San Juan / Dorado / Condado

After an easy flight from Orlando to San Juan, we picked up our rental car (right on-site at the airport) and headed to Dorado - a small ex-pat community about 30 min west of San Juan. To say we were disappointed was an understatement. Our Embassy Suites hotel was in desperate need of a facelift, and the food options nearby for dinner were mediocre. The ambiance at La Terraza was great, but the food disappointed. We hoped the next day would bring new light and fresh perspective to this area of Puerto Rico, but sadly, it was the same. There was 1 small nice shopping/food center nearby - with one or two decent breakfast options (our meal at KGB Kitchen was yummy), a Starbucks, and lots of fast food. The number of high end cars did astound us however, so we figured this really was the nice area of town! It’s the closest shopping center to the Ritz Carlton, after all. Back at the Embassy Suites, the pool area was over-crowded with what we learned was locals and their children paying for day-passes, and the beach area was small and unappealing.

After another disappointing dinner nearby at El Vagon (maybe just because of Covid, we ate our fried taco dinner at a picnic table in the parking lot), we cancelled our 3rd night of the reservation and departed the next morning, heading back to San Juan. We spent the morning driving through old town San Juan - past the old fort, past the brand new-looking office buildings, through the narrow cobblestone streets. Nothing really enticed us to stop and explore more, so we headed to our hotel in Condado to see if we could check in early.

The Condado Vanderbilt Hotel was exceptional and elegant, a complete contrast to the prior 2 nights at the Embassy Suites! The pool overlooking the ocean was delightful, with a bar serving high end cocktails and light dance music playing in the background. The Vanderbilt is situated right on a rocky shoreline, but just 2 blocks away is the start of a wide, sandy beach - perfect for lounging for the day. After 2 disappointing dinners the prior nights, we didn’t look far for another local restaurant for dinner on this evening…around the corner was an STK Steakhouse, which provided a delicious dinner with a fun, upbeat atmosphere.

We ended up back in Condado for our last afternoon/night in Puerto Rico, this time staying at the La Concha Renaissance (Marriott) San Juan hotel. The room was clean and modern, but the hotel had much more of a party feel compared with the Vanderbilt. It had SEVERAL nicely maintained pools, all with servers hustling to bring food and drink. There was a cool walkway through the center of the hotel from the main pools, out to the beach and beach-side pool. This hotel accessed the big sandy beach mentioned above, just a short walk from the Vanderbilt hotel. Dance music blared and people were definitely enjoying themselves. The hotel is situated in the heart of a busy downtown strip with bars and restaurants having patio seating looking out on the main road. We had dinner at Serafina and dined on their outdoor patio. Dance music mixed with classic cars and hot rods revving their engines up and down the street. It felt a little like Miami Beach…

Rincon

Our 2hr 20min drive from San Juan to Rincon was easy and uneventful. The roads were well marked, and google maps had us tracked the whole time. Rincon is on the West coast of Puerto Rico, and is known for its surfing and sunsets. We only had 1 night in this little beach town, but we enjoyed what time we had. There was a small town square with restaurants and shops surrounding it, however a quick internet search took us to a low key restaurant on top of a hill for dinner and sunset at The Beach House. The town felt a little too large to walk comfortably to everywhere you’d want to go, so I think a car is probably a necessity.

We stayed at Villa Cofresi, which had large, clean, basic rooms. The main level offered a nice pool with sun-deck, direct beach access, and beautiful ocean views. There was also a private, monitored parking lot.

If we get back to Puerto Rico, Rincon would be a place we’d probably plan to spend 3-4 nights next time!

Parguera / Copamarina Beach Resort (Guanica)

From what we had read, there’s some good scuba diving off the southwestern coast of Puerto Rico, so we scheduled a morning of diving in Parguera (about 1.5 hrs drive from Rincon) with Paradise Scuba and Snorkeling. The shop was well organized and within walking distance to the pier where the boat was docked. Sadly, they called the day prior and said their large boat was out of commission, so they’d be unable to take us to the Wall Dive we’d been planning on. With their smaller boat, they were able to take us to reefs closer to shore, so we said OK and kept our reservation. Unfortunately, the water was so murky/churned up, our visibility was 10-20ft on both dives. We’re uncertain whether there had been a storm recently churning up the silty water, or whether that’s the norm - but we made the most of it and viewed it as good practice with our gear and time in the water. Our guide did his best to show us small creatures and plant life within the reef, but it really wasn’t great diving. The town of Parguera looked okay, but not somewhere we’d recommend to friends and family unless you wanted to try their diving!

After our dives, we headed to the Copamarina Beach Resort in the Guanica province, about 30 minutes to the East. This resort ended up being a highlight for us, and we wished we had another night or two here! The staff were all very friendly, and the grounds were beautifully maintained. The sandy beach was lovely, and the pools were quiet and peaceful. In the evening, they lit firepits down by the sand, and we drank far too many cocktails as the sun set.

Culebra

From Copamarina Beach Resort, it was a 2.5 hr drive to Ceiba, where we would park our car and catch a ferry to Culebra. The information online was a little sparse, but we had purchased tickets in advance for something like $3USD per person. Once we arrived on what appears to be the old military base, it was clear where to park and where the Ferry pickup would be. We heard that it’s definitely faster and more reliable to take the passenger-only ferries (as opposed to a cargo/passenger ferry!). We ended up catching the 2:30pm Julia Leigh passenger ferry, after waiting in the holding area for about 30 minutes.

Along the 45 min ferry ride, we had the good fortune of seeing a whale breaching, and even caught a photo of it. As we pulled into the Culebra marina, we enjoyed seeing Hector el Protector - a work of art built using pallets from the local junkyard. Hector is said to protect the island from visitors with bad intentions!

Culebra is a quaint little island and the main downtown (where the ferry drops off) is full of shops and restaurants. We rented a Jeep via Carlos Jeep Rentals - there were only 2 car rental shops available when we were visiting, and they had similar reviews online. We ended up walking from the Marina to the Rental Car center, though as it turns out, the shuttle van they provided would have gotten us there at the same time. Our reservation was on file and the car was ready for us when we arrived.

We headed over to our lodging to check in and drop our bags. After much research, we had decided to reserve a room at Club Seaborne, and we were very pleased with our decision. Our studio room was plenty big, with a small couch and coffee table, as well as a private deck. Our room shared 1 wall with another unit, but there were only 2 units per each small bungalow. The grounds were nicely maintained, and the pool was perfect for lounging in the afternoons. Breakfast was included (and the menu was perfect for us!). Club Seaborne was about a 2 mile drive from town along a narrow road, so would have been a little far to walk, if we didn’t have a car.

When we visited (as a reminder, it was early 2021 so Covid rules were still in effect), all restaurants (including the markets) were closed on Wednesdays after 5pm, so we had to hustle over to town in order to get food before we ended up eating our protein bars as dinner! We were lucky enough to find some take-out and brought it back to the hotel to eat.

The next day, we had booked Scuba Diving with the only shop on the island - Culebra Divers. They were a wonderful shop and took us on two beautiful dives (and as part of our dive cost, sent us pictures afterwards, which we are SO thankful for!). These are still two of our most memorable dives to date, and we would love to dive this area again with Culebra Divers!

Photo Credit: Culebra Divers

For our 2nd and final full day in Culebra, we drove around exploring the island. The highlight was relaxing on Flamenco Beach (a 4 mile drive from Club Seaborne). This beach is known for its white sand, and was the first time while in Puerto Rico it felt like we were in the Caribbean! The white sand and crystal clear water was stunning, and we enjoyed a long walk to the beach end, where we found a surprise - an old abandoned tank sitting on the shore. The story goes that the US Navy left this tank behind in 1975, after the island was used as a weapons testing ground for more than 30 years.

Of all the beaches in Puerto Rico, this was by far the most beautiful.

Palmas del Mar

We would be remiss if we didn’t mention that we did a quick tour through Palmas del Mar, on the East side of Puerto Rico, about an hour to San Juan. This is apparently a huge gated expat community, with shops and restaurants, schools, tennis courts, golf, and an equestrian center. Oddly enough, the nearest grocery store is just outside the main gates. We saw everything from huge mansions to modest single family homes, to apartment buildings, and stopped to check out one pool/clubhouse area and one shopping center.

Summary

Puerto Rico wasn’t our favorite location we’ve visited. Though a lot of things pleasantly surprised us based on what we had read in advance, there wasn’t a ton that we felt was endearing or special about the Territory. We don’t plan on visiting again (unless we need to use it as a layover for flights to the Caribbean), but for friends visiting, we would recommend Rincon in the West (great surf spot and fun vibe with decent restaurants), the Copamarina Beach Resort & Spa in the South (beautiful resort with lovely rooms and great pools but not much else around it), and the island of Culebra in the East (the only part of PR we saw that really felt like “the Caribbean” with Flamenco Beach).

“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.”

– Oliver Wendell Holmes