Top Reasons To Visit Puerto Rico.
“La isla del encanto” meaning the island of mere pleasure is one the most beautiful Caribbean islands. It’s not a very big island. It’s about the size of Rhode Island. One of the best things about it is you can travel to P.R. without a passport. You can arrive at San Juan International airport and start the Puerto Rican adventure there.
Right off the plane you’re about 5 min. away from shore. You can enjoy one of the shore side restaurants that serve typical Puerto Rican food like tostones rellenos which are plantains fried and stuffed with meat of your choice. All of the fish are fresh straight out of the ocean and you can definitely taste the difference.
There are about 365 beaches in Puerto Rico that are worth exploring and the coastline of the island is where you will find high end timeshares and hotels. Farther away from the beach in San Juan you will see many small inns and family owned guest houses. These small inns are nice if you want a more unique experience, while larger places like the Hilton and Wyndham resorts in San Juan offer a more typical experience but a lot more services.
Puerto Rico has diversity in people with Haiti and Dominican Republic not too far away; you will find a lot of Haitians working small stores and food carts. The US dollar is the official currency so you will not find too many bargains but you can still negotiate with the people selling products and goods on the street.
Once you’ve spent enough time on the beach make sure you head over Viejo San Juan. It is the historic part of the capital. You can go and explore the forts left behind by the early Spanish conquistadors. The staff at museums is well informed and can ask any question you have about the country, culture and history. When you leave the fort you will noticed streets still paved in its original blue brick roads. The country preserves the stones and can’t be taken out or repaved for any reason.
On every corner you will find stands selling piraguas also known as snow cones which are an amazing treat on a hot summer day. There are also carts selling pinchos (shish kabobs) and limbers (icy). You can find a great restaurant everywhere you look, even inside a K-mart!
One place worth visiting is La Parguera.La Parguera is a magical place where there are florescent organisms in the water that come alive and glow when you touch it. Best seen at night they provide a boat you can ride on where they will take you in the middle of the bay. A man will jump off the boat and swim beside the boat. As he swims you will notice the water glowing he treads water. He will then get a bucket a reel it up to the boat where then they allow you to stick your hand in and watch it glow. Because of pollutions and overexposure the organisms are dieing down which is why they do it in such a controlled manner. While you’re out on the boat you can hear the coquis, Puerto Rico’s indigenous frog, croaking the word coqui in the distance.
There’s so much to see in P.R. like its jungles and historical cities make sure you give yourself enough time to explore. It’s truly a magical place with good food, music and people!