any suggestion on tour in San Juan

[hollon]

I've posted on the San Juan site, but thought I'd get more answers here, Does anyone know of good tour operators in san juan. I wanted to do the bioilluminating kayaking and the el yunque rainforest, or anything else that comes to mind.  It's for my son's honeymoon.

[Sea Dog]

You might want to look here:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/80-san-juan-pr/

[jcc1025]

I traveled to Old San Juan for severl years on business and my wife and I took a couple of vacations there. We have also visited on a couple of cruises and our thought would be to pass on the tours and just do a walking tour of Old San Juan on your own. The ship docks down town and you can walk to old streets, do a bar crawl as their are a ton of cool little bars along the walk. Lots of very cool small resturants for lunch and just a great place to tour on your own. The history is amazing, you can get a cab to the Fort and tour it or just walk aroudn Old Town and take in the amazing history. Much cheeprer than a tour and a great experience. 

[Norwich Cruiser]

16 minutes ago, jcc1025 said:

I traveled to Old San Juan for severl years on business and my wife and I took a couple of vacations there. We have also visited on a couple of cruises and our thought would be to pass on the tours and just do a walking tour of Old San Juan on your own. The ship docks down town and you can walk to old streets, do a bar crawl as their are a ton of cool little bars along the walk. Lots of very cool small resturants for lunch and just a great place to tour on your own. The history is amazing, you can get a cab to the Fort and tour it or just walk aroudn Old Town and take in the amazing history. Much cheeprer than a tour and a great experience. 

Great advice exactly what we have done in the past and hopefully will again in the future.

 

Also worth a couple of days pre or post cruise.

[Scottee25]

1 hour ago, hollon said:

I've posted on the San Juan site, but thought I'd get more answers here, Does anyone know of good tour operators in san juan. I wanted to do the bioilluminating kayaking and the el yunque rainforest, or anything else that comes to mind.  It's for my son's honeymoon.

 

Is this just for a day while ship is in port? Or are you staying in Puerto Rico several days? Your answer to that question will dictate my answer to you. 

 

To start out, El Yunque and Bioluminescence Bay are not near San Juan. Drivable in about an hour to an hour and a half? Sure, as long as you are not coming from Old San Juan. So if you are only in port for 1 day for a cruise, don't even consider the Bioluminescence Bay. It is on the east coast of the island in Fajardo and you won't be able to make it back from the tour to board the ship in time (unless the ship is staying over night). As far as a tour group to El Yunque? I can't help you there as I have never used one to visit.

 

So let's say you are staying on the island for several days. In that case, rent a car. It will be so much easier than trying to arrange tour groups. You don't need a tour operator for El Yunque. You pretty much pull into the forest, find a place to park, and then hike whichever trails you wish. It's pretty easy to get around there. When you are done, hit the kiosks in Luquillo and try some of the local foods. 

 

As far as the Bioluminescence Bay, we used Kayaking Puerto Rico. There are several that are authorized to provide tours into that Bio Bay. Kayaking Puerto Rico does not provide any transportation but they do list in their FAQ transportation options for those that are not driving themselves (like I said, if you are staying on the island, rent a car). I am not sure if any of the others offer transportation. If you do the Bio Bay, be sure to check the moon calendar first (you can google this) that will tell you the moon phase on the day you want to take the tour. The closer you are to a New Moon the better as there will be less moonlight and will allow you to see the glow given off in the Bio Bay.

 

If you are staying on the island, other sites to see that are "reasonably" close to San Juan...

* Las Cabezas de San Juan used to offer a nightly Eco Tour that would take you around the protected areas encompassing Laguna Grande (Bio Bay). It was a decade ago that I took this tour and really enjoyed it as they speak of the ecology of the area and there are walkways right along the Bio Bay that they would take you through. Highly recommended.

* Camuy Caverns - This is a bit further away in the center of the island and is a series of caverns carved out by un underground river (which is still flowing) millions of years ago. This is a National Park and Park Rangers did give tours through the caverns. I would usually recommend grouping this with the radio telescope in Arecibo but that was recently destroyed and I do not believe they have any intention on rebuilding due to its age.

[Scottee25]

1 hour ago, jcc1025 said:

I traveled to Old San Juan for severl years on business and my wife and I took a couple of vacations there. We have also visited on a couple of cruises and our thought would be to pass on the tours and just do a walking tour of Old San Juan on your own. The ship docks down town and you can walk to old streets, do a bar crawl as their are a ton of cool little bars along the walk. Lots of very cool small resturants for lunch and just a great place to tour on your own. The history is amazing, you can get a cab to the Fort and tour it or just walk aroudn Old Town and take in the amazing history. Much cheeprer than a tour and a great experience. 

