Puerto Rico day trips

Puerto Rico

By Julian Smith

With beaches and tropical forests galore and no passport required for Americans, it's no surprise that Puerto Rico is one of the most popular cruise ship destinations in the world. More than a million people dock in San Juan every year aboard dozens of ships, but just a fraction of that number sees anything beyond the capital.

At only 100 by 35 miles, Puerto Rico offers many sights easily accessible in a day at the beginning or end of a cruise. Book a private tour or rent a car to go "out on the island," as locals call anything outside of San Juan, and you'll see how the "Isle of Enchantment" earned its nickname.

Beaches

First, of course, are the beaches. With 272 miles of coastline, Puerto Rico offers some of the best seaside destinations in the Caribbean (let alone the USA). Clean sand and warm, clear water are the norm.

On the island's western shore is Rincón Beach, known as a surfing destination for waves that are both big and dependable. Surfers come here from around the world to catch the waves at places like Tres Palmas, famous for its curling monsters. A plethora of surf shops offer gear and lessons if you'd like to give it a go, and the nightlife is as lively as you'd expect. Peak surf season is October through May.

Rincón is also known as a whale-watching destination; humpbacks appear offshore between December and early March, with a peak in February. Head to the small observation park at the base of the Rincón Lighthouse for the best view, and bring some binoculars.

Keep going to the southwest corner of the island to reach Boquerón Beach, set in a three-mile-wide bay. Here white sand is surrounded by coconut palms in a classic island scene, complete with changing rooms, picnic tables, restrooms and showers. Keep an eye out for scuba divers heading off into the deep and fishermen returning from a day's work. (Sample their catch at beachside huts in the afternoon and evening.) The beach is near the pleasant town of Boquerón in a region that's been nicknamed "the Cape Cod of Puerto Rico."

Luquillo Beach, 30 miles east of San Juan, is the near-universal choice as Puerto Rico's best beach for families. It gets lots of visitors from the capital, and for good reason. A broad, curved bay and white-sand beach protected by a coral reef make it calm enough for children to swim. Tent sites, changing rooms, restrooms, lifeguards and food stands are all available. Beach weddings aren't uncommon, and there's even a sloped ramp into the water for wheelchair users. Surfers head to breaks at La Pared and La Selva, and snorkelers aim for "the Point."

Forest life

From Luquillo it's a short hop to El Yunque, the only tropical forest in the U.S. National Forest System. Named for the Taíno Indian spirit Yuquiyú, El Yunque centers on 3,450-foot Cerro El Yunque and the surrounding Sierra de Luquillo mountain range. The 28,000-acre forest is the largest swath of public land on the island. It was originally set aside in 1876 by King Alfonso XII of Spain, making it one of the oldest forest reserves in the Western Hemisphere.

This tropical paradise is home to hundreds of types of plants and animals, including dozens of endemic species, meaning they're found nowhere else on Earth. The list includes the Puerto Rican Amazon, a green parrot that's considered one of the 10 most endangered species of birds in the world; scientists think there are less than 50 left in the wild.

Even though it's not the highest peak in Puerto Rico (that's Cerro de Punta, at 4,390 feet), El Yunque is no cakewalk to summit. The 2.4-mile trail to the peak crosses and re-crosses dancing streams beneath the cool forest canopy as it climbs nearly 1,400 feet. Bring raingear and boots for the mud, since this place gets up to six feet of precipitation every year. The view from the observation platform at the top is well worth the climb-on a clear day you can see both the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

Arecibo Observatory

Don't be surprised if your first glimpse of the Arecibo Observatory is a puzzler. The world's largest radio telescope isn't a huge tube poking from a round building. Instead it's a thousand-foot-wide metal bowl that neatly fills a giant sinkhole in the green hills near the village of Arecibo, 60 miles west of San Juan.

Operated by Cornell University and the National Science Foundation, the Arecibo Observatory has been used in a number of major astronomical discoveries, including the first binary pulsar (1974) and the first direct image of an asteroid (1990). The distinctive dish, made of 38,778 aluminum panels, has also showed up in a number of Hollywood movies: this is where Jodie Foster's character in "Contact" listened for messages from alien civilizations, and the setting featured in the climactic showdown of the James Bond movie "GoldenEye." In 1999 Arecibo began to collect data for the U.C. Berkeley's SETI@home project, which uses personal computers around the globe to comb radio transmissions for extraterrestrial signals.

The visitors center contains space and science exhibits and an auditorium, and leads to an observation platform over the satellite dish.

Underground wonders

After gazing into the heavens, take a trip deep underground at the Rio Camuy Cave Park, southwest of Arecibo on Route 129. A million years ago the Camuy River carved out a series of stupendous caverns, now the third-largest cave system in the world. Only a small portion of the complex is open to visitors, but it's still a jaw-dropper. A tram leads down into a sinkhole choked with vegetation to what seems like the entrance to the underworld.

As you walk through rooms like Cueva Clara, 170 feet high and 700 feet long, stalactites drip from far overhead and streams burble in the darkness. The trail is well maintained with bridges and ramps, and the gigantic grottoes are dramatically illuminated. Another shuttle waits to carry you to the edge of the Tres Pueblos sinkhole, 400 feet deep.

Petroglyphs carved long ago by the Taíno tribe adorn Cathedral Cave, and a set of stairs leads down into the Spiral Sinkhole. (Spiral Cave itself is open only to experienced cavers.) Miles of passageways have been explored and over a dozen entrances identified so far. An exhibition hall explains cave ecology, including blind subterranean species. Make a reservation ahead of time; this place gets lots of visitors.

Historic sites

History buffs should head southwest of San Juan to the town of Ponce on the island's southern shore. Here on the Plaza de Las Delicias you'll find the Parque de Bombas, a distinctive red-and-black firehouse built in the late 1800s. It is now a museum honoring local firefighters, and is one of the most photogenic structures on the island.

Learn about Puerto Rico's frontier era at the Hacienda Buena Vista, a 150-year-old coffee plantation near Ponce. At this living museum, you can take a guided tour of the lovingly restored grounds and buildings, including the main manor house, stables, hurricane shelter and slave quarters. Original water wheels still power the mills.

Between these day trips and the attractions in San Juan itself, the only problem is which to choose for your day "out on the island." Like many of the cruisers who take time to explore beyond the capital, you may find there's plenty left for future visits.

Julian Smith is a writer and photographer based in Oregon. He is the author of four travel guidebooks.

AAA Connection

AAA Colorado offers many cruise itineraries that include Puerto Rico. Contact a AAA Travel agent, call 866-235-7070 or visit www.aaa.com.

If You Go

El Yunque rainforest: www.elyunque.com
Arecibo Observatory:www.naic.edu
Rio Camuy Cave Park: 787-898-3100
Parque de Bombas: 787-284-4141, ext. 342 or 787-284-3338 Hacienda Buena Vista: 787-722-5882 or 787-722-5834