East Side

I am the vacation planner in our family, so I know how difficult it can be to figure out where to stay or what to do when you are visiting some place for the first time. This article may help you plan some of your time here in Puerto Rico, particularly in the northeast part of the island. By "northeast", I am referring to the part of the island that you can reach by driving east from the San Juan area. We live and have a tourist vacation rental in Río Grande next to El Yunque National Forest, so we have had the opportunity to spend a lot of time enjoying this part of the island.

These things generally take 4 or fewer hours to enjoy. We usually pick 2 of these and make a full day out of it. Piñones — you can either walk or bicycle on the nature boardwalk, or kayak in the lagoon Route 66 Outlet — a small mall with outlet stores, a food court and movie theaters Camarero Race Track — horse races in the afternoon, 5 days/week El Yunque National Forest — hike 1 or 2 of the short trails like Mount Britton, Juan Diego, or Angelito Balneario Monserrate — a beautiful, crescent-shaped beach in Luquillo with palm trees and a view of El Yunque.

Luquillo Kiosks — 60 beach-front food vendors, offering everything from local fare, to Italian, Mexican and burgers. Good for a quick lunch or a sit-down dinner. Yunke Zipline Adventure Surfing Lessons — in Luquillo for beginners and experienced surfers. Hacienda Campo Rico — ATV tours, horseback riding, or a zipline adventure, just minutes away from San Juan. Carabalí Rainforest Park (formerly Hacienda Carabali) — ATV tours, horseback riding, go carts and mountain bikes all in the foothills of El Yunque.

Yunque Zipline Adventure — zip lines and hiking in the foothills of El Yunque Resort Casinos — try your luck at the casinos in the Rio Mar resort. Golf Courses — play a round of golf at one of the Resorts. Nature Reserve Tour — get an enjoyable and educational tour at Las Cabezas de San Juan in Fajardo Seven Seas Beach — a beautiful beach in Fajardo, with lifeguards, agated parking lot, restrooms and showers available. Secret Beaches — Playa Colora or Playa Escondida near Seven Seas in Fajardo for more private sunbathing. Island Hop & Snorkel Guided Mini Boat Tour — you’re the captain on this

Take a tour with Pirate Snorkel Shack and take a trip that combines kayaking and snorkeling near Seven Seas Beach in Fajardo Monkey Island — kayak in the ocean to Cayo Santiago to observe free roaming research monkeys and have the opportunity for some snorkeling. Humacao Nature Reserve — enjoy a half-day of walking and/or kayaking and birdwatching

These places and activities take more than 4 hours to do — some are full-day activities — so one can usually only do one of these per day. Although, with some planning and with the understanding that you’ll have a really long day, you could do one of these during the day and then a biobay trip in the evening. El Yunque National Forest — hike 1 of the long trails like El Yunque, La Coca, or El Toro, or La Coca Trails. Snorkel Boat Trips — spend the day snorkeling around the small islands off the coast of Fajardo on a sailing catamaran or the Erin Go Bragh sailboat

Visit Culebra or Vieques for the day — you can take the ferry from Ceiba or fly from Ceiba to one of the out-islands where you could spend the day at Flamenco Beach or Sun Bay Beach. A day on a deserted island — hire a local boat to take you to Icacos for the day Go hang gliding on the south side of El Yunque.

If you’re heading to the northeast, one thing that I really like above all others is a trip to a bio bay. You need to take the moon into consideration (we have this handy bio bay/moon calendar that shows the best nights) because a bright moon washes out the glow of the bio bay. If the moon is favorable, I think this is an incredible experience. And since the first tours of the bio bays start after dark, you could still do something else from the list above during the day and then visit a bio bay at night.

There are 3 options for visiting a biobay in the northeast. You can do the Fajardo biobay on foot at Las Cabezas or via kayak with a guided tour or via an electric motor boat,. I think any biobay trip is a perfect ending to a great day!

At Hacienda Caraballi you can tour the foothills of El Yunque on horseback or All Terrain Vehicle. Located at main Route 3 highway in Luquillo on Road 922, km 4 Open daily from 9:30am until 5:00pm.

Combine a kayak tour of the coastline with underwater snorkeling of the coastal reefs. AquaFari’s of various durations are available. Tours start from La Cabeza Bay and transportation can be arranged from San Juan Kayaking Puerto Rico

Providing the moon phase is right, then a visit to one of the three Bio Bays in Puerto Rico is a must. The La Laguna Grande Bio Bay at Fajardo is the easiest bio bay to reach from Fajardo and kayak tours or electric boat tours are available. Tours start from Las Croabas and most operators offer 2 tours per night (early evening and mid evening). Some will even arrange transportation from San Juan.

If you would like to visit the Mosquito Bay Bio Bay on Vieques, you could take an evening cruise over to Vieques for dinner and a Bio Bay tour. Tours leave from Fajardo around 5pm and return 10pm (approximately) East Wind Catermeran