El Yunque Rain Forest - Do We Have Enough Time?

[CRUZFINDER]

Seeking input from those experienced in visiting the rain forest.

 

I know you can rent a car at the pier where Carnival Victory docks (at the hotel across the street) and return that car to SJU airport.

 

Question is do we have enough time after our Victory cruise to rent the car, drive to the rain forest, tour it and drive to the airport for a 4:20pm flight? Is this cutting it too close? Will we have to rush through the rain forest to the point where we don't enjoy it?

 

A conservative timeline would be off the ship at 8am and hopefully in the rental car by 9am.

 

Any input, as always, is greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you.

[rainforestgirl]

With that time line, then yes, you have enough time- maybe 3 hrs of exploring. (1 hr drive there, and hr drive back. The tour operators do it all the time.

But if you don't get off until later, then it may be pushing it- not giving you enough time to return the car and be there 1.5-2 hrs early.

[seashinesunshine]

Driving thru San Juan can be tricky so plan extra time for traffic and get a good map. The rainforest is fun though. :)

[Ayden]

We did the El Yunque trip as through Celebrity on our day of departure with drop off at the airport and as I recall it may have been around the 4-5 pm range of time. We enjoyed it very much and it included our transportation to the airport. Check it out with Carnival and see if they offer it as one of their day trips. Might be easier and the same cost by the time you rent a car?

[quinceemom]

Ever driven in New York? Tried to get to LaGuardia during rush hour? This is much worse - San Juan traffic is CRAZY!!!! And the airport is very unique - all luggage has to go through Dept of Ag screening before you can check in for your flight, so it does take quite a bit longer. And my experience with going through Customs in SJ is that they are definately in their own time zone,,which means if your sched says 8 AM disembarkation, that means Customs might be there at 8, they might be ready by 8 - we actually did not get off our ship (Crown Princess, when she was doing the SJ r'trips) until well after 10 AM! But go for it, if you can get off early enough. When we went, we were staying in SJ, got there about 10 A or so and left maybe 1:30,,,drove to Luquilla Beach for rest of afternoon, which was beautiful. It's just a little east of the turnoff for El Yunque and might be fun and relaxing just to spend day there. Lots of parking and beautiful restful beach,,,,with showers availible of course.