3 Amazing Experiences to not miss in Puerto Rico

3 amazing experiences in Puerto Rico

In February 2020, I was fortunate enough to take an amazing trip prior to Covid-19 shutting down the travel industry. This was a long overdue romantic couples trip for my husband and me. Because he travels for work, we were able to use @skymiles to fly first class and @bonvoy points (Marriott) to stay for a week at the St Regis Bahia Beach. @stregisbb. Although it is expensive, it was one of the nicest hotels I have stayed in. Attention to detail is second to none. I will review hotels in a future blog post. We decided to stay for a week at this resort and spend two nights in Old San Juan so we could experiences the excitement of the old city. I highly recommend doing this. Though we were staying at this amazing resort, we found a great balance between enjoying the amenities and peacefulness of the resort and seeing some of the most amazing sites on the island. Below are 3 amazing experiences that we had during our 10 day stay in Puerto Rico and things you can’t miss if you travel to Puerto Rico. There is a great balance of beach and history.

Visit a Bio Luminescent Bay

Where are they located?

There are five bioluminescent bays in the world: Luminous Lagoon in Jamaica, Halong Bay in Vietnam, and Puerto Rico's Laguna Grande, La Parguera, and Mosquito Bay.

What causes a bio luminescent bay?

The cause of this glow is flagellates, which are tiny micro-organisms. When there are enough of them they produce a “glow in the dark” effect when they are stimulated by movement. So whether you are swimming or paddling in a kayak or canoe, these organisms light up in a neon green color and so does everything they touch.

Why we chose to visit Mosquito Bay in Vieques?

Puerto Rico is home to 3 bioluminescent bays- Laguna Grande, La Parguera and Mosquito Bay. Each of these bays have their uniqueness and advantages.

Laguna Grande is actually not a bay but a long narrow canal. It is the most visited one because of its close proximity to San Juan.

La Parguera This bay is located in the southwestern corner of the island is the only one accessible by motorboats. It is also the only one you can swim in. Due to the Earthquake from 2019, it may be a bit challenging to get to this one.

Mosquito Bay We chose this one despite being the most challenging to get to because this one is supposed to have the brightest glow in the world. It is on the island of Vieques so your choices are to either take a boat over and take a local tour and spend the night on the island, which would be really charming or you can take a tour from San Juan, which is what we chose to do. It is not possible to take pictures in the bay unless you have a fancy camera. We chose to just enjoy the moment but here is a picture of what you can expect to see.

Details of our tour

We booked our tour with the @puertoricostourdesk. They will pick you up from most hotels in San Juan or if you are staying outside of San Juan like we were you can meet them at the CVS in Farjado and follow them to the boat. The cost for the tour is about $200 per person. This includes a boat ride to the island with sandwiches, chips and drinks and a beautiful sunset. Once you arrive at the island, you are taken in a van to the town on the island where you are met by your tour guide and taken in another van. (Ask to ride in Wild Wanda). This van takes you to the bay where you are given a glass bottom kayak and led out into the bay. The experience can not be described in words. Try to plan to go when there is a new moon for the best viewing. While in the boats, the tour guide will also point out numerous constellations. You will spend about 1 ½ hours on the water which was plenty of time.

Visit El Yunque National Forest

El Yunque is the only rainforest in North America. Though this rainforest is one of the smallest in size, it is one of the most biologically diverse, hosting hundreds of animals and plants species. Although the forest is still recovering from the hurricane, it is still a beautiful place to spend a day. When you drive into the forest, the road seems to go on forever and there are many places to pull off and start your hike. About half way up the road is a gorgeous waterfall. You can’t miss it because there are a lot of people who stop to take pictures.

Our hike

We chose a 5 mile hike roundtrip on the El Yunque Trail. This was one of the more challenging hikes though if you are a regular hiker, this is an average hike. This trail ascends to one of the highest points in the forest and gives a great view from the top.

Trail shoes are recommended. The hike has some muddy parts. (after all it’s a rainforest). We didn’t see a lot of wild life but we did see a few beautiful waterfalls, some amazing vistas on the way up and lots of beautiful plants and flowers (but not as many as I expected). Although the sign said it was a 1.8 hour hike each way, it only took us about 3 hours to do the entire hike. Well worth the visit and best of all it’s FREE.

Explore the fortifications

Castillo del San Cristobal

Castillo San Felipe del Morro

The town of Old San Juan is situated on the coast between Castillo San Cristobal and Castillo San Felipe del Morro ‘El Morro”, It is about a lovely half hour walk through the old walled city with its brightly colored houses and shops that line the narrow street. These fortifications embody 500 years of history planted soon after Columbus’ second voyage in 1493.

The fee to enter is $10 for adults and children under 15 are free. This pass is good for 24 hours and allow you to enter both forts. There are many areas within each fort to visit so wear your walking shoes because between visiting both forts and walking between forts, you will get plenty of exercise.

Castilo San Cristobal with its sprawling outer defenses, was build over 150 years to protect El Morro and the city from land attack. It was inspired by such attacks by rivals England (1598) and Holland (1625),it was designed by the Irish born Chief Engineer Thomas O’Daly. O’Daly served Spain because Spain was an enemy of Ireland’s enemy England. Castillo San Cristobal is the largest European fortification in the Americas.

Castillo San Felipe de Morro ‘El Morro’ was built to protect San Juan Bay’s deep harbor from attack by sea. It was the first good harbor for sailing ships en route to the New World after onbe or two month Atlantic voyage from Europe. El Morro has evolved from a one level structure to a massive six level fortress. Spain saw it as a worthy investment because it protected their access to New World wealth over most of 300 years. El Morror is a masterpiece of military engineering from the 1500s and has endured the past 500 years.

Why I enjoyed visiting the forts

These forts gave me a good understanding of Puerto Rican history. The architecture was also amazing especially when you considered it was built 500 years ago. Imagining the lack of machines available makes this accomplishment even grander. Make sure you have plenty of time to explore both castles- about 2 hours at each one. When you finish at “El Morro”, you can take a lovely path on the outside of the city wall to get back to the entrance gate of the old city. It is a lovely walk with the water on one side and the massive wall structure on the other side.