Puerto Rico Travel

LastWomanStanding · Post by **LastWomanStanding** » February 7, 2008 6:44 pm

My son is turning 21 this year and he wants to go to Puerto Rico again. We went there when he was about six years old and loved it. His best friend is Puerto Rican and is going with us. His grandmother lives there and he has never met her!

Anyway - everywhere I am reading it says you do not need a passport to enter or leave Puerto Rico because it is a commonwealth of the United States. Is this true?

Skibo · Post by **Skibo** » February 7, 2008 7:36 pm

No passport required. Enjoy. Get away from San Juan as much as possible and see the real Puerto Rico.

Carolinadreamin' · Post by **Carolinadreamin'** » February 7, 2008 7:56 pm

Skibo wrote:No passport required. Enjoy. Get away from San Juan as much as possible and see the real Puerto Rico.

I agree....we went to 2 days before a cruise and it was a huge mistake not to see the real Puerto Rico. San Juan was OK for about 3 hours then we were done. And the beaches in SJ were just OK.

bravedave · Post by **bravedave** » February 7, 2008 8:13 pm

Those guys speak truth*, but don't believe a bunch of parrotheads. Get on a reliable travel website and learn from the experts about travel into, out of, and around PR.

*Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory and its residents are U.S. citizens.

OystersandBeer · Post by **OystersandBeer** » February 8, 2008 11:03 am

I took one just in case. While there I suggest to check out snorkling at the reef at Tres Palmas in the western coast city of Rincon. And if you surf there are plenty of great spots including but not limited to: Marias, Domes, Jobo Beach, Middles, Secret Spot(located between Jobo and Middles), and every where and anywhere in between. Be awre though it is a hit or miss kind of place. I was there for ten days and had ten foot surf in Tres Palmas the first day I arrived and then got a flat spell for about six and then only about waist to chest high the last few days. But worth every penny of it. Especially, the beautiful rum and cheap ladies(Or was it the other way around).

UpstateNYPH · Post by **UpstateNYPH** » February 8, 2008 11:52 am

Bioluminescent Bay. Dont miss it.

z-man · Post by **z-man** » February 8, 2008 11:56 am

Hi Lisa!

we will be there next month.
Looking forward to a trip up to the rain forest!

LastWomanStanding · Post by **LastWomanStanding** » February 8, 2008 12:28 pm

z-man wrote:Hi Lisa!

we will be there next month.
Looking forward to a trip up to the rain forest!

Hey Z! We can't wait for the trip - the last time we were there we went to the rainforest and to the caves and the fort... it was a cool trip. This time we can go to the Bacardi factory!

RinglingRingling · Post by **RinglingRingling** » February 8, 2008 12:39 pm

LastWomanStanding wrote:
z-man wrote:Hi Lisa!

we will be there next month.
Looking forward to a trip up to the rain forest!
Hey Z! We can't wait for the trip - the last time we were there we went to the rainforest and to the caves and the fort... it was a cool trip. This time we can go to the Bacardi factory!

you could go last time.. how much trouble could LKS gotten into unsupervised?

Skibo · Post by **Skibo** » February 8, 2008 12:51 pm

While El Yunque is easy to find, it is also quite trampled. If you drive the panaramic route, you will get the same rainforest effect and see some great towns along the way. There are many spots where you can stop and frolic in waterfalls and pick up some pinchos.

Also, check out the paradores. They are the "local" resorts. Very reasonable prices and more local in flavor.

If you do go to La Parguera for the phospherscent bay, you want the moon to be as near the New phase as possible, full moon ruins it. Also instead of taking one of the large glass bottom boats out, get one of the locals to take you over in his smaller boat.

I wasn't a big fan of the Bacardi tour, it was for the most part just walking a catwalk through the plant. and getting 2 drink coupons. I found it very disappointing and I normally enjoy plant tours.

The Serrallés castle in Ponce is a much better tour. The Serrallés family founded Don Q Rums (much better than Bacardi) It is a beautiful house and a very well run tour.

