An Enchantment Week in Puerto Rico

This was our first trip here, and I did some research for major attractions on the Internet, and of course at RCI, before we went to Puerto Rico. No need for the Frommer's handbook when you have RCI's community journals!

We stayed at Dorado, which is 25 minutes west of San Juan depending on the traffic. It is a central location for the Arecibo Obervatorio, Camuy Caves, Bacardi Rum Distillary, El Yunque Rainforest, Plaza de las Americas (humongous mall), and Old San Juan.

Quick Tips:

We didn't find many discounts in Puerto Rico. We didn't find the typical coupon books, like the ones you find at major vacation destinations, but hotels and visitor centers offer magazines where you can find a few deals at restaurants and major sights to visit.

Best Way To Get Around:

Do rent a car, and I highly recommend paying for the extra automobile insurance. Drivers are crazy there, so watch out. Locals seem to break all traffic violations, so watch out!

We had a two-bedroom lock-out. The villa was huge. The master bedroom included a Jacuzzi and separate shower. We had a full kitchen. We had a balcony that overlooked the pool area, where we ate breakfast every morning.

Since Aquarius is a timeshare resort and only located at Embassy Suites, free breakfasts were not offered to the timeshares guests, only to hotel guests. They were going to charge us $15 per person.

The downside of staying here is that even if you are a guest, you don't get special privileges like when you stay at other resorts. You have to pay to use their tennis courts, there are no golf discounts for guests, and you have to pay for parking each day. Their golf course wasn't kept well, so my husband instead played at the Hyatt Dorado Beach golf course, which was a few miles away.

They had a nice size pool with a Jacuzzi and a section where you could play volleyball. The beach was small but clean. We went in November, so the water was a bit chilly. Overall, it had nice accommodations, rooms were comfortable and roomy, and it was in a convenient location just outside San Juan.

If you want inexpensive souvenirs, you will need to visit Bacardi. The tour of the brewery is free. It's small, so don't expect a brewery like the Budweiser one on the mainland. To us, the main attractions are the free drinks they offer you before you begin the tour - they are delicious. You take a trolley to the brewery, which was crazy because it's just around the corner! Other than that, do visit the souvenir shop. The prices here for souvenirs are much cheaper than the ones you'll find in Old San Juan.

We've never been in a cave, so we looked forward to this tour. They split you into two groups, one for Spanish-speaking tourists and the other for English-speaking tourists. We went in one huge cave that had many cool formations.

It was awesome to see, so don't forget to bring your digital camera! Wear comfortable shoes, preferably sneakers, because it can be slippery. We highly recommend this trip if you've never taken a tour of a cave.

Can this be the world's largest telescope? I can say that it was huge and amazing to look at. The telescope is at the Arecibo Obervatorio. There is a small but educational tour of the telescope. If you like astronomy, you'll find this fascinating. Movies like Contact with Jodie Foster, and even Goldeneye, were filmed here. A tip: You can visit the telescope and the caves in 1 day!

This was one of the most memorable tours of our trip because we made it to the peak of EL YUNQUE! There you will see the northeast coast of Puerto Rico. You can see San Juan. You can see the islands Vieques and Culebra off the coast of Puerto Rico. So it's like you're on one of those helicopter rides seeing the land below. It’s an awesome view!

For the hike to the peak, take the "service" road instead of the actual trail and you'll be there in 45 minutes. Other sights to see before you head to the Peak of El Yunque include the trail to LaMina Falls. Beautiful! Many have taken a dip there, but when we went, it had rained in the days before and that day, so the water was murky and very dangerous.

If you're a tourist, you don't really need to stop here to shop for clothes and accessories. You'll find them cheaper back home on the mainland.

We did visit this place multiple times to eat lunch at their food court. I highly recommend La Parilla. They have great sandwiches. Try the churassco sandwich. Yum! Their steak entrées are pretty good, too! We also went to see a movie at the Caribbean Cinemas located inside the mall. It was cool to watch a movie with Spanish subtitles!

When visiting Old San Juan, you must visit these forts. These have to be the places where the most beautiful pictures of San Juan are taken from.

Castillo de San Cristobal had the most awesome views of the city. This tour is typical of any fort with cannons and cannonballs. On the first level, each room displays the history of the fort and Puerto Rico. Second and third levels have the awesome views of the city.

Bring your camera and take your own postcard-like pictures.

Forteleza Street is where to shop in Old San Juan. You will find many souvenir shops and brand-name retailers. It's just a short walk from the visitor center and the Wyndham Casino and Hotel. On Saturdays they have a mini-festival of music and food at the plaza across from the visitor center. Locals will have their stands of island crafts and souvenirs.

We had a great time in Puerto Rico.  Unfortunately, one week here is not enough.  We wanted to see more!  We went here in November.  The weather was in the 80s, but expect rainy days.  I again did research on what the weather would be like, and November is known to have high precipitation, so we knew before we got there that rain was expected near the end of our trip. 

We did get to see the sights that we had initially planned for, but once we got to Puerto Rico, we definitely wanted to see one more place before heading home. We wanted to take a catamaran trip to Vieques Island.  We wanted to see and experience the Bioluminescent Bay and chill at one of Puerto Rico's "Virgin Islands." Unfortunately, the weather was bad, with high winds, so we couldn't take the boat trip.