1 week in San Juan
 

Hi,
Seven couples in our 50's and 60's will be spending a week in San Juan. We will have vans for 3 days for golf and exploring.
Can you please suggest day trips that would be within driving distance of San Juan?
Where would we park in Old San Juan?
Is Fajarda a long distance to go for a daysail ?
Is it safe to drive to Fajarda and back in the evening for the bioluminescent bay?
Any favorites you want to share would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

It's 50 miles from San Juan to Fajardo - about 1:15 drive time. You'll have to decide for yourself if you consider that distance/travel time to be "long".

Most of it is "highway driving" so driving there and back in the evening is probably as safe as driving on a highway to someplace a hour or so away from where you live.

It's a bit far to drive all the way to the western end of Puerto Rico, but you can get almost anywhere else on the island in 2 hours or less, so I'd say virtually the entirety of Puerto Rico can be seen on day-trips. I'd budget time as necessary to see the things you wish to see. Certainly El Yunque and the biobay.

But if you feel uncomfortable at driving at night, then there are organized excursions to the biobay to alleviate nighttime driving, and they don't cost that much more.

Thank you for your help.
We leave tomorrow. Goodbye snow!

Puerto Rico is 100 x 35 miles. From San Juan to Rincón, which is probably the farthest place from San Juan will take you around 2.5 hours. The traffic can be a little crazy during the week, because almost everybody works in San Juan, but it's not a big deal. Try to go always in the opposite direction of the traffic flow, in the the morning people go to San Juan from other municipalities, so in the morning if you go from San Juan to other places you'll be fine and during the evenings is the other way around.

There are three main parking lots in Old San Juan these are Doña Fela Parking (Located in the South Side, near the cruises and main hotels, its a multilevel parking), La Puntilla Parking (Right next to Doña Fela's parking, this one dosen't have shelter which can be bad if its raining) and Vallaja Parking (An underground parking in the north side of Old San Juan, it's located in front of the El Morro Castle). I'll recommend you Doña Fela's or La Puntilla.

The rain forest visit would be a nice trip if you are looking for waterfalls and the jungle experience also there horse back riding near the forest and also beaches. The Trump golf Course is also near the rain forest. Dorado del Hotel is also a nice destination with a respectable golf course. You also consider vieque and culebra island you can take the ferry in Fajardo. Isabela a municipality in the west north shore is full of nice beaches and adventures.

To get to Fajardo you 'll probably drive around an hour, the fastest way to get to Fajardo is by the highway PR#3, which goes from San Juan to Fajardo.

It's safe to drive, there are safety issues, normally there are a lot of police around the highways, there are nice with tourists. There some parts that look like a little bit country, but that's all. People are very nice with tourists. The roads are well illuminated, sometimes the road's surface have ome imperfections but nothing to worry about. You can take a look to this article http://www.valifante.com/travel-tips...ound-like-pro/. I hope you enjoy your stay and feel free to ask any questions. Have fun.

Josue A. Rodriguez
www.valifante.com