11-day trip to Puerto Rico

We considered different short trip options for Piotr’s birthday and decided on “tropical island” – Puerto Rico. The main reason: it has three of World’s five bioluminescent bays, including the brightest one, which we really wanted to visit. Tickets were reasonably priced (Frontier). We arrived on time on the way-in, but were significantly delayed on the way back – we decided to rebook for the following day (non-stop flight to Chicago) rather than being stuck in Atlanta. Everything else was easy to arrange even on short notice (airbnbs, car rental, ferry, tours). We were very happy with the selected airbnbs (only one had less than ideal localization, it was selected on the spot for the last night after flight delay), all were very clean, well-organized and with kitchens/kitchenette. Some were really large with bedroom and living room. Hosts were easy to interact with and helpful. Food was good, especially seafood, but vegetables were scarce. Overall prices were similar to US, slightly cheaper.

We drove 770 km in rental Hyundai Sonata (from Enterprise in Isla Verde, good service). It was supposed to be Toyota. Piotr did not quite like small windows and low roof. We also used ferry and shuttles across Vieques island plus two tours. We even managed to take a bus from the airport twice, despite everyone saying that public transport does not work – it works well, but there is very little information. Driving required quite a bit of concentration on often narrow and winding roads (Joanna chose Ruta Panoramica through mountainous interior), some with sudden changes in pavement quality (potholes) and markings. Major highways (some with tolls, but most paid roads can be easily avoided) are OK. Most drivers are relaxed and we had no problems at all. The number of cars everywhere was quite surprising. As always, we walked a lot – 10 km a day on average (the seven short & easy trails shown on the map below are just 39 km).

We visited several forests (two tropical rain forests, a cloud forest, dry costal forest, mangroves) and a dozen beaches, some with good swimming some with sargassum accumulation to different degree. At El Yunque, rain forest covers low, sometimes rugged hills on old volcanic foundations. The rest of Puerto Rico is pretty much uplifted and eroded limestone formation.

There is still damage from hurricanes Maria and Fiona, some abandoned properties, many trails and tourist amenities closed, but many houses and businesses were freshly renovated.