Spring Break 2025.
We liked Puerto Rico. The weather was nice and we went the beach every day in Luquillo and Aguada. The island is relatively small and the infrastructure is better than maybe anywhere else in Latin America. So it's easy to rent a car and drive anywhere on the island. The food is good and the people are friendly. It's a great place to visit.
We visited Old San Juan for an evening and had a nice dinner at the same place Francisco and I ate at in June during a lengthy and crazy trip home from Peru. El Jibarito serves terrific Puerto Rican food. I had the Mofongo with a Medalla beer. Old San Juan was more lively this time.
Our place in Luquillo was half a block from a nice beach. Playa Azul. It's a sandy beach with palm trees and lots of shade. The surf while we were there was ideal for body surfing or boogie boards. It wasn't crowded and it went on for a ways in one direction to the Luiquillo malecon, and in the other direction to a nature reserve. There was a cheap bar and a nice bakery close by our apartment. Also a food truck selling fish tacos and coconut arepas right on the beach.
One night we went to the famous Luqillo kiosks for a nice dinner. There are 50 or 60 restaurants, bars and souvenir shops set up right along the public beach. The guidebooks say the kiosks have become just as much an attraction as the Luqillo public beach itself, which gets crowded.
One morning Mariana and I hiked in El Yunque. It was a nice hike to a small mountain (highest point in PR!) in the rain forest. Lush vegetation and a great view. The other thing we wanted to do from our Luquillo base was to see one of the islands. But we missed our ferry to Vieques. So we'll do that next time.
I would definitely stay in Luquillo again. Same place would be fine. It was a big comfortable place in a sweet location.
We drove from Luquillo to Aguada. It's a leisurely three-hour drive across the entire northern coast of the island. There was a traffic jam, road blockage, somewhere near San Juan, on a divided highway, two or three lanes in each direction. After a few minutes of standing still some cars started going backwards in the breakdown lane trying to get out of the jam. But they were blocked by a bus moving forwards, itself trying to get by the stopped cars. Stalemate. Soon cars and trucks were driving forward in the wrong direction on the grass median, also trying to escape the traffic jam. We joined them. After a hundred yards or so we crossed the median at a fence break and joined the traffic going the opposite direction. Crazy. But when will I have a chance to do that again? We stopped for lunch in Arecibo. That's a nice town with a long Malecon and beaches. There's a pleasant downtown. And I picked up a $4 bathing suit to double my beach wardrobe. We drove through Aguada. That's a busy place that seems to be thriving. And soon we arrived at our second apartment. It's easy to drive across the island.
In Aguada, our neighborhood was called Guayabo. We stayed at a nice place right across the street from a wonderful beach with palm trees, deep golden sand and rough surf. The apartment was small but had everything we needed and was steps from the beach. Each morning, I took long walks on the beach and I only encountered a couple of people each day. Mariana went for jogs. There were way more people surfing than on the beach or swimming.
There were a couple of restaurants within walking distance, including a great barbeque chicken place reputed to be the #1 bbq in western PR, Rancho Carbon Express. We also hit up a great ice cream / fruit shop each afternoon, Avalancha Frappe. Our apartment wasn't walkable to a town, but if you walked along the busy road there was plenty for a few days stay.
One day we drove ten or fifteen minutes into Rincon - that's the better known tourist town in this area. It's a nice town for sure, but not a lot better than the other towns on the north coast we saw. We went to El Faro de Rincon. There's a nice park around a lighthouse with surfing beaches on either side. But for us, the highlight of Aguada was the beautiful beach.
We drove from Aguada, on the northwest corner of the island, to Ponce, in the middle of the south coast. It's less than a two-hour drive that passes by Mayaguez and the drier areas of the southwest corner of the island.The famous firehouse has been maintained and is the main attraction, along with Plaza las Delicias. There's a beautiful church with super nice city parks on either side. Nice fountains too.
We were fortunate there was a fair going on, with vendors and a band playing, because it was Sunday and lots of places were closed. Our apartment in Ponce, was small but clean and functional. However, it did have vintage video games! The apartment was in a residential area, just a ten-minute walk to downtown, but there were too many abandoned buildings and stray dogs.
People told us that the boardwalk at La Guancha had been damaged during a hurricane. And it wasn't rebuilt. Ponce wasn't as nice as I remembered it from my visit long ago. Oh well, things change.
After 10 days our Puerto Rican adventure came to an end after a drive from Ponce to San Juan. It was a nice trip that I intend to repeat. Puerto Rico is a great place to visit and explore!
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Mar 8 2025 - Mar 17 2025
Luquillo March 8 - March 13
- Big rental house 1/2 block from the beach
- Old San Juan in the evening
- El Yunque hike
- Failed ferry to Vieques
- Luquillo Kiosks
Aguada March 13 - March 19 (Guayabo)
- Beautiful natural beach
- Rough surf
- Walks on the beach
- Arecibo
- Rincon lighthouse and surfer beach
- BBQ chicken at Rancho Carbon Express
- Fruit stand - Avalancha Frappe
Ponce March 16 - March 17
- Firehouse
- Plaza Las Delicias
- Fair with concert
- Video games
- La Guancha
- flew direct from Boston, Frontier/Spirit
- Airport Alamo car rental Hyundai Venu was fine
- Airbnb VRBO rentals were nice
- Luquillo: Playa Azul: https://www.vrbo.com/3617894ha
- Aguada: Guayabo: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/757976217719720757?