UpstateNYPH · Post by **UpstateNYPH** » February 8, 2008 5:43 pm

Skibo wrote:While El Yunque is easy to find, it is also quite trampled. If you drive the panaramic route, you will get the same rainforest effect and see some great towns along the way. There are many spots where you can stop and frolic in waterfalls and pick up some pinchos.

Also, check out the paradores. They are the "local" resorts. Very reasonable prices and more local in flavor.

If you do go to La Parguera for the phospherscent bay, you want the moon to be as near the New phase as possible, full moon ruins it. Also instead of taking one of the large glass bottom boats out, get one of the locals to take you over in his smaller boat.

I wasn't a big fan of the Bacardi tour, it was for the most part just walking a catwalk through the plant. and getting 2 drink coupons. I found it very disappointing and I normally enjoy plant tours.

The Serrallés castle in Ponce is a much better tour. The Serrallés family founded Don Q Rums (much better than Bacardi) It is a beautiful house and a very well run tour.

Better yet, go to fajardo, on the eastern side of the island, and kayak through the mangroves at night and then into the bioluminescent lagoon. I went with these folks, and I highly recommend them:
http://www.ecoactiontours.com/bioluminescent.html

Skibo · Post by **Skibo** » February 8, 2008 6:53 pm

UpstateNYPH wrote:
Skibo wrote:While El Yunque is easy to find, it is also quite trampled. If you drive the panaramic route, you will get the same rainforest effect and see some great towns along the way. There are many spots where you can stop and frolic in waterfalls and pick up some pinchos.

Also, check out the paradores. They are the "local" resorts. Very reasonable prices and more local in flavor.

If you do go to La Parguera for the phospherscent bay, you want the moon to be as near the New phase as possible, full moon ruins it. Also instead of taking one of the large glass bottom boats out, get one of the locals to take you over in his smaller boat.

I wasn't a big fan of the Bacardi tour, it was for the most part just walking a catwalk through the plant. and getting 2 drink coupons. I found it very disappointing and I normally enjoy plant tours.

The Serrallés castle in Ponce is a much better tour. The Serrallés family founded Don Q Rums (much better than Bacardi) It is a beautiful house and a very well run tour.
Better yet, go to fajardo, on the eastern side of the island, and kayak through the mangroves at night and then into the bioluminescent lagoon. I went with these folks, and I highly recommend them:
http://www.ecoactiontours.com/bioluminescent.html

Yeah, that's cool too. We have a friend in Fajardo that we sail with around that area haven't done that bay at night, but that area is very nice and surely a winner. I'm more familiar with L parguera because my wife's cousin has a boat there.

LastWomanStanding · Post by **LastWomanStanding** » February 9, 2008 2:38 pm

Skibo wrote:While El Yunque is easy to find, it is also quite trampled. If you drive the panaramic route, you will get the same rainforest effect and see some great towns along the way. There are many spots where you can stop and frolic in waterfalls and pick up some pinchos.

Also, check out the paradores. They are the "local" resorts. Very reasonable prices and more local in flavor.

If you do go to La Parguera for the phospherscent bay, you want the moon to be as near the New phase as possible, full moon ruins it. Also instead of taking one of the large glass bottom boats out, get one of the locals to take you over in his smaller boat.

I wasn't a big fan of the Bacardi tour, it was for the most part just walking a catwalk through the plant. and getting 2 drink coupons. I found it very disappointing and I normally enjoy plant tours.

The Serrallés castle in Ponce is a much better tour. The Serrallés family founded Don Q Rums (much better than Bacardi) It is a beautiful house and a very well run tour.

THANK YOU FOR THE INFO! I appreciate it. Bacardi No Serralles Si!

UpstateNYPH · Post by **UpstateNYPH** » February 9, 2008 5:21 pm

LastWomanStanding wrote:
Skibo wrote:While El Yunque is easy to find, it is also quite trampled. If you drive the panaramic route, you will get the same rainforest effect and see some great towns along the way. There are many spots where you can stop and frolic in waterfalls and pick up some pinchos.

