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Honeymoon - Puerto Rico

isuno1fan said:
Thx! What about general travel around San Juan with kids. Safe??
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My wife and I (in our mid-20's) walked from that Hilton up to and around Old San Juan and never felt unsafe. The one area I was told to stay out of (especially at night) is "ghetto" looking area and cemetery north of Bulevar Del Valle between Fort San Cristóbal and Castillo de San Cristóbal (the other fort area) along the coast.

While I was occupied at my conference my wife and some of the other wives there went to one of the larger beaches and the big mall in San Juan had no problems.


If you do go to the rain forest stop at one of the food places on the way back down. Good food and cheap beer. The local beer Medalla is pretty good for a cheap light beer.
 
isuno1fan said:
Thx! What about general travel around San Juan with kids. Safe??
Click to expand...
You just have to be smart about it, like any big town. We've rented cars and drove all around the island and always felt safe, you might want to know a little Spanish if you get away from touristy areas. They have some crazy drivers, but not as bad as Mexico.
 
ISUAgronomist said:
My wife and I (in our mid-20's) walked from that Hilton up to and around Old San Juan and never felt unsafe. The one area I was told to stay out of (especially at night) is "ghetto" looking area and cemetery north of Bulevar Del Valle between Fort San Cristóbal and Castillo de San Cristóbal (the other fort area) along the coast.

While I was occupied at my conference my wife and some of the other wives there went to one of the larger beaches and the big mall in San Juan had no problems.


If you do go to the rain forest stop at one of the food places on the way back down. Good food and cheap beer. The local beer Medalla is pretty good for a cheap light beer.
Click to expand...

^This is the slum area I was referring to. What conference were you there for Aggie? I was there for an ASLO conference last feb.
 
This is the area I was talking about:

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Go to some of the cathedrals, shops, harbor in and around Old San Juan (area on the picture above not circled).

The cruise ships that go in and out are amazing.
 
Bring something you can jump in the water with when you go to the rainforest. Nice pools of water beneath the falls. Refreshing after hiking on trails.
 
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It's been 8 years since i have been there but I highly recommend that you take a good after to almost a day to go to Old San Juan as well. The fort was really neat , and all the little shops and places to eat were fun to go around to. It was a nice mix up from just sitting on the beach and other things.
 
00clone said:
OP: Never been there, so not much help, but I will say that if you go ^^^^^here, since it's your honeymoon, you must insist that the new bride ONLY refer to you as "El Conquistador" from the time you get off the plane until you get back on.

:yes:
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Rep for you:smile:
 
jbclone10 said:
My better half and I will be going to Puerto Rico for our honeymoon this summer. We will be staying near San Juan, and I was curious how many CF'ers have been there. Any advice on what to see/do/eat/stay away from or just general reminiscing would be greatly appreciated.
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I was there for the first time in October, but it was only for a 5 hour layover. I did go out into the Old City (Viejo San Juan) and walked around and stuff. There are two forts there, which was pretty cool seeing some old Spanish stuff started in the 16th century. It was only a few $$ to go in there too.

I just walked around though and it was cool. Really had the old Spanish feel which I love. Everyone thought I was local/from Spain too so they were nicer, so maybe my view is a bit skewed but it seemed like a good area.

You'll have a lot more time in SJ, but I recommend visiting there. Cool place, and the governor's mansion is somewhere there although I never found it
 
ISUAgronomist said:
These are just to the east of Puerto Rico. I didn't get to go due to limited time while attending a conference but they were highly recommended. Other people went by ferry and really enjoyed it.
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Like the "Spanish Virgin Islands" i.e. Vieques? I visited San Juan on a layover from the British Virgin Islands. I didn't think the water in San Juan that I saw was nearly as good as where I was in BVI, but if the water in Vieques and Isla de Culebra is as good as BVI, then I would highly recommend trying to pay a visit..
 
ISUAgronomist said:
My wife and I (in our mid-20's) walked from that Hilton up to and around Old San Juan and never felt unsafe. The one area I was told to stay out of (especially at night) is "ghetto" looking area and cemetery north of Bulevar Del Valle between Fort San Cristóbal and Castillo de San Cristóbal (the other fort area) along the coast.

While I was occupied at my conference my wife and some of the other wives there went to one of the larger beaches and the big mall in San Juan had no problems.


If you do go to the rain forest stop at one of the food places on the way back down. Good food and cheap beer. The local beer Medalla is pretty good for a cheap light beer.
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rofl. When I went to Viejo San Juan, I ALMOST accidentally went in there. I landed, got in a taxi and told them Viejo San Juan. They dropped me off in the middle and I just aimlessly walked around. The only "guide" i had was about 1.5 weeks prior of a guy I work with from San Juan telling me what to see in VSJ. After awhile I saw the cemetery, and then I saw more houses and stuff and started approaching the steps to go down there. Something told me to not go there, partially because it looked pretty ghetto.

There is a sweet basketball court right near there though..
 
First of all thanks to all that posted in this thread. The advice was great. I have a summary (quite long) of my trip below.

Just returned and absolutely loved it. We stayed at La Concha and I would recommend it to families or couples. We were in the suite tower so it was quiet but the lobby was a lot of fun and most nights there were parties around the bar (go figure). There were also a few pools to choose from (one adult only pool) that were right next to the beach. The beach itself was amazing. The ocean water was very clear and refreshing.

We didn't want to have a set schedule so we only signed up for 1 excursion. Old San Juan was beautiful and the fort was fun (and cheap) to explore. We ended up going to Old San Juan three times (each for a half day or so). I would highly recommend Cafe Puerto Rico for authentic Puerto Rican food. There is also a Ben and Jerry's in Old San Juan that we visited. Ice cream was the perfect complement to the heat. Per the recommendations of this board and other sources we signed up to see the Bio Bay and the rainforest. The rainforest was beautiful. We were able to see a couple of waterfalls and a lookout tower that provided an excellent view. The Bio Bay was great as well. I wasn't prepared to kayak through a mangrove channel in the dead of night with no visibility but the experience is worth it.

Over all I would highly recommend the trip to anyone. The locals are very nice and nearly everyone spoke decent English. The fact that you don't need a passport and they use the dollar makes the trip very easy.

If any fanatics are planning on going to PR in the future PM me if you have any questions/concerns.

Saw the BB court in the picture above and had a good laugh. The Mrs. asked me why I was laughing and I told her about the CF thread. She now knows of my addiction.
 
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