The Claywells ventured out again! This time we headed to Puerto Rico with our friends Eunice and Brandi!
The following Covid-19 restrictions were in place as of 7/14/2021: You will still need a negative PCR test to enter the island! You can find all up to date travel information here: Travel Guidelines
Disclaimer: This is a very busy itinerary, we tried to explore the entire island in five days! If we would go again, we would have spent more time in some places and skipped other places. For full transparency we are still going to share the entire itinerary as I know there are so many adventurous friends out there that would love to know our insights.
If you do decide to explore Puerto Rico as much as we did, then you will need to rent a car. We rented from Popular Auto Rentals and had a great experience. We did have to wait for our car to be ready for about 1.5 hours because they were understaffed due to COVID-19. Popular Auto provides a shuttle to and from the airport for you. Pro Tip: If you do have to wait for your car rental, visit the restaurants across the street for snacks and drinks. Trust us! The wait time will seem shorter.
Day 1: We checked into our Airbnb at the Mare St. Clair Hotel at around 5pm.
We got ready and headed for dinner at Los Piñones. Los Piñones is a an area with various food kiosks about 10 minutes from Isla Verde. We ended up getting there too late and everything was shut down by the health department! Pro tip: Get there early! Walk on the boardwalk while it’s still light outside. Luckily a restaurant (Vente Pa’ Que Goces) felt sorry for us and gave us all their left over food from the grill. Since Los Piñones is a local area, we do advise to know some Spanish or use google translate!
Day 2: We drove to the El Yunque National Rain Forest. It rained the night and the morning before and we noticed that the water in the creeks was pretty high. We also noticed the “Park is Closed” sign, however we still drove right by it.
As we were heading to the top of the Rain Forest we encountered some park rangers that advised us to turn around. They said due to the rain, streets were going to get flooded. So unfortunately we did not see any waterfalls but we did take some pictures in the Rain Forest!
Pro Tip: Definitely check the weather before going to El Yunque National Rain Forest. As of 7/14/2021 you will need reservations for the Park, get your tickets here. You will be refunded if the park is closed the day you were planning to go.
After the failed rainforest adventure we stopped at the Kioskos De Luquillo for lunch and much needed drinks. We picked Kiosko San Miguel #59 and ate some Puerto Rican food and slurped on some Piña Coladas and Mojitos.
After lunch we headed back to the Airbnb and got ready for La Perla and Dinner in old San Juan. Pro Tip: Go to La Perla on a Sunday and you will see live musicians and dancing all across the area. The neighborhood that was originally created to push people out of the city was so lively and full of love. There is also a skate park “the bowl” which gets filled with water every Sunday to take a swim and fun fact, Despacito was filmed here.
Once we were done exploring La Perla we walked to the heart of Old San Juan and took some pictures on the Umbrella Street at Calle de la Fortaleza.
For dinner we picked the birth place of the Piña Colada – The Barrachina! Of course we had Piña Coladas! Pro Tip: Add a Shot of Bailey’s! You won’t regret it.
Day 3: Snorkel adventure with Spread Eagle Catamaran. We got up very early to drive to Fajardo as the catamaran tour starts at 9am. Lunch, drinks and snacks were provided. However, we still packed some extra food and it was needed since we started drinking early.
The first stop was Isla La Culebra. We spent about 1.5 hours there, walked on the beach and relaxed in the crystal clear water.
We then took the boat to a reef to snorkel. We saw all kinds of fish and even a Sting Ray! Culebra is surrounded by vibrant underwater landscapes.
The catamaran tour was amazing! We needed the clear water and blue skies since we had bad luck with the weather the day before.
For Dinner we went to Numero Uno, which is a bar/restaurant/hotel directly located on the beach. The food was good but you definitely pay for the atmosphere! A must stop on your trip! Pro Tip: Come for a drink during sunset!
Day 4: Road Trip to the West Coast. If you really want to see the island, make sure you explore different areas such as:
- Utuado Colorful Steps and their small town bakeries
- The colorful hanging bridge in Adjuntas called Puente Colgante Guzman
- Yauco and all it’s colorful houses
- Salinas de Cabo Rojo (make sure you check their hours, when we got there it was closed and the lakes were low)
- Crash Boat Beach (try to get there before 5pm as the kioskos close early)
- Dinner at Rompeolas Bar & Grill in Aquila to watch the beautiful sunset. Come here for the drinks and appetizers!
Day 5: We got empanadas for breakfast and headed back to Piñones Kioskos for Lunch! We finally saw the area by day and we noticed some swimming holes by the beach where locals spent the day! If we come back to PR this would be the place for a swim! Away from Tourists surrounded by tropical fish.
Zach wearing his new favorite hat
Here is a summary of our Itinerary:
Day 1: Dinner at Piñones
Day 2: El Yunque Rain Forest and Luquillo Kiosks, La Perla and dinner in Old San Juan
Day 3: Catamaran cruise including snorkeling
Day 4: Road trip to the west coast
Day 5: Lunch at Piñones and exploring the area
We stand by our motto “let’s just look” and that’s what we did. Feel free to reach out for any questions!