Welcome to
Puerto Rico
Welcome to Puerto Rico, the island of enchantment, a tropical paradise in the Caribbean. I hope this travel guide will help you discover the best of it. Most visitors do the same few things when they visit, with this guide, you’ll see there’s more to do in Puerto Rico than many believe. I have met few people who have explored Puerto Rico as thoroughly as I have. Still, there’s always more to see around the bend.
Relax on picturesque beaches. Learn how to surf on sandy, shallow beaches, or tackle world-class swells. Snorkel in crystal clear water full of aquatic life. Scuba with blacktip reef sharks. Hike to one of the island’s many waterfalls, or cool off in a river while exploring the island’s interior. Taste the local flavors with traditional food. From mofongo to lechón to mixed rice, learn which dishes you shouldn’t miss during your visit. Use my travel itineraries to help you plan some of the best things you can do while touring Puerto Rico.
I love getting out and seeing the many wonderful things Puerto Rico has to offer and I’m confident you will too. With this travel guide, you’ll have everything you need to explore this beautiful island. So get excited and get ready to discover the magic of the Isla del Encanto!
The Island
Puerto Rico is an archipelago located in the northeastern Caribbean Sea between the Dominican Republic and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It consists of one main island, two smaller inhabited islands, and 140 other uninhabited islands, keys, islets, and atolls. The main island is the smallest and most eastern island of the Greater Antilles. It has roughly 3.2 million residents, though that number has historically decreased yearly due to immigration to the United States. Puerto Rico is about the size of the state of Connecticut (3,515 sq mi). The island is roughly rectangular in shape, with a length of about 110 miles from east to west and a width of about 35 miles from north to south. Puerto Rico’s terrain ranges from sandy beaches to rugged mountains and dense forests. The island’s highest peak stands at 4,390 ft above sea level.
Puerto Rico has a tropical climate, with the temperature hovering around 80º F throughout the year. The ocean’s water temperature remains relatively consistent throughout the year, between 75-85°F. The Caribbean Sea is a few degrees warmer than the Atlantic Ocean. The island’s critical infrastructure is outdated, underfunded, and often damaged. The power is expensive and goes out rather frequently. The roads are in disrepair with potholes big enough to pop tires, even on the freeway sometimes.
Puerto Rico is highly vulnerable to hurricanes due to its location in the Atlantic hurricane belt. The hurricane season typically runs from June 1st through November 30th, with the most active period being mid-August to late October. In 2022, category 1 Hurricane Fiona passed over the island. As far as hurricanes go, it was a lightweight but it was my first time being in a hurricane and once was enough for me. I watched part of the hill behind our home break off in a landslide and hit the side of the house. We fled, driving through pouring rain dodging landslides and fallen trees to get to a friend’s house in a safer location. I can’t imagine what a storm like Hurricane Maria was like. Maria made landfall in 2017 as a Category 4 hurricane, causing widespread devastation and resulting in thousands of deaths (the number is disputed). Living in a place this beautiful has to have a catch, right?
The Author
Hi, I’m Zach! I lived in Puerto Rico with my wife Indi for 2.5 years. We moved to Caguas for her graduate program and instantly fell in love with the island. We lived in a small, lovely home perched on the side of a mountain with a beautiful view. I will leave the intro I wrote when I first created this website stand in the present tense, changing it to the past tense hurts too much:
A small red and white house lies hidden down a small country road being eroded by iguana burrows. By day you can see lush, green mountains extend around a small valley. A river, whose banks swell and recede with the rainfall, cuts a path between the verdant walls. A short ride on my moped takes me to a small waterfall that flows into a round pool where green herons fish and locals cool off. By night, a giant white cross on the hill just below us lights up. It was once clearly visible from our driveway, but over time trees have grown up to hide it from view. On Wednesday and Sunday, the sound of the church’s hymns can be heard from our porch. The night comes alive with the sound of frogs and insects and the occasional Puerto Rican screech owl. House geckos crawl around our house’s exterior (and interior) to hunt bugs drawn by the light of our home. The occasional firefly blinks in and out of sight, sometimes making it inside the house before I catch and release it outside. I feel lucky every day to live here and do my best to never take it for granted.
We love exploring the island and since moving here, have done and seen a lot. I take my drone and GoPro with me often to capture our adventures. My Google Maps is a messy mix of pins marking where I want to visit and where I have already been. The best adventure is always the next one. We have played the part of tour guide for friends and family on numerous occasions, crafting itineraries for each. After a while, I decided to put together a travel guide building off of the itineraries and videos I’ve created. What started as a Google Doc, grew into this website. I hope you find my Puerto Rican travel experience useful in planning your next visit!
The Rating System
On each individual page of a beach, waterfall, cultural site, etc., you will see a rating on a scale of 0-5 stars. This is my evaluation of how everything you could possibly do in Puerto Rico compares with alternatives. In other words, 5 stars rank as one of the best places you could visit on your trip. Likewise, 1 star means there are better alternatives. However, Puerto Rico is full of many amazing things to see. So, a 1-star rating doesn’t mean the place isn’t beautiful or worth seeing. On the contrary, if it made it on my website, it’s worth visiting. I hope the stars will give you a general guide to how you might prioritize your time in deciding what to fit into your visit to the island.
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