Has anyone been to Puerto Rico?

[cransplash]

My good college friend is getting married there in early March, and since DH can't attend, my BFF is coming with em as my date.

We're going to be flying in on a Wed afternoon and have then until Friday night to do whatever we want on the island. (Sat is the wedding, and Sunday we fly home.)

I've gotten some good recos from another GBCNer and a co-worker, but would love to have some other sightseeing and dining recommendations!

Dates: 3/5-3/9
Rental car: yes
Hotel: Staying at Caribe Hilton

[neonpink]

I've been and for over a weekend as well.

Explore Old San Juan, it's pretty and good restaurants and shops to explore. You can walk there from your hotel I believe. If you have a chance head out to El Yunque national forest. It's a beautiful rainforest and fun to hike around. If you don't have time at least drive through it.

[Susie]

With that kind of time frame you might not have time to make it out to Vieques to go to the bioluminescent bay, but if you do, I hear it's great. If not, there's one in Fajardo where you can do a kayak tour. We did it, and it was really cool.

[sarahsas]

Marmalade... one of the best meals of my life!

Luquillo Beach is a great one to visit.

You can do it in conjunction with a little visit to El Yunque (rainforest).

Pasta Y Pueblo - another AMAZING meal (in Luquillo).

[cransplash]

Oh thank you for all your responses! I will look into these locations and restaurants this weekend

[scout8]

I agree that Luquillo Beach & El Yunque would be a nice day trip. Make sure to spend time in Old San Juan. You can walk from your hotel, but it will be a bit of a hike.

Have fun! I got married in PR a few years ago.

[D2M]

I also went to San Juan for a wedding earlier this year and had a lot of fun. I don't think you'll need a rental car, btw. There are cabs everywhere and you can arrange a day trip through your hotel if you want to go to the bioluminscent bay or any other side trips. As for food, we had great seafood at the Parrot Club in Old San Juan. We meant to try Aquaviva, which has great reviews, but just never got around to it. We also had a fun dinner at Budatai www.ootwrestaurants.com/page.cgi?pag=1a

[anna7602]

I agree that you might not need a car if you're staying at the Caribe Hilton. You'll be able to get around old San Juan quite easily from there and as someone mentioned, you can probably arrange for a day trip to Luquillo/El Yunque through your hotel concierge.

If you're really into having a car, though, it's fun to just drive around the island. I love going through the central mountains and hitting the pork shacks there, such great food! It's easy to go and come back from San Juan in an afternoon.

But you can't go wrong just staying in and around San Juan.

[chicago]

I was there post-cruise for a verrrry short time and had done no research, but we really liked Parrot Club for lunch! No idea if it's highly regarded or not, but it was delicious.

[daisypaloma]

I've been there twice; one for a few hours via cruise, another for 4 days.

El Yunque makes for a nice day hike. 

Check out one of the two forts on either end of Old San Juan.  El Morro is my favorite, but I've been to both.

I would recommend taking a car one day to check out Loquillo, and other parts of the island.  I went ziplining, but I missed out on the one in Toro Negro
acampapr.com/page.cgi?pag=tour&id=71416708568

If you don't plan to rent a car, there are day trips by bus to El Yunque at the port.  You can also go to neighboring Condado and Isla Verde for $15 via cab.  If you like casinos, there's a handful of them in Condado. 

[clseale]

Ditto El Yunque, and we had a great time at the kiosks in Luquillo. We were staying in Fajardo, so we made it to the kiosks more than once.

[orangeblossom]

Hopefully, the bio bay in Farajado has recovered. We were just there towards the end of November and the bay was black. They think some construction run off into the bay, caused it to go dark

I would check first, because without it is very very dark. DH and I actually fell out of the kayak, because we hit a mangrove tree, that we couldn't see in the dark.

Definitively go to Old San Juan. The rain forest is beautiful and the trails aren't very long.

Enjoy your trip!