I've been really bad about blogging this year. I have a bunch of drafts I need to publish going all the way back to January. Before catching up on those, I thought I'd post on our recent trip to Puerto Rico.
Fifteen years ago Natalie and I went to Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico for our honeymoon. We spent the first week of December in 2008 in Puerto Rico. This year I was going to do a cruise for her birthday but I waited too long to book it and the price was double what it would be if I planned it several months ahead. With 3 kids we would have to get two rooms so even with Carnival's kids ride free deal we would have to pay for double occupancy. The Bahamas are the worst of the Caribbean islands in my opinion so $3,000 for a 3 day trip wasn't worth it. Long story short, I decided to take the family to Puerto Rico instead.
This was originally supposed to be her birthday trip but with Thanksgiving and everything it ended up working out better to leave a week later. We left the morning of our 15th anniversary for an epic week long trip.
When we got to San Juan they had three cruise ships in port so old San Juan was crazy. I had a parking lot next to the fort saved on my map but it was full and the traffic was insane. We found a parking lot closer to the port but trying to get into it was very tight. Apparently with the cruise ships in port everyone comes into town to either work or visit family. I don't remember it being crazy like that last time. The funny thing is around 3PM the city cleared out.
Originally we were going to stay in San Juan most of the week but the Hilton was booked full so I found a hotel in Dorado. It's not far but with traffic it took us an hour to get to the hotel. It was alright but the least impressive of the places we stayed. I'll go into more below.
Here are some pictures from San Juan.
This is my favorite street in Old San Juan. Walking down the street from the church on the blue bricks to the old city gate.
Dean smelling a ginger at the visitor's center.
A quick trip at the visitor's center before going into the park.
Bano Grande. One of the only times it rained all week.
Driving up the mountain.
Diego Falls.
This water was pretty cold but refreshing. It's so humid in El Yunque that the minute you get out of the water it's like being wrapped in a warm blanket.
Yakahu tower.
The black side is the side that gets all the clouds coming in from the east coast.
Looking towards Culebra.
Back at the visitor's center for lunch. I took my mojito for a rain forest hike.
Hiking at Angelito Creek. This was a really nice 20 minute hike to a creek. The kids were laughing when we got to the trailhead because I said that is some sexy bamboo. We spent about an hour at the creek and we were alone most of the time there. This is about 90 minutes from our hotel. The weird thing is a family of three showed up there and they were swimming for a few minutes and left right before us. Two hours later I ran into them in our hotel lobby.
This bridge is right at the end of the trail.
Someone had setup a rope swing at the creek. The kids had fun playing on it but I didn't trust it to hold me.
The next day we were supposed to go to Flemenco Beach in Culebra. We go to the ferry and were getting tickets to get there and I asked her if I get the tickets to come back with them. She said they couldn't get us back that day. No where on the website did they say you should prepurchase but apparently it's best to do it at least two weeks before your trip. We ended up having to abort that trip and save it for next time. We got breakfast and went to Seven Seas. I was really disappointed for a couple hours and was letting it ruin my day. But then I thought about it and decided to just enjoy my day and next time take it up a level with our Culebra trip. That's probably going to be our entire trip next time is just an airbnb in Culebra.
This is driving right before our hike. I passed the trailhead and had to drive a couple miles to turn around. The vegetation was so thick up there.
Hiking at Diego Creek.
We started hiking back about 25-30 minutes before sunset. The jungle gets dark earlier and the Coquis get really loud. I'm sure at night in the rain they would be a lot louder than in this video. One night we were driving back to Dorado and they were so loud I could hear them driving with the windows up.
The next day we went to Isabella. My Tia Teresa used to go to this beach when she was a kid. If you go online everyone says Jobos is the best beach. I disagree. Sardineras was much better and most of the time we were there no one else was around. We went to Tu Mojito on the way and picked up two 32 ounce mojitos. Natalie go the passionfruit and I got the original. I have to say I wasn't that impressed. I saw this guy fill half the cup with rum before even adding the ice yet I hardly even got a buzz. I'm wondering if he watered down his rum. Even though it wasn't my favorite mojito that week, it was great having a mojito on the beach.
After Sardineras we drove over to Jobos and spent about an hour there.
Jobos
We setup a hammock under a tree here for a couple hours. A lot of people were walking by to go to Hidden Beach. Eventually we took everything back to the car and made the 25 minute walk to Hidden Beach.
About halfway to Hidden Beach. Most of the hike is through the trees but the trail comes out to the beach at this point.
Hidden Beach. There was a mist by Luquillo and clouds all over El Yunque the entire time we were there.
They used to have five caverns in the National Park. Hurricane Maria did a lot of damage and closed them all. They finally reopened one of the five caverns. A private company is going to be buying the caves next year and running the tours.
Our tour guide. He was trying very hard to find us a Coqui.
From the entrance of the cavern.
After the caves we drove to our hotel in Rincon. I found this hotel called The Lazy Parrot on Expedia. Looking at Google Maps you would think there might be some safety concerns. On the mainland when a neighborhood looks like this area it would be the ghetto. In Puerto Rico it's different. The whole drive there was through the mountains and these neighborhoods with small houses. I have to say I enjoyed the view. Even in their barrios the views are beautiful. They have vegetation everywhere and it's not all cookie cutter looking at the same thing over and over.
