Puerto Rico Car help
 

We'll be going to Vieques for 5 days in December. Afterwards we are at the El Conquistador for 2. While at the El Conquistador we would like to see El Yunque and Old San Juan. Would you recommend that we rent a car for these 2 trips? I hear driving in San Juan is rough but my concern is we are taking the morning or noon ferry back from Vieques to save money because there are 3 of us and we can't check into our hotel around 3 or 4. So what do with our luggage all that time? I'd like to rent a car in Fajardo but be able to drop it off at the airport. Can anyone recommend a car rental agency?

Also, how is parking in Old San Juan? Is the drive from El Conquistador to El Yunque and Old San Juan a rough drive? How long would it take to get to both destinations?

Also, any recommendations for dining near the El Conq. that is moderate in price?
Thanks very much!

We are leaving next week, and doing something similar. From Fajardo we are going to rent a car drive to El Yunque and then drop off in San Juan. San Juan is supposed to be hard to get around in a car. We are not going to keep ours while we are there. I'll let you know how it all works out and restaurant recommendations.

Thanks Burnsie, hope you have a safe and fun trip. I went ahead and booked with Avis which is in the hotel. Arranged drop off for at the airport. Would still like to hear others experiences.

Restaurants near El Conquistador: There are lots of inexpensive and moderate restaurants serving Puerto Rican food & seafood on Rt. 987 in Las Croabas fishing village. I've wandered into a few, but unfortunately don't remember the names. One of the better known, is Rosa's Seafood, but I don't remember eating there.

Driving to El Yunque and Old San Juan: El Yunque is not that far from Fajardo. Should take less than half an hour on Route 3. To Old San Juan, it'll be about 1-1.5 hours depending on traffic. Once you leave the town of Fajardo, most of the drive is on Rt. 3, which is a busy, 4-6 lanes road. There's lots of stoplights, strip malls, and often there's road construction along the way, so it's not one of the most pleasant drives, but it's a straight, easy route.

Parking in Old San Juan: There's a couple of cheap municipal parking garages near the piers. The largest one is Covadonga, right behind the main bus terminal in front of the cruise ship piers. You should be able to find a parking space there. In the rare event that it's full, there are some open air lots near Covadonga in front of the piers. The bottom line is you don't want to drive your car into the heart of Old San Juan, but it should be pretty easy to find parking on the edge of the old city by the piers. So, approach the old city from the southern access along the bay & piers, rather from the north, along the Capitol and San Cristobal Fort. From Covadonga, you can hop on to the free "trolleys" or just walk up the hill to the heart of the old town.

PRNative thanks again for your wonderful advice!

No problem driving in Puerto Rico, except that they use every square inch of ashphalt and then some!

Think LA traffic is bad....wait until you get a load of traffic in PR!!

Plan your trip in off peak hours, especially if you are heading back to the airport....because the traffic is horrendous.

I always use AVIS, no problems, but all the majors are there and they are real ifficient. Takes about 10 minutes to get the shuttle to the rental parking.

Parking in Old San Juan is just like any other tourist city, lots of parking up and down hills and streets, and you have to search hard to find a spot.

While your in Old San, be sure to take the old fort tour it is just 2$.

As far as a restaurant, there are lots of decent ones (except I have to say The Palms at Isle Verde is not very good) I highly highly recomend that every person who visits PR go at least once to Ajili Mojili, which is authentic gourmet PR food. I believe that the owners/chef were the ones who made famous the Mofungo...you gotta try!

We only have 2, well really 1.5 days on the main island. I would like to see the private island the hotel has - Palomino or something. So I'm thinking that the afternoon we come in from Vieques we do that. Then Friday head to El Yunque around 9 am till around noon and then head to Old San Juan till about 7 or 8. I know that isn't a whole lot of time but is that sufficient to get a good overview?

Our plane doesn't leave until 10:05 on a Saturday. I was planning on leaving El Conquistador at 7 that morning. Is that enough time to get to the airport and checked in or should we leave earlier?

Also I have to admit I am getting a bit nervous about all these comments about driving in Puerto Rico. Is it really that bad? I've never been to LA so don't know what its like but I have driven in NYC lots of times. Is it worse than that?

