mamadadapaige

Hello,
Planning a one week trip to PR for February 2010. Family of four with two children, 8 and 4 years old. Kids will want the beach and pool.

I am leaning toward renting a villa so that we have a little more space and was thinking that probably one on the grounds of the big resorts would be a good idea for access to kids club, pools, etc. It seems El Conquistador and Wyndham have these options and you can book directly with them (at a very high price), but looking around on the internet it seems there is the option to book direct with an owner (have seen some on vrbo and homeaway). Does anyone know if there is a disadvantage to going direct to owner? or if anyone has done this, any advice you can pass on as to location, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

It is hard to understand what the layout is of these resorts. Will we be tucked in a remote corner away from pools, beach, etc. if we are in a villa... will we even have access to hotel amenities?

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On another note, I would LOVE to experience the bio bay. Does anyone know if children are allowed to do this and also, for a one week trip would it be worthwhile to spend a few nights in Vieques and if so any recommendations of accomodations that would be good with kids?

THANK YOU so much!

mamadadapaige

Also, if we are in Puerto Rico for 7 nights, what would be a good split of time for Vieques and Puerto Rico?

sassy_cat

Hi mama,
Yes, kids can do the biobay in Vieques. Look at the Island Adventures website for details.

http://www.biobay.com/

I really like Vieques and would probably spend the whole week there but maybe a 4/3 split would suit your family. With 3 nights on Vieques you'd need to rent a car. The beaches are wonderful.

*Important* First check the moon calendar as the biobay is best seen around the new moon when it is dark!

We've rented through VRBO on Vieques but the house was not on the beach (very little property actually is).
I can also highly recommend Hectors by the sea!

http://www.hectorsbythesea.com/

mamadadapaige

Thank You Sassy Cat!
I have been on vrbo for the past couple of days and emailing owners and I am fine with not being on the beach. A pool at the house would be great and it seems most of them have that. An ocean view would also be nice! (and again the ones I have looked at seem to have that).

A friend of mine echoed what you said about staying the whole week in Vieques and I am open to that idea, but I was thinking it would be nice to see some of the sights on P.R., such as the rainforest and perhaps a 1/2 day in Old San Juan... my husband though I think would prefer to just stay in one place and is much more into quiet and relaxation and thus I think would be happy to stay at Vieques for the week. I on the other hand love relaxation but also am concerned that a week of beaching with no variation might get just a bit boring???

anyway, am definitely open to shifting the days more in favor or Vieques and yes, I checked the moon chart and our timing is ideal.

any other advice would be greatly appreciated.

doug_stallings

Vieques does have several different beaches, so you would have some variety. You might want to look for a condo in San Juan. There are a lot of condos in the Condado area, and you might be able to rent a large condo that's near but not on the beach. That's a very convenient location. There are also a lot of larger accommodations in the Rincon area, so I'd look there as well.

sassy_cat

mama,
We've found it's sometimes difficult to get directly to Vieques on arrival and departure days due to flight times (plus we prefer to take the ferry to Vieques) so we've stayed in PR for a night or two at the beginning or end of our trip.
El Yunque is definitely worth a visit and your kids might be up to the waterfall hike (it takes less than an hour but it isn't that far... it's slippery though. Wear swimsuits for a dip in the pool)

Last time we were there we stayed a whole week on Vieques and didn't get bored (we all went to the biobay, our kids went horse riding and we snorkeled every day)

Best advice I can give you is to book a car as soon as possible as they do book up quickly and also book your biobay date/time. I recommend going on the pontoon at the earlier time with kids or it'll be a late night for the little ones!

mamadadapaige

Thank you so much.. .very helpful. I am getting very excited for this trip!

