Big D's Travel Blog

A teeny tiny island in the Caribbean full of fried snacks, good rum, an interesting culture and most importantly, good internet. Puerto Rico is a US territory which makes it an easy option for US citizens to come enjoy on holiday or even as a digital nomad. They use the US Dollar, and you don’t need a passport to visit!

San Juan, the Capital, is a great home base for the strong internet, and living in a city. However, there is so much the island has to offer outside the city! There isn’t public transportation so a rental car on the weekends (at least) is necessary. You can get from one coast to another in just 3 hours and many places can be less than an hour away. Calling all Weekend Warriors here! This is the perfect place for you!

Although it is a part of the US, the once Spanish settlement has a lot of culture and history to learn about.

With that said, let’s talk about some must dos.

TO-DO:

In/around San Juan: 

1. La Ruta De Lechon
   • The Pork Road is a few miles of restaurants selling pork and other BOMB Puerto Rican food. Make sure to ask for some skin with your pork meat, you won’t regret it.
2. Castillo de San Cristobal
   • $10 entry and you can pay more for a headset to learn history of the place. They do have signs all over the Castle that made it easy to learn about it, as well.
3. Watch the sunset at Isla de Cabras
   • One side is the Castillo and the other is the sun setting
4. Walk around Old San Juan
   • Cute streets with traditional Spanish buildings, lots of color and plenty of places for paletas (popsicles)!
5. La Placita
   • Surrounded by restaurants and bars, this plaza also has an outside bar in the center. It is the SPOT to be. During the day it also has a food market inside.
   • While here, try some fried goodies at La Alcapurria.
6. Walk around area near the Miramar Food Truck Park. The food trucks are really dank and the area has cute shops!
7. If you’re looking for a café with dankness– I really liked Café Marquesa.

 

East Side

1. Hike El Yunque National Forest
   • The only rainforest in the United States, and the smallest rainforest in the world…El Yunque is a must see and do.
   • There are rope swings, waterfalls, natural swimming pools and waterslides, and great hikes!
   • I did La Coca trail, which I LOVED. It’s probably intermediate/easy if you’re a normal in shape(ish) person. It leads to natural swimming pools. Since El Yunque trail was closed from Hurricane Maria, I took Caricitos to El Yunque and finished at Mount Britton for a quick 2-hour hike.

• It is a rain forest so if you have hiking boots, bring them so you’re confidently stepping through mud. But I hiked in my white sneakers and was fine despite them being covered in mud.
  • At the end of 2021 they started enforcing a ticketing system to enter the park. So, if you are planning to head there, check recreation.gov and buy $2 tickets for your entire car beforehand. If there are no tickets for the day you want to go, at 8am and 11am the day BEFORE, they open a few more tickets for the next day. Make sure you are logged in, refresh your screen at 8 am, save your credit card info in your browser and buy them FAST. The park closes at 5 pm but you must enter by 3 pm so keep that in mind.
  • If you for some reason couldn’t get tickets, there are a few hikes that you can still get to. Angelito and El Toro. Angelito is an extremely short and easy hike (maybe perfect for families) that leads to natural swimming pools so bring your bathing suit!
  • Right outside of the park there is a street vendor with the best alcapurrias and Puerto Rican goodies.

