Booked Tkts to Puerto Rico on the Fly...Now What Should We Do There?

[Anonymous]

DH and I did something completely "un-us"...we booked tickets (non-stop) to fly to Puerto Rico for a 4 days over the Christmas break without doing ANY research. We figured if we think too much about logistics, we might convince ourselves to stay local over the holidays. Our flight will be landing in San Juan. So now we are trying to figure out where on the Island we want to visit or is San Juan interesting enough to stay around for 4 days (i.e. where should we set up base)? What hotels do you recommend? What points of interest or must-do things do you suggest?

I am sure there are a handful of moms and dads who have flown their toddlers to Puerto Rico and might have some advice. What was your experience like?

P.S. We are taking AirTran btw. They don't have any write-ups on their website about luggage/stroller/car seat allowance so any comments would be much appreciated.

[Anonymous]

We went pre-baby so all the activities we did might not be a fit--but we stayed at the intercontinental-LOVED! WE went to Old San Juan one day which would be good with a toddler-restaurants, shops, some sightseeing-we climbed the fortress-can't remember the name. Probably wouldn't do that with child but it's a foggy memory. We went on a snorkel tour where they took us to a beach, etc-again not sure so toddler friendly.
HAve fun! LOTS OF SUNSCREEN!

[Anonymous]

visit the El Junqua Rain forest (a national Park near San Jaun). Take a trip to Culebra or Vieques (nearby islands). Very nice. San Jaun old section is nice, much of the island is filled with litter - dont leave things in plain sight.

[Anonymous]

For 4 days, i would stay in San Juan. Do one day in Old San Juan, the old historic part of town with a Fort, shopping, bars/restaurants, art galleries and museums. One day at El Junque, the rainforest, which is an hour or two drive outside the city. For that short amount of time, i wouldnt recommend going to Vieques or Culebra. Spend the other day or two at the beach. One thing to note when making hotel reservations is that Old San Juan is not near the beach. A lot of the hotels are up the coast in Isla Verde or another neighborhood I can't remember. Pre-baby we actually took the 75cent bus to old San Juan but its nota far cab ride either.

[Anonymous]

I agree that, with kids and only 4 days, you should stick to San Juan. As others have said, a trip to Old San Juan, a trip to El Yunque, plus time at the beach and pool will probably be enough action with kids. For El Yunque, I recommend renting a car for the day and driving there. Stop in the visitor's center if the kids are at an age at which they can enjoy the exhibits and explanations. Then get back in the car and drive up the mountain, stopping at different points so that you can see various sections of the rain forest without having to hike a lot with the kids. The Big Tree trail is an easy one to do and takes you to one of the nicer waterfalls. You can see another one of the falls right from the road. You can also park by the observation tower and climb up. Driving up and down the mountain and stopping at a few spots is the easiest way to get a glimpse of the rain forest with young children.

In Old San Juan the kids might enjoy the two forts (San Cristobal and El Morro). El Morro has a great esplanade in front that is great for flying kites. You can buy a cheap kite from one of the sidewalk vendors right in front. During Xmas, the old city will be very decorated and you are bound to run into music, crafts, and activities on the plazas. There's also a small children's museum across from the cathedral. The old quarter is hilly and not the easiest place to walk around with kids, but there's a free "trolley" bus that you can hop and off. You can use it to move around the old city without having to walk too much.

If you get a rainy afternoon, or need to keep the kids out of the merciless tropical sun for a few hours, take a cab to the big shopping mall, Plaza las Americas. At the mall, there will be plenty of Xmas decorations that will be fun for the kids, including climb-on type of stuff and you'll probably run into live music and Santa and the Three Kings.

If the kids can only take so much pool and beach time, there are always traveling carnivals with kiddie rides during the holidays. There's a big one near Plaza las Americas and sometimes they have a small one by Escambron Beach, next to the Caribe Hilton hotel or in front of the Capitol building at the entrance to Old San Juan. Across from Escambron Beach there is a big, old park that has playground equipment and lots of paths for kids to run around in.

The tourist areas in San Juan are, moving west to east, Old San Juan (no beach), Condado (beach and hotel strip), Ocean Park (mostly residential, with a few guesthouses and nice, long, broad beach), and Isla Verde (beach and hotel strip, larger than Condado). It's fairly easy to move between these areas by cab or public bus.

