4 day weekend in Puerto Rico | Vieques Travel Guide + Itinerary | Elope in El Yunque National Forest
Back in February, I was really craving some sunshine + temperatures that didn’t require me wearing a coat. Chad had a few days off consecutively and we had some buddy passes for southwest, so we decided to fly somewhere for a long weekend that was a destination of southwest. We landed on Puerto Rico since I had been hearing + seeing more about it, and it had the most flight options out of BWI which is an important factor when buddy passing. A 4 day weekend was perfect for exploring Vieques, Fajardo and El Yunque National Forest!
Truth be told, I had always thought of Puerto Rico to just be the city of San Juan, and didn’t think there was much to it other than that, until I started hearing more and more about this little island in the Caribbean that had people talking. Turns out that my assumption was indeed completely wrong, and I’m so happy that I gave it a chance to show me otherwise!
ARRIVAL IN FAJARDO, PUERTO RICO
Day one was a breeze. We took a non stop flight from Baltimore which had us in San Juan under 4 hours. We picked up our rental car and took off towards the east side of the island. We had a place booked in Fajardo, which is about an hour east of San Juan, but had heard about the town of Luquillo which was just before Fajardo. We stopped in Luquillo for lunch, eating lunch at a place called the Brass Cactus. Let me preface this post by saying we didn’t have a single bad meal. All of the food in PR was SO good, starting with nachos and fried pickles at the Brass Cactus! Afterwards, we walked down the street to a little beach for a stroll, and were welcomed with a rainbow spanning the sky - what!? We made our way to Fajardo, checked into our room at Fajardo Inn, walked around the pools + found some kittens to play with (WIN) and then took some showers and headed to dinner at the restaurant at the hotel.
Overall, the Fajardo Inn was a decent place to stay. Nothing spectacular, but it did have beautiful grounds, had everything we needed in the rooms, and the staff were friendly + helpful. We didn’t end up spending too much time there as we were out exploring a good bit, but we had a good experience, and the location was pretty central to everything that we were after.
VIEQUES ISLAND, BEACH EXPLORING + BIOLUMINESCENSE BAY
On our first full day, we hopped on the ferry to Vieques Island - an island off the coast of PR, about a 45 minute ferry ride away. The ferry was $2 (plus $3 for online taxes + fees), and left on time. I read so many mixed reviews on the interwebs about how the ferry was awful, unreliable, crowded etc. so I was a bit hesitant, but I didn’t want to spend the $80 for the flight. Turns out, the internet died. It wasn’t a cruise ship, but the ferry ride was just fine. Typical ferry. We bought our tickets online, showed up 15 minutes before to park + get on, and everything went smoothly!
We spent the day on Vieques and had a blast. I really wanted to rent a golf cart to explore the island, and tried to make reservations a few days before, but being a Saturday and Valentines weekend, they were all sold out. We ate breakfast at a place called the Rooster - delicious açaí bowl! They recommended that we take a taxi over to Esperanza and explore the beaches on that end, so that’s what we did! We walked over to Sun Bay Beach and spent a few hours swimming + laying in the sun before headed back to the little town center for a mid day snack of some apps + coronas. From there we went to the Black Sand Beach which was neat, but only a small portion of it is really back, and it’s about a 15 minute hike down. We headed back to the town for dinner at Lazy Jacks - had a Pina colada and some BOMB fish tacos before being picked up for our Bioluminescence Bay Tour!
The Bioluminescent Bay on Vieques Island - Mosquito Bay, is the brightest bio bay in the world, so it was clear that we had to do a tour! I had contacted the company twice about doing the 7pm tour + making it back to the ferry for the last 9pm ferry back to the main island and they assured me we’d have plenty of time. So I booked the tour, booked the 9pm ferry, and we went on our way. The tour was AMAZING. We were in clear kayaks, and the bio bay is an absolute phenomena. Basically millions of plankton have a chemical reaction when they come into contact with something, and glow a light with a light blue tint. It looked like someone sprinkled glow in the dark glitter in the bay. So as our kayaks moved about, they sparkled below us. As fish swam through the water, we’d see them light up + swim like little tinker bells. As you ran your hand through the water or scooped up a handful, you’d see them light up your hand. SO COOL. It’s impossible to photograph and something you absolutely HAVE to experience. I’d go to PR just to see that. It was incredible. Our tour ended and sure enough, we didn’t make it back to the ferry in time, which was really frustrated because I had specifically asked twice if I should just book a room on Vieques that night. We were soaked from it pouring on the tour + had been in our swimsuits all day, and ended up staying at a pretty grimey/sketchy hotel room next to the ferry terminal, and woke up before the sun to catch the 6:30am tour back. Learn from our mistake and just stay on this island that night so you don’t have to worry about it!
