calle San Francisco, San Juan 00901, Puerto Rico (787) 722-0658 There are many good places around the island, just go where you see alot of people that means its good Enjoy the streetfood, it's awesome. Try some Mofongo if you get the chance, it's one of the specialties of the island (they probably have it at Raices). Another favorite of mine is a breakfast/lunch sandwich called a 'Medianoche', think of a more delicious cuban sandwich. Things to Do: A) Old San Juan & El Morro/Castillo de San Cristobal - This is the fort in old San Juan, go on a nice day so you can walk around the rest of San Juan start early morning and walk around all of Old San Juan, you can be there all day. Take a camera, lovely picture opportunities. B) El Condado- right were you are staying there's lovely beaches around there, also some of the major hotels (Hilton if I recall) have dancing and salsa on the weekends. There's also a jazz thing they do almost every Sunday in a park on the beach called 'La Ventana' C) Crash Boat- this is a very pretty beach on the west coast of the island about 1.5 hours away. There are alot of nice beaches, look online for the best recommended. I can't say I've been to them all. If you go to crash boat you might as well stop by Isabela and go to El Poso De Jacinto, a big hole in some rocks where water gushes out when the waves crash. D) Bio bay- this is over in Fajardo, you can do it at night. Plenty of Kayaking companies that rent out all gear and take you out there (at night of course). I always have a good time doing this, bring some 'Off Mosquito Spray' and a change of clothes. If you're heading over to Fajardo, you can go to 'Las Cabezas De San Juan National Park' during the day. You could also go to Seven Seas beach, then the bio bay at night. As recommended by this website, definitely stop by the Kiosks for the puerto rican fritters, try em all, they're so delicious! http://gopuertorico.about.com/od/day...ardobiobay.htm E) Yunque Rain Forest - of course this is worth doing. I think they do ziplining there too. There's also a beach not too far from there called Luquillo, that's pretty nice. D) Cavernas de Camuy- big caves that you can take a guided tour. (Closes if its raining, worth calling) E) Observatorio de Arecibo- big satellite dish that was in James Bond Golden eye, they do tours as well of this. (call ahead as well) F) Bacardi factory tour- it's free and they give you some free drinks at the end, very beautiful pavillion as well and a cool souvenier shop. G) Club Brava- always heard it's good, never been though H) If you want to travel around the island, may be worth stopping in Ponce (the big city in the South). Plenty of things to see there as well. http://gopuertorico.about.com/od/his...e/tp/Ponce.htm

I can't recommend Bombonera enough.

There are a ton of really good bakeries where you can get sandwiches and pastries. I've been to two that are amazing. Castillo in Bayamon (close to Plaza del Sol), it's a bakery with lots of spaniard goods, dry cured serrano hams and other good stuff. My favorite Medianoche and fantastic quesitos. La Esmeralda - in Guaynabo, don't know exactly where it is, but it's really good. There is a Tapas place in San Juan I thought was pretty good (one of the best servers I've ever had as well called JJ) it's called 'El Toro Salao', it's part of this group of restaurants http://www.oofrestaurants.com/

It falls on what kind of experience you want. Staying on the eastern side of the island will get you the toruist feel. It's a lot more modern. For that cruise around the bahamas. If you want to experience puerto Rico for what it is, keep a hotel in San Juan and rent a car. Head to the weasterside of the island from ricon on down to mayaguez San German and so forth. Avoid ponce. Theirs slot of roadside pig roast which are amazing, pinchos, biandas which is basically all startch potatos yams bananas and so on. Most of the island has picked up English and you'll always be able to find someone to translate something for you. (if you need them too). San German pueblo is nice too, they have a really old church that's open, with a crazy history. Anasco is also nice. Manati falls right in the middle of the island (top) is a mixture of modern and rual. They have nice beaches out their. rincon has alot of seafood spots and loiza does too basically on the opposite sides of the island.

I agree with all of the above, that's the kind of experience I usually go for. Manati has a great surfer beach (one of my favorites) called 'Los Tubos'. I haven't been to San German, I'll add that to my list of things to do. I heard of a place called vaca brava, that I heard was interesting. Never been... they said it was like an old western town or something like that. Sounds strange.

Whats on the eastern side? I didnt see too much on it aside from the various tours leaving. Is there a big city or something (going by your touristy comment).

I have a hotel in SJ and a rented car. We were planning to do a day of surfing/scubaing/parasailing on the western coast, a day of boat tour + biobay, one day in OSJ - Bacardi factory, maybe the fort, etc. 2 other days that are looking like beach days unless we can find something else. Is it worth going to the eastern island? Flamenco beach is supposed to be the "second best beach in the world", but spending 4-5 hours out of the day travelling to get there seems like a waste of a trip unless it's mind-blowing.


Thanks. Useful info.

The eastern side is littered with resorts and the National Park "El Yunque." There is a trail there that leads to a waterfall you can swim in, it's pretty refreshing to hike and then take a dip under a cold waterfall, a very quintessential caribbean thing to do. Besides that and visiting the roadside stands (Piñones), there is nothing else to do in the east coast. Traffic there can get pretty bad sometimes. I do recommend going to Culebra, Flamenco beach does live up to it's hype. There are daily flights from San Juan in a small prop plane if you want to avoid the hassle of driving there and taking the ferry. I forget how much tickets are, perhaps $50 each? You have to love going to the beach to make this worth it, it depends how bad you want to visit a beach with calm and clear turquoise waters, soft white sand, and beautiful scenery. I love it there. The Bacardi factory is basically a big marketing tour of the company, I thought it was boring and the self-promotion is pretty blatant. My friends enjoyed their free drinks, for them is a small price to pay for undergoing the hour-long Bacardi commercial. I'd rather just sit in a bar in Old San Juan with a paid drink in hand rather than going there, but that's just me. danilo- Vaca Brava is a restaurant in Barranquitas, they serve massive portions of everything. Their steaks are too overdone for my taste and they pile tons of crap over them, although their ribs are nice and unmolested. Wouldn't recommend it, though.