In search of activities, not just beach
 

Need help finding a vacation spot. We're a newlywed couple. Traveling in early November. Probably going for 10 days. For her, perfection is napping on the beach, taking a swim, a bit of shopping, nice dinner, nice resort hotel. I prefer a day filled with activities like tennis, golf, walking tours, museums, anything where I can break a sweat or learn/see new things. I enjoy the beach too. I just get bored easily.

Neither of us has been to the Caribbean. Her sister has been to Turks & Caicos and says that there is not much to do there other than beach and snorkeling. Is this true?

Just beginning our research and would appreciate any advice.

(Considering Hawaii as a Plan B. Not crazy about the long flight though. We're based in Northeast U.S.)

You may want to look into Costa Rica or Mexico's Riviera Maya.
In Costa Rica there is the rain forest, zip lining, etc.
In the Riviera Maya there are Mayan ruins to explore, zip lining, snorkling in cenotes, nature parks, etc.
Do you want an all inclusive resort? Adults only?

Here in Puerto Rico there are NO All Inclusives but there are large resort type hotels or smaller ones depends on what you want.

For a 10 day trip you could spend some of it in San Juan, some on the west coast and a day or so on Culebra or Vieques if you want a quieter time.

Check out these 2 articles on potential day trip activities http://www.visit-the-coqui.com/2010/...ial-day-trips/ and http://www.visit-the-coqui.com/2010/...ico-day-trips/

and here is a list of adventure tour operators http://www.visit-the-coqui.com/2010/...aline-junkies/

and here are some Kayak tours http://www.visit-the-coqui.com/2010/...d-kayak-tours/

Thanks for the info. All-inclusive is not a must. In fact, neither of us are big eaters, so all-inclusives may not be a good deal for us.

PR sounds great for me, but my wife preference is to stay in one spot and not have to repack/move hotels. Anything we do away from our homebase would have to be day trips.

I'll take a close look at both of your suggestions later today and will respond with more questions if I have any.

Thanks for the quick replies.

You might consider the El Conquistador resort in Fajardo. Beautiful accommodations, and not too far of a drive to San Juan (about 30 minutes) to see the museums, the fort, Old San Juan... a very short drive to the National Rain Forest Park: El Yunque, kayaking in the bioluminescent bay in Fajardo is right there - you could take a ferry to Vieques for a few days from Fajardo (I know it's repacking - but really cool island). There are other things to see (Arecibo observatory - did you see the movie Contact with Jodie Foster?), Camuy Caves, etc. but they are a bit of a hike from Fajardo.

Suggestions from a transplanted PR in Florida