A Guide of the Paradise That is Puerto Rico

When planning a 25th birthday getaway I wanted my travel buddy, peace, tropics, and lots of activities so Puerto Rico was a no-brainer!

With plentiful clear sand and turquoise water beaches, we weren’t lacking places to go! Lucky for us, we had a beautiful private beach at our hotel, Caribe Hilton San Juan. We were able to do a SeaTrek Snuba Diving tour of the bottom of that very ocean from the hotel! We can’t swim but wanted to pretend we were mermaids, so we wore 40lb astronaut helmets and walked along the bottom of the ocean with a guide.

Puerto Rico is so much more fun for those who can actually swim and scuba dive, lucky for me the guides on all of our island excursions were happy to tie floatees to me and drag me around the water. We also took a trip to the isle of Icacos and saw private islands along the way that looked like something out of a dream! There are several beautiful islands you can tour, most tours leave from Fajardo so it’s worth it to perhaps stay there a few days if the tour companies can’t pick up from San Juan.

We didn’t need a car the entire trip as taxis were easy and relatively safe—we toured Old San Juan and the San Cristobal forts all on our own, on foot! We did a semi-guided hike of El Yunque rainforest. It was the first hike I have ever done, and I seriously thought I was going to puke, but it was well worth it to see the clear spring falls and enjoy one of the world’s rainforests.

For my food lovers, ropa Viejas, tres leches cake, mofongo, espresso and affogatoand fried plantains are a must. Puerto Rico makes its own coffee, and rum is plentiful—this is the place to go! We didn’t get to enjoy any nightlife but there are several rooftop bars, a hookah lounge called Pani Agua, and other clubs mostly located in hotels that surely are a good time.

Here’s some of my favorite shots from my trip: