

Puerto Rico Island Hopping
Puerto Rico has some beautiful beaches and excellent food. It was more expensive than we expected, though we didn’t try hard to cut costs. Driving in Puerto Rico is stressful: maps are incomplete, navigation didn’t work well, and Puerto Rican drivers are crazy! If we returned to Puerto Rico we would focus on San Juan, Vieques, and Culebra, having got a taste of the rest of the island.
- 16 days
- 2016 Spring
Food and Beverage $70 per day
Average per person per day. We ate most meals out.
Lodging $103-$222 per night
Old San Juan was the most expensive; Culebra and Vieques were the least expensive.
Transportation $515 per person
Includes flights within Puerto Rico, rental vehicles (Jeep on Vieques, golf cart on Culebra, and car in Guanica), gas, and a couple of taxis.
Entertainment $50 per person
For the bioluminescent bay tour on Vieques.
Days 1-2: Old San Juan
Planned Activities
- Explore Old San Juan
Actual Activities
- Explore Old San Juan
The Plan: I’d been there for the day while on a cruise and despite a raging hangover remembered it as an interesting place that was worth a closer look.
The Reality: We did really enjoy the combination of history, tropics, and culture.
Related Posts


Old San Juan Forts
Fly from home
Stay at The Gallery Inn
Unique, quirky, and not for neat freaks or those with mobility challenges
Get around by walking
Days 3-5: Vieques
Planned Activities
- Exploring the beaches
- Bioluminescent bay tour
Actual Activities
- Exploring the beaches
- Bioluminescent bay tour
The Plan: We heard great things about both Vieques and Culebra. We tried to narrow it down to one but just couldn’t. We scheduled the entire trip around being at the bioluminescent bay at the right time.
The Reality: We enjoyed Vieques and it went as planned, despite some less than ideal beach weather.
Related Posts

Vieques

Vieques Beaches
Fly from San Juan
Via Vieques Air Link
Stay at Trade Winds
Basic and affordable; you can choose your exact room
Get around by Jeep
We rented from Maritza's Car Rental
Days 6-9: Culebra
Planned Activities
- Hanging out at the beach
Actual Activities
- Hanging out at the beach
- Snorkeling
The Plan: We heard it was super relaxed, which we enjoy.
The Reality: Yes, it was very relaxing. And since there happened to be someone else we knew on the island who had snorkel equipment we could borrow, we got to fit some snorkeling in.
Related Posts

Culebra

Culebra Beaches
Fly from Vieques
Via Flamenco Air, direct, though I think we were lucky to find that
Stay at Villa Patria
Our first Airbnb and a great one-bedroom apartment
Get around by golf cart
We rented from Carlos Jeep Rental
Days 10-13: Guanica
Planned Activities
- Stopping at El Yunque en route
- Hiking in the dry forest
- Sightseeing in that part of the island
- Hanging out at the beach
Actual Activities
- Stopping at El Yunque en route
- Hiking in the dry forest
- Sightseeing in that part of the island
- Hanging out at the beach
The Plan: We wanted to see more of Puerto Rico than just San Juan and the outer islands. We also wanted to try going to a resort that was not an all-inclusive to see how the overall price compared.
The Reality: We did get to see more of the island and the Copamarina did end up being less expensive overall than all-inclusives we’ve stayed at. We didn’t see quite as many sights as we planned on the day we went driving around. We just got too tired and stressed.
Related Posts

Guanica

El Yunque

Guanica Dry Forest

Cabo Rojo
Fly from Culebra to Ceiba
Via Flamenco Air, then a rental car from there
Stay at Copamarina Beach Resort
Comfortable, low-key, and reasonably priced
Get around by car
We rented from Enterprise in Fajardo and dropped off the car in Isla Verde.
Days 14-15: San Juan
Planned Activities
- Some last beach time
Actual Activities
- Some last beach time
The Plan: We wanted to experience both Old San Juan and a more modern area, so we planned a couple of additional days at the end of our trip to put us closer to the airport for our early departure.
The Reality: Our plan worked well. San Juan is pretty sprawling so dividing our beach time from our time in Old San Juan saved us having to drive around. And we discovered that there is a nice beach right in the San Juan area should we decide to come back.
Related Posts

Isla Verde
Drive from Guanica
Stay at Villa del Sol
Comfortable, affordable, and close to the beach
Get around by walking
We dropped off the car when we arrived.
Resources

- We used Lonely Planet Puerto Rico (Kindle format) as our main resource*
- TropicalSnorkeling.com has info on snorkeling in Puerto Rico