Destination:
Puerto Rico

The capital city of Puerto Rico, San Juan is one of the busiest ports in the Caribbean and a third of all Puerto Ricans live here. Nearly every visitor to the island arrives at San Juan, many on cruise liners. The port is the largest home-based cruise port in the world, hosting 28 vessels and with more being added to the list each year.

San Juan is divided into three distinct districts: Old San Juan, the historic walled city; the beach and resort area; and the outlying suburbs. Tourists are concerned mainly with Old San Juan, the site of most restaurants, shops, entertainment venues and the beaches. The old city is linked to the new by the largely residential Puerta de Tierra area, and a series of modern highways leading to the Condado beach front, which is reminiscent of Florida's Miami Beach with its high-rise hotels and apartment blocks.

It is not only tourism that keeps the financial mills grinding in San Juan. The city is an important centre for petroleum and sugar refining, brewing and distilling, and the manufacturing of cement, pharmaceuticals, metal products and tobacco products. In the midst of all the hustle and bustle there are numerous attractions in San Juan to amuse, entertain and interest the many tourists, and the city is a perfect base for exploring the rest of what this small Caribbean island has to offer.

Lying a few miles inland, in the centre of Puerto Rico's south coast, the attractive city of Ponce is rich in Spanish colonial heritage and architecture, with a well-preserved 17th century historic heart. Pretty colonial homes and majestic churches surround the lovely city plazas where fountains gurgle in radiant sunshine.

The preservation of its neo-classical architectural heritage and several interesting attractions makes Ponce a worthy port of call for Caribbean cruisers and holidaymakers. The city has a busy port: the nearby Playa de Ponce Port is Puerto Rico's principal trade port. Tobacco, coffee, rum and sugar cane from all over the Caribbean are loaded aboard vessels here, and floods of sightseers are disgorged regularly from an increasing number of cruise liners that have added Ponce to their itineraries.

The city, dubbed 'the pearl of the south', also offers some interesting excursions, and a short drive out of town will take you to the lovely white sandy Playa de Ponce, where the clear waters are ideal for snorkelling. The city's built-up beachfront promenade area, a few miles south of the centre, is called La Guancha. The boardwalks, bars, souvenir shops, restaurants and snackeries surround hundreds of yachts and small boats moored in a saltwater estuary, and the area becomes very crowded with locals and visitors at weekends and holiday periods. Despite this, Ponce is determinedly laid-back and fairly quiet in the evenings, making it a great Caribbean holiday destination for visitors of all ages.

Fajardo, on the Atlantic east coast of Puerto Rico, is the island's scuba diving hub. Dozens of boating companies offer charters and diving excursions on a range of craft, most based at the town's Puerto del Rey Marina, the largest marina in the Caribbean. Besides having two beautiful beaches just minutes away from town, there are also several uninhabited small islets just offshore, surrounded by coral reefs, and the neighbouring islands of Vieques and Culebra connected by ferry and air charters. Fajardo is thus in striking distance of a variety of watersport playgrounds.

Fajardo's forest-fringed public beaches, Seven Seas Beach and Luquillo Beach, offer calm, clear waters ideal for snorkelling and swimming, and are equipped with cafes, ablution blocks and lifeguards. For landlubbers, or those wanting a break from the ocean blue, the area also sports El Yunque, the only tropical rain forest administered by the United States National Forest Service, noted for its biodiversity and stunning walking trails.

Fajardo town itself does not offer much in the way of attractions, but it serves as an accommodation centre for this delightful part of Puerto Rico. It is also a social hub for holidaymakers thanks to the presence of the luxurious Wyndham El Conquistador resort, which has a lively casino and world-class golf course.