Any beach recommendations?

[jdro]

I am looking for a beach to go to and hopefully find one similar to Orient in St. Maarten, does anyone know of one, if not which beach would you recommend.

 

Thanks

 

Jennifer

[Lauralee1980]

Hi there,

 

We were just in San Juan this past summer and decided to do a beach day. It was my first time in San Juan but everyone in my group had been previously and had toured old San Juan as well as the forts. So they wanted to do a beach day at Isla Verde beach. We got off the ship and got a taxi for the 4 of us. I cant remember how much exactly, but the taxi fare is regulated, so it wasnt horrible. It only took a short while to get there and the taxi driver dropped us off at a public entrance way close to where the Intercontinental is. The beach was very large and also had a strip of restaurants and bars behind it. When we stepped foot on the beach we saw a woman selling chairs and umbrellas which we purchased. We were there for only a short time, so I wouldn't have rented chairs had I known I would be in the water the entire time. The water was warm, clean, calm, and a beautiful turquoise color. I hear people say that San Juan isn't a good beach day and to focus more on the history side. I have to disagree. This was such a great day! I spent a couple hours in the water until we packed up and got lunch at one of the restaurants. Our taxi driver picked us up right on time and brought us back to OSJ to shop.

 

Also I'm not sure if you drink, but the only time I wasn't in the water was to walk to one of the bars to grab a daquiri. They were $7 in a plastic cup, or around $9 for in a coconut. We brought them back with us to the beach and it was great.

 

Sorry this turned into a long post, but I saw no one had commented back yet. So I thought I'd try to give you as much info as possible! Overall this was a great day, so don't be discouraged if you read not to do beach days in San Juan! I know everyone has their own preferences on what they want their beach day to be, but this beach was more than fine for our group. I know it may not be the prettiest beach in the Caribbean, but it sure beats out swimming in the dark Atlantic here in CT! :)

[jdro]

Thank you for your response! We went to Isla Verdi last year, its a beautiful beach but compared to the amenities at Orient it doesn't compare! I wish there was a beach like that on PR, my kids (21 & 16) like the beach days, so do I! I'm looking into Numero Uno Beach, I think it is on Isla Verdi or Condado need to look at this more. Thanks again!