Zeissy

My husband and I are planning a 7 day trip to Puerto Rico in November. Main interests are: secluded beaches, street food and a few casinos while on the mainland.

At this point we are looking at:
- San Juan (at least for our fist night- visiting the Santruce district from there, and casinos)
- Veiques (Not sure how many nights to plan there- at least two if not three?)
- Rincon (is this worth the drive to stay out at that end to explore Crashboat beach, Isabella, etc? Or too much of a drive for such limited time?)
-Luquilla area/Pinones (for food stands and beaches)
- Camuy caves (are these worth exploring? Are they easily accessible via San Juan or Rincon?)
- Guavate for Thanksgiving day (which, btw- does anyone know if the stands will be open that day? I assume this is most easiest accessed from San Juan as a home base?)

We have a lot of points of interest here and I am not sure in what order to do all them, if we should keep moving around from hotel to hotel, or which areas I might avoid to keep the trip less travel, more relaxation. Any advice on what route we should take and what order to do it in would be greatly appreciated!

Also looking forward to any recommendations on budget friendly eating (local cuisine for sure) or good places to grab some street food as well as any secluded beaches in the above referenced areas. Thanks!

tom42

That sounds like an ambitious itinerary for a 7 day trip. Rincon and Vieques are in opposite directions from San Juan. If you are flying into San Juan, then you will have either a 2 1/2 hour drive to Rincon or a several hour trip to Vieques via car and ferry or a couple of hours by plane (including the time to get to and wait at the airport and get to your hotel on Vieques). Then you would have to spend basically an entire day getting from Vieques to Rincon or vice versa. This is all in addition to your plan to visit Guavate, the caves and Loquillo.

With a seven day trip, I would either do San Juan and Rincon or San Juan and Vieques, but not all three. That being said, maybe you are the type of traveler who likes to be on the go all the time. If so, then you may be fine with all three.

kamilaflower

I think its too much for 7 days. You should do Vieques and San Juan and you have time to go to Guavate and Luquillo and maybe try the rainforest if you interested. Rincon is beautiful but November is like "surfer season" so usually theres a lot of waves in that area. The caves are in the West side too. You should add a trip to Bioluminiscent Bay as well, since its very pretty at night. Casino's i would recommend Sheraton Convention Center Hotel Casino. Its very big and nice and the Ritz Carlton though there other hotels that have casinos.

lifesabeach1

My family of four stayed in a beachfront high rise condo in Luquillo and it was an excellent home base for exploring Puerto Rico. We did day trips to San Juan, different beaches and state parks, the rainforest, zodiak boatride, etc. and returned "home" to the nearby restaurants and fabulous kioskos (food shacks) close by. I also recommend the bioluminescent bay nighttime kayak trip. A once in a lifetime experience and I've gone twice! I think you'd get more out of the island (including relaxation) by planning day trips out of one, central location rather than packing, unpacking and travel. Whatever you decide - you'll love PR. Have fun! : )