EL YUNQUE NATIONAL FOREST HIKES
On day two, after getting back from the ferry, we ate breakfast at the hotel - waffles with fresh fruit YUM, and then took a much needed nap. Around noon we headed towards Luquillo to the entrance of El Yunque National Forest, with a stop at a cute little coffee shop along the way. We spent the day exploring El Yunque which was stunning. Truthfully I was least excited for this day of the trip because I just wanted to be by the ocean, but I LOVED the rainforest - the plant scene is amazing. We did the Mt. Britton Tower hike, and while it rained (hello rainforest) and the view was blocked from the clouds, it was still a great hike just with all of the plants! We saw La Coca Falls + Jaun Diego Pools, and pulled off at a few of the stops, just to admire the view + the plants! After the park, we went to Degree 18 just outside of the entrance for some snacks. It’s an all vegan health food place and was SO good. We had a green smoothie, vegan empanada and hummus plate, and even my meat loving boy thought it was delish. Definitely making that smoothie again! From there, we continued a food tour by headed to the Kioskos in Luquillo. This is a stretch of about 40-50 little restaurants on the beach (almost food truck style but in buildings) that people just walk around. We had some authentic Puerto Rican food that was amazing, as well as some mojitos cause #happyhour.
CULEBRA ISLANDS SNORKELING ADVENTURE
Day three we were up bright and early again to get some breakfast before heading out on a catamaran tour. We did a tour with East Island Excursions that took us to Culebra Island. It was a six hour tour with lunch, drinks + gear included which took us to a snorkeling spot and Flamenco Beach on Culebra. This was Chad’s first time snorkeling and he loved it. There were an array of fish and some beautiful fan coral. After snorkeling, we went to Flamenco Beach - which was ranked one of the top 10 most beautiful beaches in the world - and it sure was beautiful! Crystal clear water, bright white sand beaches and vibrant greens surrounding it. We had about 2 hours there to walk the beach, swim in the waves + enjoy the area! Upon return of the tour around 3:30, we headed back to the hotel to enjoy the beautiful pools at the hotel, but we struck out with some rain. So instead we got ready for dinner, and headed to a MUST GO to place. La Estacion is a Puerto Rican BBQ place where everything is cooked on an open grill and it was top 5 best meals of my life. We got the BBQ sampler which had brisket, ribs, pulled pork, sausage, chicken, shrimp, and different types of breads + salad. I cannot stress how amazing this food was. I will go back to PR just to back to this place it was SO delicious.
OLD SAN JUAN WALKING TOUR
On our last morning in PR, we headed to Old San Juan to have a few hours there before our flight later that afternoon. We did an architect walking tour that took us around the city and explained the architect + some history of the town. We capped it off with some more Puerto Rican food for lunch in the city - delish - and churros at the chocolate bar before heading to the airport!
Puerto Rico blew my expectations out of the water. It was convenient to travel to, felt like we were far away on an island, but didn’t have the inconveniences of international travel such as needing to exchange currency, have outlet converters, bother with customs etc. The food (clearly) was incredible, the people were happy, helpful and friendly. The beaches + rainforest was stunning. It was a trip where I left feeling like I still had so much left to see. If you’re thinking about a trip to PR, just do it. You won’t regret it!
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VIEQUES + CULEBRA ISLAND ADVENTURE ELOPEMENT IN PUERTO RICO
Did this sell you on a trip to Puerto Rico? I hope so!! Puerto Rico would also be an incredible place to elope! The perfect combination of relaxation, adventure, sunshine and culture. Whether you think you’d want to elope on the main island, Vieques Island, Culebra Island or have no idea, reach out + let’s chat about how Puerto Rico could be the perfect spot for your adventure elopement!