OT: Puerto Rico

[redir]

Thinking about going for a week. Anyone ever been? If so tell me what I should not miss. The rain forest is absolutely on the agenda. I won't be riding a bike but that's ok.

Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

[FlashUNC]

Went two years ago. Love the place. It is outstanding.

For food, the Luquillo Kiosks are a must-visit and there's tons of great local places around San Juan that are off the beaten path a bit, and more accomodating of gringos if you at least make a passing attempt at Spanish.
Kasalta is a fantastic bakery, and La B de Burro is a great local haunt with fantastic burritos.

The El San Juan was the hotel for the Rat Pack in the 1960's, and the casino and bar are worth a visit for the kitsch factor more than anything.

And just sit on the beach and enjoy the weather imo.

[J.Greene]

Hike the rainforest. There is a really fun trail to the top of a tall peak. Night kayak the bioluminescent bay and eat at the kiosks in luquillo. Infact, all of the roadside food was pretty good. The Fort is a nice 60 min excursion. Be prepared for parts of San Juan to look like Coral Gables and other parts to look like bombed out Beirut. There is urban crime but the people are really friendly and are increasingly generous the further into the rural areas you go. We really enjoy Puerto Rico. Get away from the resorts for the best time.

[rounder]

In San Juan for two weeks right now. Working here. So far, the main things I have noticed is that email and gps on our phones do not work (have Verizon others have ATT&T) . We are constantly getting lost because of no gps and the roads are not well marked. As a result, we often have to circle around to get back in the direction we want to go.

Don't speak the language (not P.R. fault). So, it took some time (still taking some time) to figure out how to read the exit ramp signs. Most of the people I have met are bilingual, so it is relatively easy working with the people here, ordering in restaurants, etc.

Place is beautiful, but have not had time to explore much so far. Hope to next weekend.

No snow! Temps are in the 80's every day.

The people here are friendly. Like it here so far.

Good luck.

[sand fungus]

I went with a friend who grew up there and he took us all around the island. In addition to what other people stated we went to the Arecibo radio telescope it was pretty cool a long drive but fun anyway, Camuy caves park, Ponce a cool old village on the south coast, it also had really good ice cream shop, and he took us to a beach that is on the north coast, I don't remember the name but it might have been half moon beach, as it had a really cool half moon shaped beach that was on the inland side of the lava flows, the water came in through a really narrow channel causing some cool waves. I really enjoyed my time there and the people were very friendly.

One other interesting tidbit was that you can bring back 5 bottles of liquor from duty free there and the liquor prices at the duty free were pretty good. Needless to say I brought back a few nice bottles:)

[djg21]

on business.

El Junque, which you already mentioned is very nice. I actually had a bike with me while I was there, and rode from my hotel near the airport up to the turnaround at the top of El Junque most evenings. It doesn't snow in PR, so there is no need for switchbacks. Even then, the roads were crazy. I don't know if I'd ride there again. There were a few shops in San Juan, and there were weekly training crits at the military base outside of the city.

I was warned by the locals I was working with not to venture into the fresh water streams in the rainforest or elsewhere on the island. I don't know if the issue was parasites or pollution, but I now see lots of ads depicting people in El Junque's waterfalls. I'd check before taking a chance.

The island of Culebra has nice snorkeling and scuba diving. I didn't think much of Old San Juan: too many American tourists getting off their cruise liners.

It's a very nice island.

[SamIAm]

This happened to a cycling friend of mine a couple years ago.

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/01/intruder_shoots_paralyzes_gran.html

[redir]

Thanks for the replies.

Sam any place you go to in the world, even The Vatican, can be dangerous. I've been to many dangerous places and if you are situationally aware and don't mess with illegal activities then you reduce the chance of becoming a victim.

Anyway I have read that the fresh water in the cities should be avoided because of pollution but the rain forest is ok.

rounder - Temps in the 80's every day sounds delightfully blissful!

I know enough Spanish to get around but from what I understand they have an interesting dialect that even Spanish speakers don't get. I guess kind of like Americans and Australians.