2. Vieques
   • An island off the east coast of the main island, Vieques is a quiet island full of wild horses, breathtaking mountain views, great snorkeling, and beautiful beaches.
   • The island is about 20 miles in width so if you want to see the whole thing you MUST have some sort of vehicle. My friend and I showed up with no plans, found some woman that had the number of a local entrepreneur that let us use his Jeep for $70. I don’t think this happens often so definitely book in advance.
   • Rent your own snorkeling gear and head to Mosquito pier. The pier apparently is full of sea turtles. Although we didn’t end up seeing any, the coral and colorful fish were breathtaking! As you drive up you will see a metal pole that led to stairs to the water. Swim close to the shore and up under the pier where they say sea turtles usually swim.
   • Visit Esperanza. A cute town on the south side of the island with a few bars and hostels.
   • Pet a wild horse! But obviously be careful. A local warned us: don’t get behind them (unless you want to be kicked), and if their ears go back, leave them alone.
   • Enjoy white sand beaches at Playa Caracas
   • Information for the ferry online is extremely outdated and hard to follow. We bought our tickets online the week before and headed to the ferry. The ferry is $2 and parking is about $7 a day if you drive
3. Luquillo Beach
   • There’s a long strip of restaurants full of food and music. Only a short driving distance from San Juan!
4. If your near Ceiba, check out La Finca for dinner. It can be pricey but it’s the coolest restaurant. They have a drive-in movie (which was in English when we were there), ATVs for rent, delicious food, AND a view.
5. Seven Seas Beach was overrated in my opinion. Full of people. But if you continue walking along the beach, Playa Colora is a little nicer! The water was a little choppy for swimming but nice for hanging out.

 

West Side

1. Gozalandia Waterfall
   • A popular waterfall that could be crowded at times. Walk down and see the bottom falls but head back up to the left (or to the right when you first get there) and go to the upper falls. There was almost no one there when we went and a fun rope swing! The water also was nicer to swim in than the lower falls

2. Rincon
   • A sleepy surfer town full of expats, Rincon didn’t really impress me but it’s a great place to stay for exploring the northwest section of the island.
   • Survivor beach hike
     • You’ll likely catch some surfers if you get there early. During high tide you might have to scramble, but it made the hike more fun

3. Crash boat beach
   • I would skip this for the beach itself, but the vibes of the people, music and vendors was fun to be around.

 

Living as a digital nomad

• The internet in San Juan is strong! We visited the other places on weekends so didn’t test the signal, but I wouldn’t promise much. Since Rincon has many expats, I hear there is strong enough internet there. But personally, I wouldn’t live there.
• US Dollars are used so no need to convert cash
• Grocery stores are just like in the US. Plenty of options.
• Old San Juan is dreamy. Touristy, but still beautiful. Cobble stone streets, and small cafes steal the show. If you can, stay in Old San Juan.
• The main beach strip in San Juan is extremely touristy and not special.
• I spent my time working in the Airbnb but I did find a lot of coworking places on Google if you prefer that!
• The island was hit extremely bad by Hurricane Maria. Most of the island didn’t have power for 6 months, thousands of people died, and infrastructure was destroyed. I didn’t have any network or power issues, but the Puerto Rican people are used to that. Contributing to the economy, being kind, and making sure you pick up after yourself is important everywhere but think about that here too.

Covid Restrictions

As of the end of 2021, Puerto Rico reenforced the mandate to provide a negative Covid test taken within 48 hours of departure OR you have 48 hours to send your results when you get here. Otherwise, you receive a fine. My friend couldn’t find any tests before leaving (there was a massive shortage) and opted for the latter. At 5 am, the morning after arriving, we waited in line for 4 hours to receive a PCR test costing $70. Most centers have a limited number of tests and sell out very early. Moral of the story: try to get your test before you come. The island is not equipped with supplies.

If you do end up paying for a Covid test, make sure to ask your insurance if they will reimburse you for it.

$$$$

MONEY MONEY MONEY -ABBA

Puerto Rico is expensive. A huge turnoff to such beautiful land, people, and culture. Here is my breakdown:

Accommodation: $1500/month. I am lucky I had a friend to split it with but expect $1500-$3500.

Food: $400/month. I shopped at local grocery stores, went to a WholeFoods-esque place, and ate out about once a week. Eat local and cook as much as you can!

Transportation: You NEED a rental car if you want to leave San Juan. Which you do 😉 It depends on how much you can find a rental car for. I had one for a total of two weeks for around $450. During the week, we dropped it off to save some money.

To close out, I think Puerto Rico is worth visiting and a great place to add to your list for the rainforest adventures, beaches, and islands. But the prices, and accommodation options makes this not my top pick for a long-term digital nomad destination.