I’m Talkin’ Trips to Puerto Rico, Say the Word and We Go..

First, let me list why Puerto Rico is great for a getaway (especially one that’s last-minute):

Since it is a U.S. territory..
1.) No passport or passport card required.
2.) No worries over switching currency or having to do conversions in your head.
3.) No language barrier. In major cities, almost everyone speaks English. I only encountered one person who was not bilingual.
4.) Cell phone service with no roaming or extra charges. I have Verizon, and only did not have service around the airport. Everywhere else was fine.

Apart from that…
5.) Cheap flights, hotels, and transportation.
6.) Old San Juan is small & easy to navigate around.. one of the most “walk-able” cities I’ve been to.
7.) Multiple beautiful beaches very close to the city.
6.) Culture: Learn how to salsa dance, eat Puerto Rican food, tour castles and forts surrounding the city.
7.) Nature: Go hiking & see the falls at El Yunque National Forest & kayak the famous Bio-luminescent Bay.
8.) Huge police presence in Old San Juan. There’s a policeman almost on every corner downtown, which makes traveling all the more comfortable for two female tourists traveling alone.
9.) The drinking age here is 18. I put this on here for you, college spring-breakers.

I planned this trip a few hours before we left. I randomly had the opportunity to have 6 days off from work, and decided to make something happen! So my sister and I packed up and headed off to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Where to Stay:
I researched both downtown San Juan and Condado when looking for places to stay. I’m glad I chose Old San Juan. Without staying in the heart of town, I feel like we would’ve missed the culture and the true Puerto-Rican feel. Plus, everything minus the airport and the rain forest/bay is located or in short walking distance from here. Condado has a whole different feel entirely. It is more bland, touristy, and without a better adjective to describe it.. trashy. Kind of like Old San Juan is Puerto Rico’s Charleston, Condado would be it’s Myrtle Beach, except without all the tourist shops.

Anyway, I ended up finding this beautiful historic hotel located in the middle of Old San Juan. The name of it cracked me up a little bit. Da House. You have to buzz to get into the hotel. You go up these beautiful stairs to the lobby that has old tile, an old record player, a ton of artwork, and bright furniture. All of the hotel staff was incredibly nice and offered so many tips and suggestions on where to go. They provided us with most of the places and things we were able to see and do! The hotel also has amazing rooftop views, complete with a hot tub. Our room had a Juliet balcony, with a door that you could either halfway open or open all the way, and it just gave it this nice romantic, historic feel. I booked this hotel right before we left to go to the airport in about 15 minute’s time. haha I couldn’t have done a better job. It was affordable and couldn’t have been located in a better location.. Honestly, the hotel was one of my favorite parts of this trip because I just found it so cute!

Where to Lay:
Our first day there, we made our way to Escambron Beach. It’s a 25 minute walk or a $6 Uber ride from the hotel. If you drive here, you have to pay a small fee for parking (around $5). El Escambron is a decent-sized beach. When you arrive, you’ll see a ton of people set up under the palms grilling out, having a few drinks, and blasting music. The water has some reefs in it, but not a lot of waves. It is perfect to wade in and enjoy a beverage on a sunny day. The sand feels as though it is made of very finely ground rocks, and does not easily stick to the skin.. Honestly it’s a perfect beach. My favorite part is that you can see schools of fish in the reefs just a few feet into the water- no snorkel gear required. You can also view a small island off of Puerto Rico, Penon de San Jorge, from here, and many cruise ships sailing in and out of port.

For our second beach day, we went to La Playa Pena. It is only a 10 minute walk from the hotel. Located down the steps from the Capitol Building, this isolated stretch of sand holds some of the prettiest see-through water. If you’re here with your significant other and looking for a more romantic beach day, this would be ideal. Be careful though.. we saw a HUGE barracuda just a few steps into the water. Thankfully, he wasn’t a mean one. 🙂 You can either walk back up the steps to the Capitol Building and walk back down to Escambron or you can continue a bit and walk past Playa Pena along the coastline to see other non-populated beaches with beautiful backdrops of old ruins. You CANNOT get back to Escambron by walking directly on the coastline from here. Lesson learned. We attempted this and had to undertake an obstacle course of rocks and reef to finally get back up on the sidewalk after a few cuts and bruises. No bueno.

