Experience Puerto Rico

updated 3:33 a.m. ET June 25, 2005

Whether you land on Puerto Rico's sunny shores yearning for a day snorkeling in the warm turquoise waters, an afternoon walking amid 500-year-old buildings or an evening dining in the luscious hip restaurants, you've chosen the right place. An all-American destination with a spicy infusion of salsa, Puerto Rico beckons active travelers. From hiking to dining, surfing to museum hopping, you'll find an excellent take on virtually any type of vacation interest.

Pursuing your hobbies is easy, as the well-paved mainland is only 100 miles long and 35 miles wide, making drives a cinch. To reach the farthest ends, you can hop a plane from San Juan to Ponce or Aguadilla, then travel by boat or plane to the outlying islands such as Vieques and Culebra. Most residents speak English and Spanish so it's a snap to find guidance, and your American dollars are at home here, too — but don't be surprised to hear your pennies called centavos or your nickels vellones.

Nature and Adventure
Puerto Rico is rich with natural wonders, including dry forest and rain forest, caves and beaches, mountains and meadows. Puerto Rico has 20 designated forest reserves, and six more are proposed. The largest, at 28,000 acres, is El Yunque, the United States' only tropical rain forest. Families can stroll along nearly flat trails while more athletic hikers can traverse rougher ones. Quite a few lead to thundering waterfalls. The rain forest is home to 50 types of orchids, 150 species of ferns and even four different varieties of forest. While El Yunque has 26 animal species all its own, the Guánica Dry Forest Reserve has yet another 16, plus 48 endangered species. Groomed trails encourage walkers and cyclists to explore Guánica's 600 types of rare plants.

Bird-watchers enjoy the Culebra Natural Wildlife Refuge, where nesting colonies abound within the 1,400 acres, and the Piñones Forest, where a pedestrian-friendly boardwalk through the forest enables spotting of up to 46 families of our feathered friends. Snorkel past the mangroves to view the 36 fish species that call the area home.

Zach Stovall

No matter what your passion, plan to find time for one adventure that fits into none of the standard categories: night swimming in a bioluminescent bay. These bodies of water are filled with dinoflagellates, little fire algae that light up and seem to make the water glow. You'll find them in La Parguera, in the south, and in Mosquito Bay, located on the island of Vieques.

Save the resortwear for later as you go caving. The Rio Camuy Cave Park is one of the 10 largest cave systems in the world, and this one has a river thundering right through it – the third-largest underground river on earth. Safely perched in a tram, you'll pass through lush greenery and then spy the Tres Pueblos sinkhole, which reaches down 400 feet. While advanced cave explorers can rappel through rarely seen spots, others can climb to areas with rock carvings etched into stone by Taíno Indians centuries ago.

Beaches and Sports
With 272 miles of coastline, Puerto Rico lures sun worshippers with hundreds of beaches, each of them abutting warm blue-green water, and no two are the same. Most resort hotels provide access to sand and sea along with amenities such as chaise longues, restrooms and restaurants. Public beaches offer other options, from seclusion to water sports.

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Visitors staying in San Juan's hotels can go right over to Condado Beach, a nearby white-sand wonder. The Sun Capital of Puerto Rico, Luquillo Beach, is a quick 30-mile jaunt from the capital and offers a getaway lined with coconut groves and palm trees. Its translucent water is wheelchair-accessible due to a special area called Mar Sin Barreras, or "sea without barriers." Evening horseback rides down this strip of Atlantic coast add intrigue. Another popular spot is Isla Verde, really a series of strands stretching past resorts, apartments, restaurants and parks on the north coast.

For a more private beach experience, relax at any of Guánica's strands, such as Caña Gorda, known for its palm-frond huts.

Rincón hosted the World Surfing Championships in 1968 and has been a mecca for the sport ever since, with waves often reaching 25 feet. To see one of surfing's top spots, head toward Punta Higuero. During the winter season,  humpback whales often swim by.

At Shacks, in Isabela, windsurfers, wave jumpers and kiteboarders enjoy the swells caused by the confluence of the Caribbean and the Atlantic. Trade winds can reach 18 knots in winter.

Zach Stovall

Fishermen head off the coast for their excursions. Anglers can choose shallow water, such as that found near San Juan and Piñones, for tarpon trips; or they can head farther out by powerboat for deep-sea prey. Blue Marlin Alley, near San Juan and Fajardo, is an aptly named destination, especially in August and September, when the numbers of fish swell. Wahoo is plentiful near Humacao, and excursions from several ports, including Rincón and Mayagüez, seek tuna in the Mona Passage. Ask operators at any marina where to go for mahi-mahi, bonito, sailfish, and yellowfin and blackfin tuna.

Surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, Puerto Rico offers scuba divers numerous locales in which to seek out underwater wonders. To the west, uninhabited islands off the coast surround two dozen dive sites, among them a "fore reef" formation. Mona Island is called the Galapagos of the Caribbean since its waters are filled with turtles, marlin, dolphins and whales. To the east, Fajardo is the starting point for the Superhero and Palomino walls, boasting small caverns, channels, reefs and mini walls. The southwestern coast is the launching point for a 20-mile-long black-coral wall with steep slopes, and also boasts virgin waters where pirate booty such as coins and muskets are still being discovered.

Fans of land sports need look no further than Puerto Rico, whose resorts spoil guests with 100 tennis courts. The island boasts 24 golf courses, the majority of them championship-level. In fact, three opened in 2004 alone. Golf's top names have designed several of its courses; expect to play on greens engineered by Greg Norman, Gary Player, Robert Trent Jones Sr., George Fazio, Rees Jones, Arthur Hills and Chi Chi Rodrígez. Many are located at resort hotels, while others are public or private courses. These top-notch greens host professional and amateur tournaments. If you're interested in entering, consider the Copa de las Américas and the Puerto Rico Open, among others.

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