I would not worry too much about the driving, as long as you are not a timid driver. You have to be a bit aggressive...but the main problem is the road signs. Exit signs and directions are very very bad, and it is real easy to miss your exit. Very confusing place to drive so, just keep that in mind. Make sure you lay out the driving directions before you leave and keep an eye on the map. Typically an exit sign will notify you of the exit a millisecond prior to the exit.

Personally I think you are wasting your time going out to that resort. I have done the trip myself because everyone told me I had to go there....but the drive was totally unremarkable, and the traffic and stop and go, and the numerous lights made the trip really annoying. Especially given the length of time you have, I would concentrate on going to the beaches at Isle Verdi, and wandering around Old San Juan which has some very interesting shops, and sights.

I have always said that PR is a long weekend vacation...go for the food and the beaches, so I think you will be fine, but I would definately not do the long trip you had in mind.

The traffic to the airport is horrible at 3:30pm - 6:30pm and in the early morning, so keep that in mind. That is why I almost always stay at Isle Verdi as it is just blocks away from the airport.

Coming from Old San Juan could be a real nail bitter if you travel at the wrong time, or worse yet get lost! It has taken me well over an hour to make the trip from San Juan to the airport in Isle Verdi during the rush hour.

If you speak spanish that could be very useful, because it is predominent, and don't be surprised if you have a hard time finding someone to speak english if you get lost.

Well ok - I am an aggresive driver. Don't speak Spanish other than a few words.
We picked that hotel because the ones we wanted we either couldn't get for the dates we wanted or couldn't get a room that was suitable for 3 of us. It was during the 3 day sale Wyndham recently had and the price was too good to resist. We're mostly going for Vieques but would like to see a little of the main island if we can.

Ok, here's my opinion:
If you can deal with agressive drivers and NYC traffic, you don't need to be scared of PR drivers. I don't think the driving is much worse than in many of the notorious bad-driving areas in the US, it's just bad in a different way. For example, in spots like NYC and the DC 'burbs, you'll get a lot of speeding, tailgating, light-running, and hostile road rage. In PR, you'll find a mix of speeding and too-slow cars, a disregard for passing v. slow lanes, light-running, and very "creative" maneuverings (zigzagging, trying to turn from middle lanes), but very little tailgating or road rage (people will just move around you if they think you're too slow, they won't try to force you out of their way). If you know to expect this kind of driving, you'll be able to deal with it.

Palomino: Some people really like Palomino because it has white sands and clear water, others don't think it's worth the hassle of the boat trip. I've never been, nor am I dying to go. I can find plenty of beaches I love on the main island. But, being a PR native, I don't think the only worthy beaches are white sand/turquoise water ones. I grew up on, and still love, golden sand/emerald waters/palm-lined beaches. Anyway, you'll be coming from Vieques, where you'll have seen plenty of great beaches. But if you want more beach after that, sure, go to Palomino, especially since you'll only have half a day that first day on Fajardo.

El Yunque/OSJ in one day: Driving out of Fajardo at 9 or 9:30 should be late enough to miss the worst of any morning rush hour there might be between there and El Yunque. I've never driven in that direction at that hour, but I'm guessing people who commute from Fajardo towards San Juan, leave a lot earlier than 9. One morning is definitely enough to see the rain forest. Driving from El Yunque to San Juan around midday there'll be traffic, but, again, shouldn't be the heaviest traffic. Arriving in OSJ early afternoon, you should be able to find parking in one of the parking lots near the piers. A few hours of walking around the old city and having a nice dinner should give you a good taste of OSJ, though, in my opinion, a complete taste of OSJ must include some nocturnal bar-hopping. Driving back from OSJ to Fajardo after 7 or 8, the traffic, again, should be on the lighter side.

Drive to airport: Leaving Fajardo at 7 am on a Saturday, traffic should be very light. You should have no problem getting to the airport with plenty of time for your flight.

Well, I hope you enjoy your trip and, after all this research and discussion, hope you can post a trip report to tell us all how it went!

I will definitely post a trip report! I wish more travelers would. Thanks PRNative for your advice. I feel better about driving.