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Nearly 500 years old, San Juan is the oldest capital under the U.S. flag. Throughout its five centuries the city and the country it governs has accumulated a history and a culture that beg exploration.
Whether couples just want to stroll along the beaches, or plan an adventure-filled journey, Puerto Rico offers the best of both worlds. Couples can begin by taking a romantic walk through Old San Juan, with its quaint Spanish architecture. Afterwards, the romantic pair can venture to have an evening at distinctive restaurants, featuring the best of French, Italian and Latin-Asian cuisine.
One of the most romantic aspects of Puerto Rico is the beautiful beaches that border the entire island. Day trips to the Islands of Vieques or Culebra, via ferryboat or plane, provide the most secluded beach hideaways in Puerto Rico.
Among other activities, couples looking to pamper themselves at one of Puerto Rico's indulgent spas will be pleased to find a myriad of options.
LOCATION :
Puerto Rico lies about 1,000 miles southeast of Miami, Florida. The island is flanked by three small offshore islands: Vieques and Culebra to the east and Mona to the west. The Atlantic Ocean breaks on the north coast, while the Caribbean Sea lies to the south.
LANGUAGE :
Spanish and English
CURRENCY :
US Dollar
TIPPING :
Tipping is much the same as in the States. In hotels, major restaurants and nightclubs services charges are usually included. However, many inexpensive restaurants do not add service charge. If it isn't, tip between 15% and 20%.
ELECTRICITY :
110 volts/60 cycles -- same as USA
HIGHLIGHTS
OVERVIEW
Nearly 500 years old, San Juan is the oldest capital under the U.S. flag. Throughout its five centuries the city and the country it governs has accumulated a history and a culture that beg exploration. As if this weren't reason enough to visit Puerto Rico, the island also boasts a wealth of natural attractions. El Yunque - America's largest rain forest - and 19 other forest reserves are home to 20 orchid varieties and countless other flora and fauna. Water babies will love its 270 miles of coastline littered with innumerable snorkeling, sunning and world-class surfing beaches. The island's massive central mountain range tops 4,000 feet and demands hikers take note. There's even a phosphorescent bay that glows at night.
Restored to much of its former glory, Old San Juan is crammed with history. El Morro, a fort built in 1591, stands much as it did in centuries past watching over the city's harbor. At the opposite end of the colonial city, Fort San Cristobal was designed to ward off surprise land attacks. La Casa Blanca on Calle San Sebastian was the home of Ponce de Leon's family for more than two and a half centuries. It is the oldest building in the historic district. La Fortaleza, the Western Hemisphere's oldest continuously inhabited executive manor, strikes an elegant pose on the Calle Recinto Oeste. So far, six governors have walked its gilded halls and slept in its stately rooms.
After dark, visit New San Juan for its flamenco dancers, piano bars, open-air concerts, discos, casinos, folkloric shows and Latin revues.
In fact, San Juan, from the cobbled streets of the Old Town to the more modern boulevards of the Condado district or Isla Verde, is usually hopping until dawn. Casinos can be found in almost every major hotel, discos for all shapes and tastes go in and out of trendy favor, and there are always new restaurants to sample.
The city hosts the annual Pablo Casals music festival, attracting the world's top classical musicians as well as the annual Jazz Festival, when the city really begins to swing. San Juan is one of the Caribbean's most urban, and urbane, cities.
Whereas Old San Juan is a three-dimensional history lesson, Ponce -- the island's second largest city -- is a living art class. Painters, poets and architects come to study the Neo-classical, art deco, and Creole styles that graciously intermingle in this gloriously restored 17th-century coastal town. The black-and red-striped Parque de Bombas (firehouse) shows Ponce's proclivity for the exotic. North of Ponce, the Hacienda Buena Vista is representative of the coffee plantations that dotted the island in the 19th century. A demonstration of the preparation of the beans utilizes the plantation's original machinery. Overlooking the city, the Castillo Serralles is a throwback to Ponce's heyday as a rum and sugar cane producing center.
Ancient ball courts and carved stones in the Caguana Indian Ceremonial Park near the town of Utuado are remainders of Amerindian sports. Visit the park after a round of golf on one of the island's modern championship course and try to imagine the different rules by which they might have played.