Where to Play:
A trip here would not be complete without going salsa dancing. The Nuyorican Cafe, which was conveniently located right below our hotel, is the best place for this according to locals. It was a $5 cover charge. The dancing started at 10 pm, though music was played earlier. The cafe is not that big, and can get a little crowded. It has a live band with a dance floor. A couple of locals offered to dance with me and my sister. I’d taken salsa classes before, but my sister was completely new to it. Her partner took salsa a little seriously, and was a little frustrated that she was not catching on as quickly as he’d like. haha I had a blast though! If actually dancing is not your thing, you can grab a drink and take a seat and watch the locals do their thing. Everyone is so amazingly skilled and they really have a lot of fun with it!

Senor Frogs has a younger crowd with a more club-like feel. They had both Latino & American music mixed for a ton of fun. Check the calendar before you go, though. On the right night, this place is packed and hopping. On others, it can be dead.

Although we never made it, we were told multiple times that Latin Roots is another place for a fun night in Puerto Rico. They have salsa dancing lessons, and supposedly some well-known artists who come play live shows.

La Factoria is rated one of the top 50 bars in the world. Two things before you attempt to go here, though: 1.) It’s hard to find. It looks just like any other regular bar outside, and is not labeled with “La Factoria”.. The only way we spotted it was by the guard outside and asking him if it was indeed the correct place. It’s actually bars within bars, if that makes sense. When you go in it looks just like a regular, small bar with not much happening. You have to find doors that lead everywhere else! haha 2.) Even though the drinking age in Puerto Rico is 18, you need to be 23 to enter. I have no idea why. If you’re a pretty girl like my sister though, they might not ID you… lol If you’re looking for a chill place with good cocktails, make your way on over.

What to See:
First and foremost, tour the old cobblestone streets of Old San Juan, and marvel at all the bright houses. While you’re strolling, you’ll more than likely hear some Latino music and see Puerto Rican flags flying from balconies. It is absolutely gorgeous. Old San Juan has a ton of restaurants, tourist shops, and little local shops that you should reserve a day for exploring!

On the very upper western edge of Old San Juan lies El Morro, San Juan’s largest fort, originally built by the Spanish in 1539.  This fort is located beyond beautiful green fields, with views of the city and seascape on both sides. For a mere $5 (kids <15 are free) you  can spend hours exploring this huge fort while learning about its history with both Spain and America. The great part about the ticket is that it also gets you into all the other forts within 7 days, so remember to not throw it away on your trip!

Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery is right below this trip and is beautiful in its own right… I’m weird. I kinda have a thing for cemeteries. Don’t judge.

La Fortaleza is on the southwestern corner of San Juan. It serves as the governor’s mansion. We did not get to see it, but I thought I would write a bit about it since it is the oldest of San Juan’s forts. It is also pretty neat in the fact that every new governor takes this their residence after election. Consider it Puerto Rico’s White House.

Castillo de San Cristobal is the castle on the upper east side of the city. The beautiful ruins are right near the Capitol. It is definitely worth checking out.

Christopher Columbus discovered Puerto Rico in 1493. His statue and a fountain can be found at Plaza de Colon, right below the castle. Right beside of this is the Antiguo Casino, quite possibly my favorite building in San Juan. If you are a lover of architecture and beautiful buildings, check out this whole little stretch of street, known as the Puerta de Tierra section of Old San Juan. You’ll see the Casa Olimpica, Ateneo Puertorriqueno, Tapia Theater, Carnegie Library, and Casa España.