Places to stay:
Caribe Hilton - It has a sheltered private beach with very calm water that is good for little kids. It is walking distance to Escambron Beach, which also has kid-friendly calm water, and the park that I mention above. Cons - there are very few places to eat that are an easy walk from there, so you'll end up getting most of your meals at the hotel. The hotel is technically walking distance from the Condado hotel strip, which has lots of shops and restaurants. However, it is separated from Condado by the Condado Lagoon, so you have to cross a bridge and walk along an area with lots of construction and traffic, which doesn't make it an easy walk.

In Condado proper, your best choices would probably be the Condado Beach and the Marriott Stellaris. The Condado Beach doesn't have much of a beach; the guests use a small, lagoon-side strip of beach. It's not the prettiest spot, but the water is calm and safe. The Marriott is right in the heart of the Condado beach strip, it's family-friendly, and has a nice pool area. The water at Condado beach is generally pretty rough, especially in winter, so the kids will be limited in how much they can enjoy the water.

The other beach hotel area is Isla Verde, which has several beachfront hotels, including the Intercontinental, and others that are a short walk to the beach, like the Embassy Suites. This beach is longer and broader and prettier than Condado and generally not as rough, but not as safe as the beaches by the Hilton.

In the Condado and Isla Verde neighborhoods you will have plenty of restaurants, including a lot of kid-friendly options, grocery stores, and places like Walgreens, where you can kids' stuff, beach toys, etc.

If you want to do some research, the Puerto Rico forum at tripadvisor.com is very active and has tons of good information.

Enjoy your trip!

[Anonymous]

Thank you all for the great advice. (14:38, special thanks for taking the time out to write all that!) Last night, I did a little of reading on some tourism websites and was initially thinking maybe we'd stay on the East side so that we can be near Luquillo. However, it seems like with 4 days everyone is suggesting San Juan with an eastbound excursion so we will consider this instead.

[Anonymous]

Highly recommend dinner at the Parrot Club in Old San Juan.

El Morro is definitely worth a visit.

[Anonymous]

OP here. So we took your collective advice and staying in San Juan. Just booked at the Hilton Caribe for 4 nights. Can you give advice on the availability of whole milk or yogurt at any stores in San Juan? Is there a place to get Huggies diapers? We normally do organic everything for our toddler but that might not be an option so I'm just hoping there's at least milk and yogurt available. I hear there is a Walmart but that's all the way on the east side of Puerto Rico.

[Anonymous]

OP, you do know that PR is part of the US? You are not going to a third world country. I'm sorry to sound flip but I just kind of laughed when I read your last post. I lived there for a few years back in the 70's and go back every year. The Caribe Hilton is in Condado. You will be able to find everything you need. I believe there is a Walgreen's very close to the Caribe Hilton. Have a wonderful trip.

[Anonymous]

We lived in Viejo San Juan for part of 2001. Pre-baby, of course!

To add to the comments above, as of last Jan, they had set up a small children's museum in Old San Juan, which was very useful for keeping our then-2-yr-old occupied on a rainy day. Forget the name, but it is right next to El Convento hotel. It is like a very very mini Port Discovery museum minus the climbing structure (instruments, play area for babies, dress-up areas, weather experiments, duck pond where you can construct a path for rubber ducks).

FYI There is a Walgreens very close to the Caribe Hilton. For foodstuffs, try the Pueblo in Condado and don't miss the Plaza del mercado for fruits and batidas (smoothies).

But don't expect access to organic stuff - it is very hard to come by in PR. We stowed an 18-pk carton of Horizon milk in our check-in luggage (plastic bagged 4 times!), and it came in handy, as we were mostly in Fajardo for our last trip and didn't have easy access to shopping.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, 00:36 here again. 14:38 is right that Condado Walgreens is a hike (but short cab ride) from the Hilton.

But once you are in the heart of Condado, the kids can play a few blocks from there at a local playground in the park between Calle Luchetti and Calle Magdalena. We also snuck into the pool at the Marriott several times; it has a zero-depth entry and has fountains that make it great fun for toddlers. As long as you don't look local, they don't check for hotel cards...

[Anonymous]

Thank you 00:26 for the reply. I figure Organic might be hard to come by as well but thanks for the confirmation. Our baby loves the yobaby yogurt brand (he eats it with his oatmeal/snack) but I am going to guess that it might be hard to come by P.R. Thanks for the helpful tips.