Puerto Rico Travel Blog
the best and most beautiful places to explore in Puerto Rico
Why should you visit Puerto Rico?
Puerto Rico is a place that has it all--it has dreamy white sand beaches, a lush rainforest, gorgeous waterfalls, many cliffs and rock formations, beautiful castles, and amazing drinks and food. Aside from the beauty of the island, it's also very easy to get around because it is part of the United States: you can use American currency, most people speak English, has the same transportation options (making it easy to navigate the island) and you don't need a passport to travel there.
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Destinations

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Our Culebra Island Daytrip
The day we decided to go to Culebra Island was Christmas Day. It was breathtaking, with fine white sand and clear turquoise water. We hung out at Flamenco beach for most of the day, and then we went on the trail from the back of the Flamenco Beach parking lot to another beach, one with much less people.
~ Book tickets for the ferry from Ceiba to Culebra (book online early; sold out quickly).
~ Take a taxi to Flamenco beach, the most beautiful beach on the island, ranked one of the best beaches in the world.
~ You can rent chairs and umbrellas (2 chairs and an umbrella for $10) and buy tropical drinks and seafood.
~ Beware that the ferry system is a little unorderly--they will cancel ferries last minute sometimes, which happened to us, causing us to get stuck on the island until much later that day. Ferries will also sometimes be very late; the ferry that we took later to go back to the main island was 1-2 hours late.
~ I would recommend to bring a lot of sunscreen and bug spray. The sun was super strong during the day, and we encountered many mosquitoes later on. I would also suggest bringing your own water and snacks and towels.
San Juan
San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, is a beautiful city where you can experience a lot of Puerto Rican culture. There are 2 castles to explore--Castillo San Felipe del Morro and Castillo San Cristobal--each designed beautifully and picture perfect in every direction. Everywhere you go on the streets of San Juan, there are many cafes and shops rich in Puerto Rican history and culture.
You can walk through the Paseo la Princesa and take a look at the Raices Fountain. You can also go to La Perla, the town where the music video for the song Despacito was filmed. This area was hit hard after the hurricane, but after Despacito was released, the town has gotten a lot more attention, and is in much better condition now. There are beautiful murals decorating the area, and there are more and more tourists looking to see where the song was filmed.
You can eat at one of the many restaurants lining the colorful streets of the city. Each restaurant has fresh local seafood, and they're all decorated nicely. Before leaving, don't forget to go grab a drink at Barrachina, the restaurant that invented the Pina Colada.
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That night, we went to one of the bioluminescent bays, the Laguna Grande in Fajardo. We took a group canoe tour through the mangroves to the center of the bay, where the bioluminescence would be strongest. It's best to go when there is a new moon, or sometime close to that because that's when the moonlight is least strong and you can see the glow the best. It's hard to photograph the blue lights moving through the water because they're constantly moving, and it because of that, it also looks a little different than the photographs you find online when you search up "bioluminescent bay". It was a fun experience, but there was a recent storm, so the water was a little disturbed and the bioluminescence wasn't that strong.
El Yunque
The third day, we went to El Yunque Rainforest. It opens at 7:30am, so we tried getting there as soon as it opened. We went to Juan Diego falls, La Coca falls, Bano Grande, and Mt. Britton tower. Juan Diego Falls was definitely our favorite; we could go under the falls and swim in the water. There are also many trails you can also explore. You can hike to Mt. Britton Tower from the Mt Britton trail and then take the El Yunque trail to the peak of the rainforest.
El Yunque
The view from the top of the rainforest is gorgeous and definitely was worth the long hike in the hot weather. It is often wet or raining in some areas of the rainforest, so be sure to bring some umbrellas or ponchos. There is parking in each tourist area of the rainforest, but it gets crowdy in the afternoon, so get there early. You can drive through it mostly, but there are some areas you have to hike to get to, such as the Juan Diego falls and Mt. Britton Tower.
Cueva Del Indio
We went to Cueva Del Indio in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, an area around an hour away from San Juan. It takes $5 to get in, but once you do, the views you can see are amazing. There are many cliffs that you can climb on and view. The water in the areas below constantly shoots up vertically, and occasionally it will splash onto the cliff, soaking people if they are too close to the edge. If you walk further from the main area, you will find beaches and more rock formations with more areas that have water spurting.
Cueva Ventana
We went to Cueva Ventana next, because it is around the same area. We bought tickets for a tour a ticket booth right next to the parking lot. We were really excited for this because Cueva Ventana is a lot more famous than Cueva Del Indio, and that was such an amazing site to see, but I felt that Cueva Ventana didn't measure up. It was nice to see, but there was only one small cave opening with a cool view and a lot of sleeping bats.
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Overall, we really enjoyed our stay in Puerto Rico. There were amazing beaches, beautiful rock formations, and a gorgeous rainforest. It was a relaxing vacation and a great experience.