Take a trip to a bioluminescent bay. I planned to devote a day to both El Yunque and the bioluminescent bay, but prices were a little higher than what I wanted to spend for a combined tour (around $200 per person), and I waited too long to book. I would suggest booking these at least 3 to 4 days out, as they tend to book up fast. For both of these experiences, quite a bit of driving will need to be done, and it would be in your best interest to find a tour company that provides transportation. Ubering out to the Bio Bay in Fajardo is around $70 one from Old San Juan.. Eek. We almost waited too long to find a tour company that would still take us out to the imfamous Bioluminescent Bay, but luckily Glassbottom PR set us up with transportation and a tour in a glass bottom kayak for $100 per person the day of. I would highly recommend a glass bottom kayak, since this is one of the best ways you can see the glow from the tiny organisms in the water. The kayaks sit two. I did not find the distance in the kayak or maneuvering in general difficult, but other kayaks can run into you head on from the other direction and get you turned around, which can be frustrating. This trip is much better if you have at least kayaked once or twice. I noticed people who had never really kayaked before had a bit of difficulty. It is pitch black and you are in the mangroves. Also make sure you go on a night when there will not be a lot of moonlight. You can look this up online. I thought it was a magical experience, and even though a little costly, I found it worth it. It looks like hundreds of fireflies underneath the water at any sign of movement. Pictures are incredibly difficult to get here, as you are busy rowing, and the glow is hard to capture on camera by nature. Leave your phone and just take in the beautiful glow in one of the only 5 bioluminescent bays in the world.

Eats & Treats:
A few staples of San Juan: mallorcas, mofongo, passion fruit juice, and pina coladas.

La Bombonera! La Bombonera! Go now. Get a mallorca. A mallorca is basically sweet bread that is topped with a thick coat of powdered sugar. At La Bombonera they serve them as both pastries or grilled sandwiches. I had a bacon, egg, and cheese mallorca. Heaven. We went back here again before leaving. Also, the restaurant is historic, and has a cute atmosphere. All of the waiters are dressed in very traditional style attire that only adds to the charm.

Do you know basically nothing about Puerto Rican food and would rather just try a huge sampler that lets you try a bit of everything? Stop at Deaverdura. The sampler is made for 2 people and was the best Puerto Rican food we had there! They also had coconut water you can sip out of real coconuts, and a variety of juices. I loved the passion fruit juice!

What’s a trip to Puerto Rico if you don’t stop to have a pina colada at the restaurant where the pina colada was originally created? If you stop at the Barrachina Restaurant, you can enjoy a spot at their covered outside bar and grab one of these delicious drinks. Best pina colada I’ve ever had, and only $7. We also had kid meals, which were yummy. I love that they also had 4 pretty pet parrots on the property… Try saying that three times fast.

On our last night we wanted to try another kind of food, and opted for Spanish cuisine at Toro Salao. The passion fruit mojito was great, as was the flatbread and cheese dip. The vibe in the outside section was fantastic. You can listen to live music and watch all the tourists go by.

If you go to San Juan, you MUST try a mofongo. Locals rave about this dish, which is fried plantains that are smashed and combined with salt and garlic. If you order this with a meat, it usually goes on top of the mofongo as well as the inside. I only had one experience with this dish. The meat I ordered did not taste the best, so that was sadly my one and only experience with it. If you decide to try this, please ask locals which restaurants are best, and try it with a meat you know you will like. I wish I had done the same.

Transportation:
Uber is not allowed to pick you up from the airport, although it is allowed to take you there. A taxi from the airport to Old SJ was $25. They let you know the price upfront and it is much easier to pay with cash.
We walked everywhere easily in SJ. The only place we Uber’d to was the beach, and it was super cheap.
I wouldn’t advise getting a rental car unless you’re planning on going to multiple places in PR, and not mostly staying in SJ. Parking is difficult and it is such an easy, walkable city. Hope this helps anyone who was also wondering about getting around!

That sums up my trip to San Juan! Ya Juanna go now?