On our Puerto Rico roadtrip we drove all around the island. We had 4 and half days to explore and we wanted to see as much as we could. More time is always better but this was enough to circumnavigate the island and get a good feel for various areas.
Our Puerto Rico roadtrip started in Old San Juan. We landed in the afternoon and got an Uber to our booking.com hotel. Taxis from the airport have a set fee of $21 to bring you into the city but Uber was cheaper at $15. We spent most of our time in Old San Juan just wandering the streets, admiring the colors and colonial architecture.
We headed for Castillo de San Felipe in the late afternoon and arrived just before 4:30 which is when it closes. We didn’t get to go into the fort but we did find that there is a walking path that starts in Old San Juan and follows the channel all the way around the fort.
You will get great views of the water and the fort and see a lot of stray cats on this trail. There is an organization- Save a Gato that is working to capture, spay and release them as well as provide them food. Being the cat people we are this was a very exciting part of the walk and we couldn’t help awe at these cute kitties!
For food we had a great Burger and Mojito at St. Germain cafe in the afternoon during happy hour which is always good! Later in the evening we were surprised to find that it was difficult to find a lot of open restaurants. We wanted to eat at El Jibarito however they were packed! They had a capacity (maybe decreased due to COVID) and the door was locked. There were several groups of people waiting outside. We assumed they were waiting to get in so we moved on. Most of the more touristy restaurants were open but usually that isn’t where we like to eat. We ended up having dinner at Puerto Criollo. The food here was very good. The stuffed mofongo was an excellent choice. Be warned the garlic sauce is very, very garlicy!
The next morning, we picked up our rental car. We chose not to deal with parking in Old San Juan so we got an Uber to Popular Auto the day after we arrived vs getting our rental car right away. Popular Auto was significantly cheaper than other car rental companies and we would highly recommend them. They even upgraded our car for free!
The first stop on this Puerto Rico roadtrip is El Yunque. This National Park is said to be the only tropical rainforest in the U.S and is filled with lots of hiking trails to chose from. We hiked El Yunque trail which takes you up to one of the tallest peaks in the park.
We didn’t make it to the top because several miles into our hike, it began to downpour and the trail quickly became more like a shallow river. It is a rainforest so do expect rain and be prepared for the weather to change quickly. Overall we still really enjoyed the hike.
After the hike we drove through the park a little more, stopped at Bano Grande which is a large natural pool and then headed off, out of the rainforest and into the sunshine.
Our Puerto Rico roadtrip continued, driving towards 7 Seas beach in Fajardo. We kept driving a short ways past that beach and found a small area near the water with several restaurants and a small park area. We stopped into one of these restaurants for a beer and some fried calamari.
That night, we stayed in a beach front apartment in the small town of Naguabo. There were two restaurants right down the street. One was empty, the other filled with locals, so we ate at that one- La Nueva Casa del Mofongo. The food was really good! Be prepared for Spanish speaking only here. Our waitress fired off the most rapid Spanish we’ve ever heard and didn’t slow down for us! We struggled through the language barrier with our minimal Spanish and we were so happy we did. The chillo frito (fried snapper) was delicious. We also got two pastelillos con carne (beef turnover/empanada) and they were awesome!
The Puerto Rico roadtrip continued and the following day we beach hopped our way along the southern coast. The best beaches seemed to be on the west side of the southern coast so we drove past Ponce and our first stop was at Playa Tamarindo and Playa Atolladora. These two beaches are along the same road, very close together. We tried to walk to Playa Pelicano along this road but we couldn’t get through, there is a marsh area and the water level was high when we were there. These beaches are really nice and not crowded at all.
Our favorite beach that day was by far Las Playuela! Be prepared to drive through the mud and along some bumpy roads to get there but it is worth it!
That night we stayed near Miradero at a wonderful place we found at this link on booking.com. Our host was super nice! He made up fresh passion fruit juice when we arrived and was just overall really welcoming and kind! We got take-out from a little food truck near our booking called, Después de María Pinchos Artesanales. You can order online for take-out which is what we did. They did not start making our food until we actually showed up to pick it up. It was pretty quick but just something to be aware of.
The following day the Puerto Rico roadtrip continued with more beach hopping. We drove north towards Rincon. This area is full of beautiful hillside houses and surf shops. We stopped off at Casa Isleña for brunch. This hotel and restaurant is right on the beach and the food was great! After brunch we walked along the beach here before setting off for Domes beach.
Domes beach is a surfing haven, the waves here were nearly perfect. There are plenty of places in the area to rent a board, we opted to just take in the views and watch for a couple hours before moving on.
Survival beach was our next stop. We did not do much research before arriving at this beach. When you visit at low tide you can walk under the rock arches but when you visit at high tide there isn’t really a beach. The views were amazing along the path, still worth a visit at high tide. Just expect this to be more of a beach walk/hike than a place to sit and relax on the beach. Also do NOT wear flip flops on this walk. You will be walking on the rocks and it does get steep in some parts. So, wear some shoes with a good sole.
Our final stop of the day was Playa Jobos. This beach had more of a party scene for sure. You can get drinks on the beach and there are restaurants pumping out loud music. But if you do walk a short distance away you can get a quieter place to sit. There is also a surf break here but it is further out and not for beginners. Along the side of the beach there are large rocks with cascading water crashing over whenever the waves are large enough. You can walk a short path up to the top of the rocks for great views of the rocky coastline on the other side. Again wear good shoes!
Our final day we needed to head back towards San Juan for a late afternoon flight. We had time for lone last stop on our Puerto Rico roadtrip. We tried to stop at La Cueva del Indio as we had read a lot about it. Google said it opened at 9:30 am but we figured, it’s a cave how can it be closed? We headed there earlier in the morning and found that the parking area is gated and you can’t park until 9:30. There is not really another way to get to the cave or another good place to park. We decided to keep driving instead of waiting around for it to open.
We decided to head closer to San Juan. We found Cueva Escondida on the map and went to check it out. It was a nice place to walk around and the rock formations were cool to see. It is a good place to explore if you have some time to kill but definitely not a must see. After that we returned our rental car and walked to our final beach- Hobie beach.
Hobie beach is very close to the airport which made it perfect for us to wait our or last couple hours before ubering back to catch our flight. We ate lunch at Alambique Beach Lounge, it was very busy, but the food was really good and it is right along the beach.
There is plenty more to explore on the island of Puerto Rico, we can’t wait to go back! Tell us what we missed. What are your favorite places on Puerto Rico? Leave us a comment below.