On the north coast by Arecibo, the Rio Camuy, one of the world's largest underground rivers, has eroded its limestone ceiling, forming a series of caves and sinkholes. A tram lowers visitors into one of the sinkholes for a fascinating tour. Snorkeling is excellent at a number of places around the island, while divers head to Desecheo, Fajardo, Mayaguez, Culebra, and especially La Parguera. Those interested in the heavenly spheres will enjoy a trip to the visitor's center at the Arecibo Observatory, the largest radio telescope in the world.
The west coast of Puerto Rico is favored by surfers in the winter, when the rollers come crashing ashore, and anglers vie for big game fish in the rich waters east of San Juan.
If you need a vacation from your vacation, board a ferry for short rides to Puerto Rico's satellite islands, Vieques or Culebra, where you can stretch out on your own slip of sand for a few hours of blissful tranquility. Untamed, restrained, cosmopolitan and country, Puerto Rico has it all.
GEOGRAPHY:
Topography: Puerto Rico has a variety of ecosystems including a long and rugged central mountain range, a desert and one of the world's largest river cave systems. The north coast is lush and green, while the south is arid. The highest mountain peak, Cerro de Punta, tops out at 4,398 feet. The Camuy River is the world's third-largest underground river.
Climate: Warm and sunny year-round along the coast. Average temperatures during the summer are in the mid-80s and in the 70s during the winter. Temperatures in the mountains are slightly cooler by 5-10 degrees. The average annual rainfall is about 62 inches, mostly falling from May to December.
HISTORY
The Taino Indians of Puerto Rico welcomed Columbus when he arrived at their island in1493. Ironically, Columbus intended the entire island to be named San Juan, and its main port "Puerto Rico" or "rich port." Somewhere along the way, the names got switched.
In 1508, the first European settlement was established under the guidance of Ponce de Leon. Thirteen years later, the settlement was moved to the vicinity of current San Juan.
At the end of the 16th century the English sent Sir Francis Drake to attack Spanish ships sailing from Puerto Rico and to capture the island, but he was rebuffed and quickly retreated in shame.
The Earl of Cumberland partially restored England's honor by seizing the mighty El Morro fortress. Attempts to secure the rest of the island were unsuccessful. In the early 1600s, the Dutch invaded Puerto Rico. The British, still inside the confines of the fort, steadfastly held their ground. The last time the British tried to claim territory on the "outside," a parade of citizens carrying torches, whom the British mistook for soldiers, scared them off the island entirely.
Following the Spanish-American War, Spain gave Puerto Rico to the United States. In 1917, the citizens of Puerto Rico were made citizens of the United States. In 1952, Puerto Rico, located more than 1,000 miles southeast of Miami, became a Commonwealth associated with the United States.
WEBSITE :
CAPITAL :
San Juan
TOURIST INFORMATION :
787-721-2400
POLITICAL STATUS :
Commonwealth associated with the United States
AREA SIZE :
110 miles long by 35 miles wide
TAXES :
No departure tax. Local tax is included in all purchases. There is a 9% hotel tax in a non-casino hotel and a 11% hotel with casino.
AREA CODE :
787
TIME :
Atlantic Standard; One hour ahead of Eastern Standard Time
DOCUMENTS :
Visitors arriving from the U.S. or U.S. Virgin Islands do not need to show a passport or proof of citizenship -- just a photo I.D. Canadians must carry a birth certificate and photo I.D., and other foreign visitors should have valid passports.
POPULATION :
3.9 million
AVERAGE WATER TEMPERATURE :
81 degrees F
AVERAGE VISIBILITY :
60-75 feet but offshore 100 feet + (near the shore can get clouded with river run-off
TYPES OF DIVING :
Shore, boat, live aboard. Offshore visibility is much greater because it is not clouded by river run-off.
WHAT TO WEAR :
The water is warm enough to wear a skin on shallower dives. A three-quarter 1.6 mm may be worn on deeper dives.
DIVES NOT TO MISS :
Desecheo just west of Ricon is perched on the edge of a five mile deep submarine canyon. Mona Island is also a popular dive site 50 miles and a six hour boat trip west of Mayuguez.
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