 

Agree with all of this. Old San Juan is my favorite place to visit. The colorful buildings and the old fortifications. My advice it to take a left after getting off the pier and head west down de la Princecsa until you reach the water. Then head north along the water along the outside of the old fortification wall. Eventually you will work your way up to El Morro. Admission is reasonable and definitely worth it if you have never toured the fort.

 

After seeing the fort, getting to San Sebastian is a short walk away and there are plenty of great little bars there. I like your pub crawl suggestion as I have done this many times in Old San Juan and often, since most bars put beer in plastic cups, take my beer to go until I reach the next bar! My favorite is La Taberna Lupulo who usually has a really good craft selection, along with, local craft from a brewery over by the airport (the name escapes me at the moment).

 

Then when you are all done, hit the CVS or Walgreenes right across the pier to get anything you forgot to bring along with you.

[jean87510]

14 hours ago, hollon said:

I've posted on the San Juan site, but thought I'd get more answers here, Does anyone know of good tour operators in san juan. I wanted to do the bioilluminating kayaking and the el yunque rainforest, or anything else that comes to mind.  It's for my son's honeymoon.

is your son staying in san juan for honeymoon or cruise stop?  Agree with kayaking puerto rico tours.  Other places to visit for a snorkeling trip are Culebra/flamenco Beach but only if staying in san juan.  Also agree with all of Scottee25 suggestions.

[bobmacliberty]

We like to do walking food tours when we travel.  We enjoyed this one a coupe of years ago:

Classic Old San Juan Food Tour - Flavors Food Tours- San Juan (sanjuanfoodtours.com)

[beshears]

I have not read any of the postings here, but this is MY opinion.  I'm sure you could get a tour guide/company to do it for you.  "IF??" you are able to walk, there is quite a bit to see once you get off the ship, including the Big Fort. There were 8 of us that cruised a couple years ago and I had seen the fort, but never inside.  My grown sons wanted to SEE the inside of the fort, and i believe it was $5.00. I really didn't think much of it, but I will say, it was worth every penny to do the fort inside. The walking will take you up the hill, and down the hill close to the water.  If the ship doesn't cruise until evening late, we have boarded around 8:00PM, and everything is so pretty with the ship, etc. at nighttime. I do believe there is a bus that is free that will take you to the other smaller fort, if you don't want to walk.

[Bailey & Sophie]

8 minutes ago, beshears said:

I have not read any of the postings here, but this is MY opinion.  I'm sure you could get a tour guide/company to do it for you.  "IF??" you are able to walk, there is quite a bit to see once you get off the ship, including the Big Fort. There were 8 of us that cruised a couple years ago and I had seen the fort, but never inside.  My grown sons wanted to SEE the inside of the fort, and i believe it was $5.00. I really didn't think much of it, but I will say, it was worth every penny to do the fort inside. The walking will take you up the hill, and down the hill close to the water.  If the ship doesn't cruise until evening late, we have boarded around 8:00PM, and everything is so pretty with the ship, etc. at nighttime. I do believe there is a bus that is free that will take you to the other smaller fort, if you don't want to walk.

 

There are 2 forts on OSJ. Both walkable.

If you have a senior national park pass you can get in for free. I don't remember how many guests you can have. Just remember that pass!

One of the problems with Royal the times we have docked in OSJ is that they arrive at 2 pm. Not a lot of time to explore the forts completely.

[bobmacliberty]

The forts are a photographers dream.  So many different photo ops.  I'd also highly recommend the tunnel tour at the San Cristobal fort.  If I remember correctly though, it was only available in English at certain times and those times might not work for a cruise ship stop.

 

[hollon]

On 9/10/2021 at 6:54 AM, jean87510 said:

is your son staying in san juan for honeymoon or cruise stop?  Agree with kayaking puerto rico tours.  Other places to visit for a snorkeling trip are Culebra/flamenco Beach but only if staying in san juan.  Also agree with all of Scottee25 suggestions.

Hes staying in san juan for honeymoon - no cruise

[Iamcruzin]

I will tell you not to book the cruise ship rainforest tour.  It was described as a hike through the rainforest moderate activity level.  The day before the excursion I was having an issue with my hip and a hike wasn't in the picture for me so I had to cancel. The rest of the family took the tour. When they came back they told me that I would have been able to handle it but be glad you didn't go. It was basically a bus ride up a hill with the driver describing every pant and leaf. The only walking involved was at the top of the hill. They let you out to walk around, admire the view and take pictures. My wife told me that my walk to CVS to purchase Advil was more of a challenge for me.

[beshears]

Iamcruzin, I will say for most of my "over" 15 cruises, I have always got suggestions from people here on CC for tours, etc., instead of going through the ship, and have found I have SAVE more money this way. That is why when someone has a question on CC, and I happen to know the answer, I just want to HELP that person out, as people have helped me on CC too. 🙂