Puerto Rico
There's only one problem when you visit Puerto Rico - on this fascinating, 3,350-square-mile (8,670 sq km) island, you can't see everything in a single visit. Good news for families too - it's one of the Caribbean's most child-friendly destinations.
There's all the sun, fun and sporting activity you'd expect. The 272-mile (437km) coastline has fantastic beaches for sun-bathing, swimming and snorkelling. Nightlife is among the liveliest in the Americas and there's a full range of accommodation, from rustic campsites to luxury hotels.
Away from the popular resort zones, you can taste the high octane cocktail of cultures and traditions - Caribbean, Spanish, Amerindian, African and North American - that makes Puerto Rico a unique island experience.
Puerto Rico is proud of its status as a Commonwealth of the United States of America - its inhabitants have been US citizens since 1917. It also cherishes its 500-year heritage as a Latin American and Caribbean island, which is celebrated in food and drink, art and entertainment, dress and architecture.
In the National Historic Zone of Old San Juan, there are ornate Spanish houses, churches and forts, elegant plazas, cobblestoned courtyards and museums. Visit Ponce, the island's second city, founded in 1692 and a showcase of Spanish, art deco and Creole architecture and art.
Eco-tourists could easily spend a year in Puerto Rico. Its rainforested-mountains have the full, exuberant range of Caribbean vegetation and wildlife. The 28,000-acre (11,300 sq km) El Yunque is the only tropical rainforest in the US National Parks system. Taking the hiker's trail through the park, you'll see four distinct types of forest, which are home to 240 species of wildlife, flowers and trees. The Rio Abajo Forest Preserve can be explored easily on 70 walking trails.
Diving is rated as excellent.
The North and East : Being exposed to northerly swells, the north coast has only a few dive sites and divers staying along this coast are usually taken by road to the east coast for diving. East coast diving is easy as the sites are relatively shallow and the seas rarely rough. Fine white sand creates idyllic beaches but reduces visibility after ground swells. The diving terrain is typically gently sloping fringing reefs with both hard and soft corals, especially bushy gorgonians. The East coast is where San Juan dive stores take their tourist divers and where the dive stores in the vicinity of Fajardo dive. Dive sites off the east coast are around a series of small uninhabited islands—Palomino, Palominitos, and Cayo Diablo in particular. Bone white beaches lead to shallow reefs, some of which have been buoyed in order to minimise damage to the reef. Visibility is variable due to a combination of factors. Shallow sites with a fine sandy bottom are vulnerable to swells stirring up the sediment. Rainwater run-off from the mainland rain forests also affects these sites. Visibility is generally better in the summer but it can vary from day to day in the winter, with 50 feet one day and 25 feet the next.
One advantage of the area is that the sites around Palomino and Palominitos are a short boat ride away—generally 15 minutes or less—and Cayo Diablo, the farthest site takes 30 to 40 minutes by boat. The other advantage of this area is that the sea state is generally calm. When there are big swells the dive boats can go to the lee side of the island where they are sheltered from the seas.
Culebra: Although east coast and San Juan based dive stores make occasional excursions to Culebra, the length of the boat ride (2 hours or more) means it is by special arrangement. It is easier to take the ferry and dive with a Culebra operator for a day. Culebra’s coastline provides a few of the island’s dive sites, especially along the west coast where Impact Reef is dived at several spots along its length. This sheltered coastline is easily reached from Ensenada Honda through the cut that divides Culebra. More of Culebra’s dive sites are around the outlying islands and rocks that surround Culebra to the east and the west. Some of these islands are bird sanctuaries, and from the dive boat you will see nesting terns and boobies.
The range of Culebra’s diving impressed us. There are sites perfect for beginners or those who want to take it easy, as well as more challenging diving for experienced and adventurous divers. The challenge may take the form of difficult entry and exit in rough seas, the chance of strong currents, or underwater terrain requiring excellent buoyancy control. Equally, if your idea of heaven is a 60-minute dive in shallow water crowded with marine life, then Culebra has that to offer, too.
The South East and Vieques: Diving off Vieques is on relatively shallow (usually 60 feet or less), gently sloping reefs and around coral islands. Few divers mean uncrowded and undamaged sites. Again there is a cheap efficient ferry service to Vieques, allowing you to travel across from Fajardo in the morning, make two dives and return on the afternoon ferry. There are fewer dive stores hence less diving off Puerto Rico’s south east coast, but the same is not true of the number of dive sites. There are many sites so the ratio of divers to sites is very low.
Vieques: The dive store is on the south coast of Vieques so the majority of the regularly used dive sites are a few miles south of the island. In the immediate vicinity of Vieques the water is shallow, but to the south and east is the end of the shallow-water plateau and deeper water can be found.
South East: Diving in the vicinity of Humacao is an experience in underwater jigsaw puzzles. Although some dives offer you a gentle cruise along slopes or walls, most are more like a tour through the crypts of an ancient castle¾ arches, swim-throughs, tunnels, deep crevices, and the occasional canyon are the norm.
The South :Puerto Rico’s Wall runs parallel to the south coast, within reach by dive boat. Boat trip times vary from 5 to 20 minutes to reach the Wall depending where along the coast you are diving. Well served by dive stores and resorts, the area from Guánica to La Parguera is slowly becoming recognised as a major asset in Puerto Rico’s diving portfolio. Dive stores in the south have access to sites along the drop-off caused by the continental shelf, which runs parallel to Puerto Rico’s south coast. This side of the island has significantly less rainfall than the north and east, so rainwater run-off does not reduce visibility and the depth of the wall means that swells do not stir up the bottom. Generally visibility is good to excellent along this coast.
