Sure, you can spend lavishly and enjoy just about any vacation your heart desires when you come to Puerto Rico, but it's also nice to know that you don't have to break the bank to have a good time. In fact, you have your choice of free activities in Puerto Rico to enjoy. Here are the best ways to spend absolutely nothing and have a blast doing it.
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Noche de Galerias
This one's for art-lovers in particular. If you're lucky (or wise) enough to be in Old San Juan on the first Tuesday of every month in peak season (February to May and September to December), step out on the town for a night of art appreciation and free wine. Roughly 20 galleries (and they're among the best on the island) keep their doors open late on these nights, inviting everybody in to take a look at their collections. The atmosphere is a blend of open-air museum and co*cktail party. Traveling minstrels sometimes take to the streets to add a touch of quaint charm to the evening.
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Patron Saint Festivals
Every town in Puerto Rico has a patron saint, and every saint is honored once a year in a Festival Patronal, or "Patron Saint Festival." Add up the number of towns on the island, and you're talking about a festival every week. Throw in the fact that the party tends to go on for days, and you'll realize they're a terrific way to catch the music, culture, dance, and local flavor. They're also absolutely free (except for the food, naturally, which I highly recommend). Now, getting to whichever town is holding its festival is another issue, but a público should do the trick without hurting your wallet.
Speaking of festivals, the biggest one of them all occurs in Ponce: The Ponce Carnival is an annual can't-miss all-out party.
Bacardi's distillery in Cataño (the world's largest rum distillery), is just a stone's throw from Old San Juan, is open to visitors year-round. A trolley tour takes you through the history of rum-making on the island and Bacardi's origins. You also get to test your olfactory prowess, and, of course, you get a complimentary drink. The tours fill up early, so call ahead before you go.
By the way, if you're using a tour company to visit Casa Bacardi, you'll pay around $30, but the good people at Bacardi don't charge for their tours. The trick is to take a ferry from the pier in Old San Juan (at a small cost) and then grab a taxi to the factory (which will set you back a few dollars).
You can't argue with the beauty, popularity, and price of admission of Puerto Rico's beaches. One of its most alluring assets, the island's beaches (over 270 miles of them!) are a main draw for millions of tourists. Note, however, that not all beaches are free. At public beaches, called Balnearios, you'll have to pay a parking fee, but in return, you get amenities like lifeguards, picnic areas, and restrooms. The vast majority of the island's beaches, however, are unspoiled, idyllic spots where the warm Caribbean water meets the sun-kissed Puerto Rican sand.
You don't have to pay to enjoy El Yunque. It won't cost you a dime to hike your boots off in the only tropical rainforest system in the U.S. National Forest System, to strip down to your bathing suit and dive into a plunging waterfall, or to check out the forest's "El Portal" Visitors Center.
However, you have to get here in order to do all of those things, and that's where the expense comes in. If you're willing to rent a car for a day, the rainforest is all yours, and it's one of the most enjoyable ways to spend a day on the island.
The Ventana al Jazz, or "Window to Jazz," is a wonderful free event hosted by Heineken, which is fast becoming the patron saint of Jazz in Puerto Rico. The Heineken Jazz Fest is Puerto Rico's annual jazzathon, and it attracts some of the best names in the business. Ventana al Jazz is a byproduct of this event, held on the last Sunday of each month at the Ventana al Mar park in Condado. It's an evening of live jazz music accompanied by the natural orchestra of gentle waves breaking on Condado beach.
All beaches on Puerto Rico, even those fronting the top hotels, are open to the public. Public bathing beaches, with lifeguards and facilities, are called balnearios and charge for parking and for use of lockers and showers. Beach hours in general are 9am to 5pm in winter, to 6pm off-season.
1. Castillo San Felipe del Morro. El Morro was initially fortified in 1539 and completed in 1589. Rising 140 feet above the sea, its 18-foot-thick wall proved a formidable defense.
Dancing. In Puerto Rico, dancing is not just a hobby but a way of life. The infectious rhythms of Salsa, Reggaeton, and Merengue draw people to the dance floor. Everyone on the island, young or old, finds joy in letting loose and dancing the night away.
When you picture a deserted island, you probably imagine something like this white-sand beach, with crystal-clear water (the clearest on the east coast of Puerto Rico), an abandoned pier, and a wonderful variety of wildlife.
Home to some of the best beaches on the Island, the west region is the undisputed surfing capital of Puerto Rico – and the Caribbean – and features the best sunsets on the Island. The feel on the west side is different from the hustle and bustle of the San Juan metropolitan area.
1. San Juan: the best area to stay in Puerto Rico for your first visit. If you only have time to visit one place in Puerto Rico, choose San Juan. Puerto Rico's capital offers everything you could want in a Caribbean metropolis, plus amazing beaches and an incredibly rich architectural scene.
San Juan is the largest city in Puerto Rico, and it is home to some of the most visited tourist attractions in the island such as Old San Juan and the San Juan National Historic Site.
The vibrancy of Puerto Rican culture comes alive in its dishes, a celebration of flavors that visitors have the opportunity to indulge in. Some of the favorites are mofongo, tostones, pasteles, arroz con gandules, tembleque, and coquito. Traditional Puerto Rican Mofongo.
Puerto Ricans (Spanish: Puertorriqueños), most commonly known as Boricuas, and also referred to as Borinqueños, Borincanos, or Puertorros, are the people of Puerto Rico, the inhabitants and citizens of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and their descendants, including those in mainland United States.
While the larger resorts and hotels in Puerto Rico may not fall in the "all-inclusive" bucket, the island's selection of paradores does. A network of locally-run inns and small hotels, the government's Paradores Puertorriquenos program was established in 1973 by the Puerto Rico Tourism Board.
Some beaches have big waves best suited to surfing, and others are as calm as bathwater and ideal for swimming. Some, especially along the north coast, are rife with strong currents.
One of the best things about Puerto Rico is its natural beauty. In particular, the many amazing beaches across its islands — all of which are public. Though there are no private beaches in Puerto Rico, some beachgoers and newcomers apparently thought otherwise.
Introduction: My name is Barbera Armstrong, I am a lovely, delightful, cooperative, funny, enchanting, vivacious, tender person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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