One Week Itinerary - Puerto Rico
 

We are planning a family vacation (2 teens) to PR in March and have drafted the following itinerary. We're booked to stay the first 6 nights at Las Casitas Village in Fajardo and one night near the airport in San Juan. We plan to spend the last day and evening in Old San Juan. Are debating whether to shave off another night at Las Casitas and take the early ferry to Vieques go to some beaches, do the bio bay tour, spend the night on Vieques and return first thing in the morning. (My husband wonders if the bio bay tour off of Fajardo is just as good and perhaps we should forgo the trip to Vieques???) Also wondering about inexpensive deep sea 1/2 day fishing charters. Any comments on the itinerary below would be appreciated:

Day 1: Arrive 9:45 pm; Pick up rental car and Drive to Las Casitas Hotel and Golden Door Spa in Fajardo

Day 2: Hang around hotel and take ferry to hotel's private island beach

Day 3: Hiking El Yunque and spend late afternoon at hotel or local beach

Day 4: Aricebo Observatory and Rio Camuy Cave

Day 5: Hang out at Hotel and Island

Or

Ferry to Culebra

Day 6: Colonial Guayama and Ponce

Or

Ferry to Vieques for Beaches & Bioluminescent Bay; spend night on Vieques

Day 7: Ferry back to Fajardo and leave for San Juan; Tour Old San Juan: Castillo de San Cristobal,El Moro and Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico; Stay at Hotel Villa Del Sol

I have not been to the bio bay in PR, but have read it is not a good as the one in Vieques. We have been to the VQS biobay several times and it never ceases to amaze us!!
Vieques is so different and has some great beaches you can explore also.

We went to Las Casitas last year and had a great time. The pool had an amazing view and is so nice and peaceful if you don't want to take the ferry to the private island.
We didn't do the bio bay tour, but some friends of ours did and they thought it was great. Not sure how it compares to Vieques but I know they enjoyed it and didn't have to worry about leaving the hotel for the night...

Have a great time! They have a band that plays in the Lobby part of El Conquistador on some nights and we really enjoyed the music, many people were salsa dancing. and the spa was nice too- I had a really good massage and the products they had were nice too.

First check the Island Adventures website for the biobay tour on Vieques. If it's a full moon there won't be a trip anyway. the BIOBAY is best when the moon is new ... the less light the better so make your decisions on when to go based on the moon calendar.

Would be interested in hearing more about recommendations for our itinerary above. We will have a week total and won't have time to do both Culebra and Vieques for sure. Which would be preferable: Culebra for a day trip and visit to the Bio Bay in Fajardo or ferry to Vieques, do the Bio Bay and a couple beaches and spend one night, returning early morning? Or perhaps skip both and just hang out at the El Conquistador and surrounding area for an extra day.

I would definately choose Vieques over Culebra. The biggest attraction there is Flamenco beach. Taxis go there but not sure if they go to the other beaches. Some fun places to eat in Dewey(where the ferry lets off). Also the ferry ride is a good hour and a half. If you choose Vieques, you have the added attraction of the bio bay. You will probably have to do it by kayak. Island Adventures boat is still down and the lates I have heard the mid March, but things are hard to get here. There are many beautiful beaches here and I think they are closer in proximity than the ones in Culebra. Whatever you decide...have fun!

Skip Ponce- it's ok , but OSJ is pretty much the same, only lots more of it and much closer.

And just so you don't make our mistake- Luquillo and Luquillo Beach are not the same, Luquillo Beach is the second exit of the two on the way back from Fajardo.

We stayed at canario by the lagoon www.canariohotels.com and took tours, it work out really nice:
Day one.........rain forest with beach
Day two ....... all day snorkeling -catamaran trip
Day three....... tour of old San Juan and rum distillery
Day four........ trip to caverns with observatory
day five......... horse back riding
day six........city of Ponce tour in the south
day seven...... night kayak at luminiscent bay
for a great local tour guide check out [email protected]

I just came back from 5 days in Puerto Rico, and can share some notes regarding your full itinerary. We (my two brothers and two kids aged 10 & 8) stayed in a 2 bedroom time share/condo at Palmas del Mar in Humaco, 30 miles south of Fajardo. We packed in so much into such a short time, here are the best highlights.

