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It was the first trip where I found myself counting down for it to be over!
There were so many things that I think were mistakes (but we already lost our money!), but whether good or bad experiences, there was a cost to pay! So read through and learn from our mistakes!
Trip Itinerary:
Day 1: Arrive at SJU airport around 1:15 pm. Early check-in at La Concha in Condado(2 pm), then visit Pinones beach and return to the hotel around 6:30 pm. Walk around Condado beach.
Day 2: Explore Old San Juan: Visit San Juan National Historic Site, Cemetery, have lunch at La Verguenza, explore Catedral Basilica de San Juan Bautista, visit Barrachina, and have dinner at La Verguenza in Condado (try the big pork chop).
Day 3: Visit Balneario El Escambron beach, followed by a visit to Plaza Las Americas (shopping mall) and Dinner at Cheesecake Factory.
Day 4: Return to Old San Juan to visit the Museo de las Americas, El Totem, Parque de las Palomas, Harley Davidson shop, and the I Love PR sign.
Check out of La Concha hotel, take Uber to Ceiba Ferry Terminal, arrive at Vieques Island around 4 pm, and check into Blue Horizon Resort.
Day 5: Rent a golf car to explore the island. Have breakfast at Kristy, visit the 300-year-old Ceiba tree, Mosquito pier, do some rum tasting, visit La Chiva Beach, Sun Bay Beach, and Black Sand Beach. Return to the resort and have dinner at Bananas.
Day 6: Return the golf car and take the 10 am ferry back to the main island at Ceiba Ferry Terminal. Take a taxi to El Conquistador Resort. Visit Palomino Island (Resort island) and return to the resort (raining hard)
Day 7: Spend the day at Seven Seas Beach, followed by an early lobster dinner at La Estacion.
Day 8: Take a boat tour to Culebra Island to visit Flamenco Beach.
Day 9: Walk to the small island near the resort, then swim in the Hotel Fun Park. Check out of the resort around 11 am and head to SJU Airport for the return flight.
Be back home around 9:30 pm.
What I learned from this trip:
1. All US citizen tourists DON’T need a passport; we just brought our Texas driver’s license cards.
2. English and Spanish are spoken there, but they are not native English speakers.
3. The time zone is 1 hour ahead of Texas when we visited in May, and they don’t observe Daylight Saving Time.
4. The drinking age is 18, but they are very strict about serving alcohol to pregnant women.
5. The currency is US Dollars, and most shops accept credit cards, although sometimes they may ask for cash due to intermittent internet connections.
6. Puerto Rico is about 74 times smaller than Texas.
7. The hurricane season is from June to November, but we were there in early May, and it rained almost every night.
8. US phones work fine, and we didn’t encounter any problems with our phones during our trip.
9. Uber rides are available only on the main island.
10. I have listed 10 must-eat foods in Puerto Rico, but Mofongo with shrimp was our favorite. Local food doesn’t include many vegetables; it mostly consists of fried plantains on the side, which are high in carbs but low in fiber.
11. I had high expectations for Puerto Rican coffee to be rich and strong, but I didn’t find any that met my expectations on this trip.
12. Piña colada is a Must-drink if it’s with rum, but remember, it contains a lot of sugar. Despite walking and swimming a lot during our trip, we still gained a little weight because the local food and drinks are very high in calories.
13. Flying back USA– at San Juan Airport, before checking in at the airline counter, you have to check your suitcase/bags at USDA. They said, “All food and agricultural items are subject to inspection.” However, to walk to USDA, I think people can just take out the prohibited items, and after they scan your bags, you can put them back before loading your bags with airline counter (just a thought).
14. While we were waiting to board our flight, we had lunch at Margaritaville, and the food was really bad. When I told them, they just said, “I know, I know,” and we received full bills without any apologies. Before you decide to eat there like us, check out how people look after they have had their food!
15. There’s a duty-free shop in the airport, but it mainly sells liquor products. and we took advantage of the last chance to buy more rum to take back home. They didn’t specify how many bottles you can buy, but we bought 3! The airport souvenir shop is very expensive (3 times more than outside), so if you want to buy souvenirs, make sure to buy them in Old San Juan or CVS shops!
16. To access the free Wi-Fi at SJU airport, you have to fill out your information similar to how you would for a tax refund. After completing that step, you still have to solve a puzzle, which can be frustrating. It seems a bit outdated considering it’s 2024.
In contrast, in places like South Korea, free Wi-Fi is readily available everywhere, just so you know!
17. While we were waiting to board in front of our gate, the USDA dog came to sniff around our bags. I had leftover fried plantain from Margaritaville, so he just stayed at my bag. But we had no problem when we told them what we had in that bag. I guess he liked the fried plantain too? LOL.
18. When we arrived at Houston airport at terminal C, following the sign to the Uber pick-up spot was a mess! We arrived at the airport around 7 pm, and it took us until about 8:30 pm to get out!
19. Everything we packed for our trip was excessive! All we really needed were swimsuits/trunks, sunscreen, snorkeling masks (but don’t bother bringing fins like we did!), and maybe a small towel; beach towels weren’t necessary at all. However, a beach mat is a must-have; we used it a lot!
Price Breakdown:
1. I disclosed the cost of our flights, using up our mileage and paying a little extra for them.
2. “3 nights at the La Concha Hotel” in Condado, our review being 5/5.
3. “2 nights at the Blue Horizon Resort” in Vieques Island, our review being 2/5.
4. “3 nights at the El Conquistador Hotel” in Fajardo, our review being 5/5.
The average hotel cost is about $500 per night for the whole trip. Just for the hotels, we’ve already paid $4,000!
I think Airbnb might be a better option for our next visit.
5. Each meal costs about $50 for the two of us, and we dined out twice a day. I estimate it’s another $1,000 for the whole trip.
6. Throughout the trip, we spent almost $600 on Uber, totaling about 17 rides (both long and short rides).
7. Tips and tours added up to another $1,000 for the whole trip.
If you add up my numbers, this was not a cheap trip for us, and some of them were not worth it for what we paid!
There were so many things that I think were mistakes (but we already lost our money!), but whether good or bad experiences, there was a cost to pay!
On this trip, we flew with Delta from Houston to San Juan, with a connecting flight at Atlanta airport, and then returned with a direct United flight from San Juan to Houston, which was approximately a 5-hour flight.
We definitely preferred flying with Delta over United.Delta serves good, fresh food, and offers more than three options to choose from, while United only had one choice. Also, the Delta app provides more accurate information and quicker updates compared to the United app.
For the main meal on Delta, Tim chose meatloaf with mashed potatoes, while I opted for glazed smoked chicken with quinoa salad.
United only offered us two options: chicken with rice or a vegetarian dish. I think from now on, we’ll need to bring our own headphones, especially with United. You have to ask for them there.
Similar to our experience with United on this trip, the app might initially indicate that your bags will be at gate C9. However, it can turn out that overweight bags will be at C11, and later they announce that they’ll be at C5.
This confusion left us waiting for our bags for an hour, and unfortunately, the app didn’t provide any updates or changes to help us navigate the situation.
Read through and learn from our mistakes!
– Condado Beach
– Old San Juan
– Pinones Beach
– Vieques Island
– FULL DAY IN VIEQUES ISLAND
– Fajardo at El Conquistador Resort
– Culebra Beach Day Tour by Catamaran from Fajardo
Visited date: Sun 28th April – Mon 6th May 2024.
