Three days post cruise without car - what to do?

[katjoeus]

We're staying in OSJ from September 17 to 20 after our cruise and we've booked the Monastery Art Suites in the Old Town so we can walk everywhere.

 

What do people recommend we do while we're there during the day? I've heard that public transportation is good and beaches can be reached by it, and we're thinking of doing a rainforest tour but not 100% sure about that.

 

Recommendations welcome!

 

Thanks :D

[MommaBear55]

The free hop on hop off trolley is great. The two forts are not to be missed. Just walking around and soaking up the atmosphere is great. There is a walk along the water at the base of the city walls that is great. It's fun to take the ferry and taxi to the Bacardi factory.

 

When we went to the rainforest it was a very dry.. It wasn't very interesting. I'd like to go back and rainy season. The other thing to do is to take an evening tour of the bioluminescent Bay.

Edited September 8, 2016 by MommaBear55

[alfaeric]

3 days is a long time.

 

Being that this is the middle of hurricane season, the rain forest will be wet. It was raining there last weekend when we were on the island.

 

Other things to do- get a car. Drive to the Arecibo Observatory, and continue on to the Camuey Caverns. Or go south and get some of the best roast pork in the world- continue on to find the Ruta Panaramica and drive to the east coast of the island before going back to San Juan. Or go very south and see the beaches on the south side of the island near Guanica- there's also a bio bay way down there, too. Very cool. Or go west to see the beaches where the waves are big enough to surf on out in Rincon.

 

If you like Art- see the Museo de Arte Puerto Rico in San Juan, or drive to Ponce to see the Museo de Aete Ponce- which is full of European Art. Ponce isn't too touristy- which can be a good change while on vacation.

 

North of Ponce and from there west is the coffee growing areas. The problem there is that it's very wet and rains a lot up there. Nice and cool, though- when it's 90 in Ponce, it's in the 70's up in the mountains.

 

3 days may make you want to come back and see more stuff that not many cruisers have the time to see.

[crspr]

If I had three days in Puerto Rico, I would check out both forts for sure, walk around the outside of the wall, and just wander the streets of Old San Juan. There are some great coffee shops that brew locally grown coffee. My favorite is Cuatro Sombras. It is on Calle Recinto Sur. There are other good ones too, so I would avoid the Starbucks for local places if you are a coffee drinker.

 

As for pubic transport, I don't know about reliable. The trolley on OSJ is definitely reliable, but not so confident about the public busses. There is a beach known as Escambrone that is nice and is about a 30 minute walk. There are also nice beaches in Condado, but that would be even further.

 

El Yunque is beautiful. I wonder if Momma Bear was at El Yunque last summer/fall. Last year Puerto Rico had an historic drought and even the waterfalls in El Yunque were effected. Thankfully the rain has started falling again and El Yunque is back to its regular flow.

[OCruisers]

The easy way is to just take a taxi to where you want to go.

That's what we do when we fly down there for a 3-4 day getaway.

[mollyeilis]

Drive to the Arecibo Observatory, and continue on to the Camuey Caverns. Or go south and get some of the best roast pork in the world- continue on to find the Ruta Panaramica and drive to the east coast of the island before going back to San Juan. Or go very south and see the beaches on the south side of the island near Guanica- there's also a bio bay way down there, too. Very cool. Or go west to see the beaches where the waves are big enough to surf on out in Rincon.

 

If you like Art- see the Museo de Arte Puerto Rico in San Juan, or drive to Ponce to see the Museo de Aete Ponce- which is full of European Art.

 

 

How long do those trips take? How long is the drive to Ponce? etc?

[Langoustine]

Ponce is about an hour and a half; it's not a large island.