Oldanalyst

My wife and I spent 11 days in PR 2 years ago and loved it. This time, our youngest son and his family - wife and 8,6 and 4 yr old children- are coming along. We rented a villa in the Humacao area (south east) at Palmas del Mar. It is a LOT cheaper than El Conquistador (which is a magnificant place). I can't tell you if this was a wise move but we are within easy driving distance of the bio bay at Fajardo (which we visited last trip - magnificant), El Yunque (rain forest) and many other places. We did find that a number of places require children to be over 10 or 12. I did find that it is easy to communicate by e-mail or phone with most any place and find out details. Virtually all tourist places have someone who speaks English. We intend to take a trip to Vieques from a dock within walking distance of our Villa.

We have friends who said this was the way to go since we have a villa with full kitchen, multiple bedrooms, multiple bathrooms, a pool on site, the ocean within view and 2 golf courses for my son. There are wildlife refuges near and at Fajardo (within easy driving distance). We checked all of these out on Google earth so we know where all of them are. Too bad our timing was not earlier so we could tell you about our trip. However, we feel that the villa approach is the right way to go for larger groups. For 4 people, you will have to decide for yourself.

moejoect

Hi Mama- My husband and I are set for a trip at the end of Feb. as well. We have 2 boys 11 and 14 and are excited to sightsee. We are staying in Dorado and plan to rent a car. Have you booked either the biobay or rainforest yet? I am wondering which tour agency to use. I have heard Island Adventures is good but would like a few to compare. Thanks for any help or advice anyone has.

Oldanalyst

If you have a car, why pay for someone to take you to El Yunque (rainforest) from Dorado. Entry to the park is free although you need to pay for entry to the visitors center. All you really need is a map of the place and you can explore on your own. Many guide books describe El Yunque in detail.

When we went to the biobay at Fajardo (which was spectacular), there were many companies taking people on the trip. I'm not sure one is better than the other. Be sure to look up the phases of the moon before scheduling a trip. A full moon will make the bay less spectacular. You can arrange a trip when you get to PR. In fact, people were arranging trips at the takeoff spot when we took the trip. Since you have a car, you can drive to the takeoff spot, park and save $$ over having some tour group pick you us.

newlywed

I am contemplating taking the ferry to Vieques, however it is 1 hour and 15 minutes long and I will have an 11 month old with me. I am thinking this will be too long of a trip for us all (as well as the other passengers!), so am leaning toward not going. Does anyone have insight ont traveling to Vieques with a baby?? Thanks!

Weadles

I'm pretty sure that there's plane service available between Fajardo and Vieques, and it's a quick flight. I have no idea how much $$ it is. Somebody here probably knows? Good luck!

snorkelluvn

My teen daughter's favorite things when we were there last summer: biobay, Vieques, El Yunque. If you are okay with the extra expense, consider the quick flight to Vieques, which is another adventure with great Caribbean views. Whatever you do, go to Vieques and take their tour vs. Fajardo. Getting in the water makes allt he difference...swish your hair, lift your arm out of the water and it looks like fiberoptics and tiny diamonds cascading off your arm. Island Adventures was very good--the guide was bilingual and great with young kids and older folks, informative and sense of humor. If you don't want to rent a place there, lots of inns have kitchenettes. If you stay in a place in Esperanza (town), you can walk to some lovely beaches and good restaurants. Rent a car, definitely! We ended our trip with two nights at the Wyndham RioMar. That made it very easy to drive to El Yunque, which we easily did ourselves. There is a visitor and ranger stations and you can find trail tips from sights like Gotopuertorico.com. Get to El Yunque early, cuz it's pretty then and less chance of clouds, and sooooo much less crowded! Rio mar has beautiful grounds. The villas are just to the side of the hotel. You'll be glad to have a kitchen, as drinks/food can add up. Lots of stores on highway.It is a lovely resort.
If your husband is a laid-back, stay-in-one-place kinda guy, you might skip San Juan (although Old San Juan is very cool and the kids would love the fort and strolling the Paseo de la Princesa along the waterfront/old city walls), as it is a city and San Juan has the traffic and hustle that goes with a city.

snorkelluvn

Also, plane to/from Vieques no longer goes to Fajardo. It is a new airport in Ceiba, maybe 10 minute drive from Fajardo on the main highway.