Puerto Rico recommendations

[Biki]

I’m going to join my wife on a work trip at the end of November/early December and then take some extra time there. Has anyone been and have any recommendations on things to do?

Also, if connecting through the US does anyone know if i will need to collect bags and recheck like you do with domestic connections?

Thanks 🙂

[PeteM]

Biki wrote:

Also, if connecting through the US does anyone know if i will need to collect bags and recheck like you do with domestic connections?

Yes, you will.

Biki wrote:

I’m going to join my wife on a work trip at the end of November/early December and then take some extra time there. Has anyone been and have any recommendations on things to do?

I was there about 10 years ago and had a brilliant time on Vieques, which is a small island off PR. It used to be a US Navy base, so has a very Lost feel to it – if you have time, I would recommend it.

We also stayed in San Juan for a couple of nights and really enjoyed it – it often stands in for Havana and lots of other Caribbean towns and cities in films and is very pleasant.

I should note I gather they still haven’t quite recovered after Hurricane Maria in 2017, so things may not be as idyllic as I experienced them.

[JenT]

San Juan is great and plenty to see and do for a few nights. We didn’t go as far as Vieques but stayed out to the east of San Juan near El Yunque National Park. There are also some bioluminescent lakes in Puerto Rico – great eco tours doing kayak trips at night.

[Colin MacKinnon]

Another thumbs up for Vieques – check out buildings (including a hotel) by John Hix. I suspect his brutalist concrete architecture will have survived any hurricane! There is a Hix House Hotel.

We like Esperanza, great malecon. You might try El Bloc hotel with its pierced concrete walls.

The history is fascinating: the USA started building Mosquito Pier in 1941 to make a Scapa Flow in the Caribbean. It was meant to link Vieques to Puerto Rico but after a mile of it was built (from blowing up an entire hill of Vieques!) the project was abandoned in 1943. Vieques was also a stopping point for the Scottish fleet heading to set up the Darien Colony in Panama – the failure of which led to the Act of Union in 1707 and the rows about independence ever since!

And many of the world’s prettiest beaches!

[Biki]

great, thanks for all the tips so far, i’ll start researching them!