Before our hike we bought these "mojitos" from a stand on the beach. $15 each and nowhere on there did it say they were virgin. After a tip it came out to $40 bucks and then we find out they are just fruit juice. The day before Zach had been asking for a mocktail and now he got one. I have to say it was probably the best fruit juice I've had.
The next day we packed it up and left Dorado to go to Rincon. On the way to Rincon we stopped at the Camuy Caves. We were trying to get reservations but they weren't replying to the e-mails and we couldn't book it online, so we were worried we show up and it would be fully. Lucky for us it was the slow season and hardly anyone was there.
They used to have five caverns in the National Park. Hurricane Maria did a lot of damage and closed them all. They finally reopened one of the five caverns. A private company is going to be buying the caves next year and running the tours.
Normally people have to hike from the visitor's center to the sink hole. We got an ORV ride in and out of the sink hole. The cavern we went into was never really closed in from the trails we were on. We could see light on both sides the entire time. The trail took us through the cave to a big opening in another sinkhole where it used to connect to the next cavern. We could see the Camuy River from there but the trail and next cavern were closed so we had to stop and loop back. That took us to the only dark corner of the cave where we could see the Camuy River down in the dark.
It was worth the trip and the vegetation around the cave was really cool but as far as formations in caves we've visited this cave had the least impressive. There was a really big stalagmite and a formation they call the witch's face but other than that not a whole lot. There were some wind scorpions, huge crickets, and bats. Before Hurricane Maria they had 100,000 bats, now they think they only have about 100.
A couple years before our 2008 trip a tourist from California was killed by a falling rock in this area. We couldn't visit the caves back then because they were closed while they built this bunker to enter the cave. The bunker is covered in "Wandering Jew". It's a plant that I have in my backyard and it spreads like wildfire. I've had pieces break off and start growing in the grass. I hit them over and over with the lawn mower but they don't die. I've broken off pieces and put them in pots and use them as filler in my garden beds. In Puerto Rico they are really invasive and are taking over this bunker, the bridge, and anywhere they can.
When we got to the hotel we could see why the ratings were so high. This was one of the best hotels we have stayed at. The hotel had open lobbies, eating areas, etc. very much like in Hawaii and the atmosphere was very relaxed. We had an early dinner by the pool and took down mojito after mojito while they kids swam. Next time we go to Rincon I'd like to spent a lot more time at this hotel and get the kids their own room.
That night we went to the lighthouse for an amazing Rincon sunset. We got a quart sized mojito and went back to the hotel.
The next morning from our room. The beach is just a mile down the hill. You can see it peaking through to the right of Zach.
The restaurant was really good at the Lazy Parrot. I asked if I could get a mojito with breakfast. The guy says of course, it's mojitos 24/7 here.
The main reason we went to Rincon is to surf. After our honeymoon all my coworkers in Miami were telling me about Rincon because I used to surf a lot. It's been on my bucket list forever. We found this place where they do surf lessons and the surf wasn't too crazy that day. I think they biggest waves may have been just under 4 feet.
I got myself a board and got the kids a surf instructor so I wouldn't have to watch them. Natalie stayed with Dean on the beach, the kids were with their instructor, and I was off getting hurt on my own.
About 90 minutes into surfing I came down the biggest of the waves I had caught that day tore my knee. I'm not exactly sure what happened but as I went to stand up I felt a burn and my leg wouldn't go straight. I wiped out and couldn't move my leg for a few minutes. I was trying to paddle myself in but then the pain subsided so I found the kids and hung out around them for a while. I was so distracted I didn't realize I lost my hat until Adri pointed it out. I don't think I caught anything after that. Once I got back to shore it started hurting again. By the night I could hardly walk and was running a low grade fever from the inflammation. I ended up getting wheeled through the airport and went to ER when we got back to Florida. I got an MRI last week and I have a follow-up this week for the results. I suspect a torn meniscus. It still hurts but it's slowly getting better.
I don't have any regrets though. The kids said this was their favorite day of vacation. They love surfing and they both caught quite a few waves. I asked if their instructor was a better teacher than me and they tried to lie. I told them stop the lying and tell the truth. Yeah she's better and taught them how to get up better. The instructors also don't catch waves while they're out there so they're focused just on helping the kids have fun.
We got the kids some KFC that night and then Natalie and I went downstairs to have dinner alone at Mojitos. The next morning I was having a really hard time just getting to the pool. After a couple mojitos and some swimming I was able to get around a little better. These were some of the best mojitos I had that week at their swim up bar. The bartender was really nice and let the kids hand out on right at the edge of the bar and he made them some free mocktails.
From our room. The last time we stayed here we were closer to that fort and they lit it up blue at night.
Our last morning in San Juan.
The kids at the pool. The water was a little chilly in the pool but really nice in the ocean. It was one of the cooler days we were there due to the breeze.
I found the aid station.
Taking in the view one more time before we left.
In 2008 they had an inflatable mountain at the beach here. This time they just had a dock we could swim out to and let the kids jump off.
The kids loved Puerto Rico and can't wait to go back. They said they didn't want to come back to stupid cold Florida. I don't think these kids have a clue what cold is.