El Yunque Rainforest and Luquillo Beach: plan 3-4 hours driving/hiking in the rain forest. Take greats pics of La Mina falls about 30 minute hike each way. Then plan he rest of the day visiting Liquillo Beach, Puerto Rico's most famous beach and hang out eating local food at the kiosk booths at the west end of the beach.

Fahardo's Bioluminescent Bay and a visit to the El Conquistador hotel. After spend most of the day at the pool, we left about 4 pm. We visited the El Conquistador, the most awesome hotel on the island. The hotel is based at the highest point in Fajardo, and the views of the surrounding islands and cays are just incredible. There are several connecting swimming pools with very tall pillars, which are great for photos (and weddings). There's also a nice casino on property. Just tell the guard at the base, you want to go to the casino. We took a bio bay kayak tour, which was fantastic. It was not as good as the bio bay on Vieques, but it was still great. We did not have advanced reservations, but still hooked up with a tour for $30 each.

Ricon, Aquadilla and the Skyline Mountain Highway Drive; Rincon is known for some nice beaches, snorkeling, surfing and whale watching. We decided to hit the other side of the island for an all-day visit. After about 2 hour drive, we decided to skip the Aricebo Observatory and Rio Camuy Caves, and hit the Western beaches. Aquadilla's Crashboat beach is superb. Ricon has several nice calm beaches with good snorkeling and others with big waves for the surfing crowd. Also, you must get to the Caves, very early for a 2 1/2 hour tour, because it sells out quickly. BTW, the Mountain Drive offers some fantastic views, not to be missed.

Vieques - We took the early ferry over and returned on the 6pm. We did not want to spend all day on the beach, so Vieques offered more than Culebra, plus I went to Culebra last time. Sun, Media Luna and Navio are really nice beaches; however Red Beach is a stunner that should make anyone's top ten beach list. The beaches on Veiques and Culebra have much whiter sand and much more beautiful than those on the main island.

Old San Juan - fantastic end to a go-go trip. BTW, if you have kids, a must see are the pigeons at the park near the "Old San Juan Gate" - great photos of the friendliest pigeons in the world.

Ive never been to Culebra, but heard it's really cool. The phospherescent Bay in Vieques is worth the trip. Both Culebra and Vieques would top anything in Fajardo. Id try to do both of those islands(Vieques and Culebra), and spend less time on PR. I think youll be dissapointed by the traffic and pollution in San Juan and Fajardo. Id delete the observatory and caves.

After rethinking our itinerary in light of some of the feedback, I am considering the following:

Day 1: Arrive 9:45 pm; Pick up rental car and stay near Dorado.

Day 2: Aricebo Observatory and Rio Camuy Cave and Rincon; Drive to Las Casitas in Fajardo (where we have reservations for several nights).

Day 3: Hang around hotel and take ferry to hotel's private island beach

Day 4:Hiking El Yunque and spend late afternoon at Luquillo Beach

Day 5: Hang out at Hotel and Island

Or

Ferry to Culebra

Day 6: Ferry to Vieques for Beaches & Bioluminescent Bay; spend night on Vieques

Day 7: Ferry back to Fajardo and leave for San Juan; Tour Old San Juan and spend the night at Hotel Villa Del Sol near the airport

Any thoughts on the above itinerary would be much appreciated. We decided to forgo Ponce. Is it too much to try to do the Caves, Observatory, Rincon and get to Fajardo in one day? Is it worth the trip to Rincon?

I think it depends on your travel style and teenagers. My husband and I feel like we're doing well if we're up, showered and ready to go by noon.

A few people told us to go to Rincon, but no one ever said what was there, so we put it off until the next trip.

Rincon is just another beach town. Famous for it's surfing. No need to include it, unless you are really wanting to squeeze another town in.