Puerto Rico has it all

How would you describe your perfect morning?

Imagine yourself Waking up naturally around 6am, feeling fully rested, start a jogging on the beach or yoga under a palm tree, admire the sunrise and immerse yourself with the sound of wave, after that have a cup of green smoothie and start the day.

Alternatively, you can start you morning by a 30min hiking in the rain forest jungle. Passing by different water falls and hear birds chirping.

Does this sound like a dream?

This was my daily life one month ago in Puerto Rico and I am going to share with you my fantastic gateway in Puerto Rico.

Use Lodging to experience different ways of island life

My first week stays in a Azure building in Old San Juan. It is really a nice to way to walk around colorful colonial buildings or jog along Castillo San Felipe del Morro, check out La Perla where Despacito shoot the music video. In the afternoon, you can casually grab mojito in hotel El Convento, a historical hotel built in 1646. Later I even reached out to the marketing/sales manager to arrange a private photo shoot. Not being a guest there, I was able to explore guest only area including a roof top pools, bar in the courtyard, and scenic stairways.

My 2nd and 3rd week stayed in Luiquillo. This reason is on northwest of Farjardo and 40miles from San Juan, but super close to all natural sources. For example, it is about 10 min drive from El Yunque Rainforest, 20 min to Biobay, and 20 min to the ferry to distance island. My Airbnb is only a street away to the Playa Azure beach and I can make rainforest hiking a daily exercise. At night kayaking to Bioluminescent bay was definitely a huge plus to the whole experience.

Become an island hopper

One of our unique experience is to visit local only beaches and become island hopper. The moment ferry opens, we went to Culebra island. This is on the east of main island, is home for flamenco beach, which was frequently voted as one of the best beaches in travel magazine. The beach definitely can compete with the tropical beaches of the Philippines and the white sands of the Florida coco beach.

Eat and drink like locals

When I drove around the island on weekends and eat at the roadside kiosks I would stop by the stand to get some Pinchos.

Pinchos, Spanish for “spikes,” are a Puerto Rican “fast food” staple. In English, the name means “skewers. You can choose different protein from chicken, pork and shrimp, flavor wise from garlic, spicy and adobo. It is usually served with a piece of bread. You’ll find them all over the island, sold by vendors who set up makeshift stands on the side of the road.

The second iconic dish is lechon. Your trip is incomplete if you never had a plate of juicy, tender, crispy skinned roasted pig. We usually drive to the mountain areas and stop by local stores. Before covid, you can see locals dancing salsa, drinking piña coladas, and feasting merrily around casual picnic-style tables.

Finally is a causal drink in PR-Gasolina. It is packaged pouches drink with rum and fruit juices. The flavor comes with sangria, mojito, passionfruit etc. since it comes with a straw insight and Alcohol content varies from 7.5% to 11%. It is very ideal drink for outdoor consumption. One local experience is to drink gasoline in the ocean. When we visited local beaches, we would love to get a bag of gasoline and lie down on the floaties.

From lodging, island hoping and food & drink, PR provides a unique way for you to experience the tropical life. I honestly had no idea it had so much to offer until I stayed longer and got to see it for myself. I think I will come back during cold winter in east coast. Maybe you can have a try too.