Solo in Puerto Rico, where to stay
 

Am a single 50 year old male, going alone to Puerto Rico (why P.R.? From New York it's fast and inexpensive to fly) this winter for 4-5 nights, and have stayed a few times in the Condado, at the Numero Uno and Wind Chimes, which were o.k., and I might go back as it's easy to get to, and they are reasonable, as I'd like to spend no more than $130 a night (as food and drinks can get pricey of course).

But would be nice to perhaps check out a better beach part of the island, so here are some considerations, and if anyone has any suggestions, appreciated...

1) Accomodations within a few minutes, at most, from very good beach, prefer of course to be on the beach.

2) Sadly, I need to be in touch with the office like once or twice a day and ideally my Verizon wireless and/or internet connection would work well.

3) A place with a little action, not a lot, perhaps a funky or quaint local bar, or a rib shack, some local nice flavor...

4 ) not a fortune to get to from the main airport.

Much appreciated if anyone has any general or specific suggestions on locale, and any accomodations...

J

Have you ever considered Culebra or Vieques? The beaches are much better, though you really need to rent a jeep to get around. You can now fly fairly reasonably from the main airport in San Juan.

Otherwise, I'd recommend Rincon. You can fly on Continental or Jet Blue directly Aguadilla and then it's just about a 30-minute drive (it's probably a 2-hour drive from San Juan at least). There are some pretty good and cheap places to stay, but the vibe is kind of younger with a lot of surfers. Still, I think you'd like it. There are several beaches within easy driving distance from Rincon, and the beaches there are good as long as you don't get one with heavy surf.

While it is not for everyone, I second the suggestion about Culebra-we visited in February and flew a hopper from San Juan to Culebra (Flamenco Air). You could get a room at Club Seabourne for near your budget and have a nice view (BAY though- not ocean), good pool, small but good bar and restaurant and be close to "town" which is very, very small but has a few good little restaurants/bars (especially liked Mamacito's). The problem really is that you just need that jeep or rental car to get around (we used Carlos Jeep) and to the gorgeous beaches- Zoni was our favorite. There are a lot of packages listed on the www.clubseabourne.com site but they all seem to be priced for 2- I'm sure they can give you more information about singles. I am not sure you would spend as much on food and drinks on Culebra as somewhere like Condado or Ocean Park.
I have never been to Vieques but it is larger and has places like Martineau Bay resort that look very nice but probably expensive. I still think you would need a car there, too, though.
We stayed in Culebra for 6 nights and spent a night going and returning at a little inn in Ocean Park called Tres Palmas because it was inexpensive and convenient to both airports. Numero 1 is in that same area I think but looks much nicer- we never got in the water at Tres Palmas- just looked at it from the hot tub view.
Good luck in your trip planning!

thanks both, very helpful information. I'd really like to go back to Shoal Bay in Anguilla, was there 15 years ago, and thought it was the nicest beach I'd ever seen, and so low key, but getting to Anguilla from New York is a trek, and so will now focus on Culebra...

J

Anguilla is actually not so hard to reach. You can easily find a nonstop to St. Maarten, and from there it's a very short flight or a 25-minute ferry ride from Marigot. JetBlue now flies to St. Maarten, and that should even help with high airfares. If you really like Anguilla, I'd give it another look.