Also, check out the paradores. They are the "local" resorts. Very reasonable prices and more local in flavor.

If you do go to La Parguera for the phospherscent bay, you want the moon to be as near the New phase as possible, full moon ruins it. Also instead of taking one of the large glass bottom boats out, get one of the locals to take you over in his smaller boat.

I wasn't a big fan of the Bacardi tour, it was for the most part just walking a catwalk through the plant. and getting 2 drink coupons. I found it very disappointing and I normally enjoy plant tours.

The Serrallés castle in Ponce is a much better tour. The Serrallés family founded Don Q Rums (much better than Bacardi) It is a beautiful house and a very well run tour.
THANK YOU FOR THE INFO! I appreciate it. Bacardi No Serralles Si!

I thought the Bacardi factory was great, free drinks at the end of the tour! Granted I have been on better distillery tours, but it was really cool smelling all the different rums in the barrels. Easy to get to, the ferry to the island the factory is on is only like $1, and then a cab ride to the factory you should not pay more than $5 for, even though they will try and get the most out of you. DONT WALK FROM THE FERRY TO THE FACTORY. rough area...

Oh, and at the end of the tour, you can send a video email to someone back home...

Here is a picture I took of the factory. Click below to enlarge it, then if you click the next button on the webpage it brings you to, you can see all the pictures from there...

Coconuts · Post by **Coconuts** » February 9, 2008 5:47 pm

Castillo Serrales was the biggest waste of time on our trip- actually, that applies to most of Ponce. It was a smaller, run down OSJ.

We did not do the Bacardi tour (not enough time in the city), but there is a Don Q tasting area in OSJ.

And hopefully you'll have better luck finding the mofongo place Upstate recommends than we did- the only place we saw that fit the description was a Pizza Hut.

And be sure to avoid the PR themed place right across from the cruise ship dock- worst meal, both service and food wise, of our trip! Aguaviva on Forteleza (sp)was great, and there's a Venezuelan place a couple of streets up that was soo yummy too!

Also, I don't know whether you can swim in either of the two biobays on PR, but you get to on Vieques- it was the coolest part of our trip!

UpstateNYPH · Post by **UpstateNYPH** » February 9, 2008 5:59 pm

Coconuts wrote:Castillo Serrales was the biggest waste of time on our trip- actually, that applies to most of Ponce. It was a smaller, run down OSJ.

We did not do the Bacardi tour (not enough time in the city), but there is a Don Q tasting area in OSJ.

And hopefully you'll have better luck finding the mofongo place Upstate recommends than we did- the only place we saw that fit the description was a Pizza Hut. And be sure to avoid the PR themed place right across from the cruise ship dock- worst meal, both service and food wise, of our trip! Aguaviva on Forteleza (sp)was great, and there's a Venezuelan place a couple of streets up that was soo yummy too!

Also, I don't know whether you can swim in either of the two biobays on PR, but you get to on Vieques- it was the coolest part of our trip!

Oh no! Pizza Hut is definetly not where I had my great mofongu

I think this is were I directed you to:

The restaurant was a little place in the back once you entered and went all the way back to the left. I just cant remember the dang name of it. A local recommended it to me, so I am sure if you printed out this picture and walked around Old San Juan soomeone would know where it is

As for the bio bays, the one I went to in Fajardo we did swim in, and it was amazing! I have heard a rumor though that effective this year, there is no more swimming in that bay, per law. I ahve also heard great things of Vieques, but the only downside is you have to stay overnight there because it is a seperate island.

Coconuts · Post by **Coconuts** » February 9, 2008 7:45 pm

Yes- but it was a Pizza Hut! Unless I was completely lost, which is absolutely possible. That was when we ended up at the crappy place by the dock.

And apparently there's a new tour company that will take you to Vieques for the biobay and bring you back the same day- they weren't operational when we were there.