Of course, the diving along the wall is quite similar across sites, but there are localised differences in terrain and marine life. Some sites have deep crevices in the wall; in places, chunks of the wall have broken away; parts of the wall have been inhabited with deepwater sea fans, creating a lacy curtain of coral, whereas other areas have been colonised by hard boulder and star corals.
Ponce has the additional asset of Caya de Muertos (coffin island), a nature reserve 10 miles offshore. The name belies the charm of an island deserted apart from two live-in Park Rangers and a whole host of animals, birds and marine life. The dive sites around it are relatively shallow making it a good spot for a second dive, and the island itself is fun to explore and has lovely beaches where you can enjoy a picnic lunch.
Guánica is closest to the Wall sites, having several spots within 15 minutes of leaving the dock. This means that when the sea state is rough, the dive boat can get back to the dock for the surface interval.
La Parguera: Access to the Wall is also a fairly short boat ride and there are very many sites off La Parguera, all with something slightly different to offer, and you can experience a night snorkel in a phosphorescent bay.
The West, Mona, and Desecheo: The jewels in the crown of this area are the offshore islands Mona and Desecheo. A trip to Mona needs careful planning and lots of advance warning and even then the weather may thwart your plans. Desecheo is much more accessible but the best side to dive—the north west—is only diveable in calm conditions. The islands of Mona, Monito and Desecheo are located off Puerto Rico's western coast. Mona is a cavernous Caribbean "Tipui" rising from 22,000 feet underwater to a flat plateau atop 200-foot cliffs. A few white-powder beaches enhance the otherwise dry cacti terrain. Considered by many to be the Galapagos of the Caribbean, Mona stands alone in its wildlife complexity, both above as well as underwater. Large iguanas roam freely while red-footed boobies and whitetailled tropical birds fly overhead.
Underwater, fallen boulders create arches, crevices and tunnels, and vertical walls plummet 90 degrees into the abysmal depths of the Mona passage, the second deepest channel in the world. There are no rivers or runoffs and, apart from the small manned natural resources station and lighthouse, there is no human development. Visibility easily exceeds 150 feet. On the other hand, seas and winds can be higher than normal and the currents strong, but for the experienced diver, these minor inconveniences should not distract from exploring this beautiful side of the Spanish Caribbean.
Monito lies just three miles from Mona. There are no beaches here, and diving is done close to shore beside huge fallen boulders. As in Mona, large schools of pelagics and mid-water fish darken the rays of the sun and during the winter months, humpback whales frequent the area. Sharks are scarce.
Desecheo is the closest of the three to Puerto Rico's mainland, just 20 miles away. A wildlife preserve, Desecheo has been left to follow its natural course. Undisturbed coral formations as well as a large variety of reef fish and pelagics reward those with a more adventurous spirit willing to make the one-hour boat ride out.
Along the west coast of the mainland there are sites a short distance from shore as well as some enjoyable beach dives.
Best Time To Go:
The peak tourist season is between December and April, but this has more to do with the climate in U.S. mainland than anything else. The best time to avoid the crowds is the low season between May and November, which is also hurricane season (June-November).Puerto Rico has a tropical marine climate, with an average annual temperature of 82 °F (28 °C). Puerto Rico enjoys year round summer temperatures. The dry season is December to March. Note that temperatures in the mountains are significantly cooler than the coast, so if you intend to travel inland bring a sweater for the evenings regardless of when you visit. Annual rainfall is 62 inches.
Flights from the UK to Puerto Rico
American Airlines flights between New York and San Juan are code-shared with British Airways, who offer frequent departures from London Heathrow and a daily service from Manchester to New York. This is in addition to American’s own services between Heathrow and New York JFK. Alternative connecting points to reach San Juan with American Airlines are Miami, and occasionally Boston. Neither of these options is available from any UK city outside London.
As Puerto Rico is a former Spanish colony, direct daily flights are also available from Madrid to San Juan, wither feeder flights being available from London, Birmingham and Manchester. Note that Iberia are also part of the Oneworld™ Alliance, and that they are therefore able to offer connecting services with British Airways.
The Continental option to Newark is available from five UK departure airports: Birmingham (now twice daily), Bristol (from 20th May 2005), Edinburgh, Glasgow, London Gatwick (x2), London Heathrow (Virgin codeshare x 2) & Manchester.
If you are looking to build your own itinerary, especially from UK regional airports, the following options may be worth considering:
EasyJet to Madrid. This option is available from Liverpool as well as from various London airports. From Madrid, Iberia and various Spanish tour operators offer onward flights to San Juan.
Jet blue from New York JFK. As there are so many cheap deals available between the UK and New York, this might be a particularly attractive option, especially if you are able to get a deal with airlines such as Air India or Pakistani International Airways.
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It's a large island. Make sure your resort is near to the diving sites you wish to visit. If you want to visit the out islands, you will probably need to arrange this in advance with the local operators, particularly for Mona and Monito. The difficulty is worth the effort.
Scuba Diving Magazine Guide to Puerto Rico
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