San Juan w/teens

[BLAMBKY]

Cross posting on port of call board-

Anything specific that you would recommend to do/see/eat in San Juan with 2 teens in tow before & after cruise? We will have 1/2 day before and full day after our cruise. Heard about biolumescence bay but looks like it would be 5-10pm. After getting up early (3am) to catch a flight, that does not look like an option.

[AmberCascades]

We did a night tour of OSJ which was from 6 til 8. We got to see inside some buildings that are usually occupied by office workers during the day. It was nice to see the city lit up and get a feel for the place. The next day we did the forts. We did San Cristobel first and it was our favourite (you can go in the dungeon and stuff). You can get a discount if you buy a ticket for both forts. We went over to El Morro afterwards. We didn't spend as much time there since we had to start making our way to the ship. Having been on the guided tour the night before it was nice to see things in the daylight and we had some idea of where we were going.

[14ersco]

San Cristobel and El Morro forts are part of the National Park system, so if you have a park pass bring it along to get in free. We went out to Viequez Island for the bio bay tour with East Wind Cats. It is a full evening with about 2 hour drive east from San Juan, depending on traffic.

 

If your kids are into space science there is Arecibo Observatory about 2 hours west of town. Near there is Rio Camuy caves. For adventurous eating in this area is the town Lares and in the center of town across from the church and town square is the ice cream shop. It was featured on Bizarre Foods, because they sell about 30 types of ice cream (fruits, vegetables, meats). All signs are in Spanish, but they gave us 3 free samples. My kid just had to try the catfish! :eek:

 

For great dining choices in San Juan go to the Travel Channel and look up the Man vs Food episode for San Juan. We found great Cuban food at Metropol.

 

This was the link: http://www.travelchannel.com/TV_Shows/Man_V_Food/Episodes_Travel_Guides/ci.PuertoRico_Episode.map#map

 

The best beaches and hotels are east of downtown in the Carolina area. If you follow the main beach road east and leave the developed tourist area you will cross a bridge and come to an area with some great on the beach dining. We went to Soleil Beach Club, the place looks like a dive but the seafood was very good.

Edited April 5, 2014 by 14ersco