We decided to take a last minute trip to Puerto Rico for a much-needed beach getaway. We were still living in Baton Rouge at the time so our vacations typically consisted of sunshine and sand. We decided to stay at the Caribe Hilton so that we would be close to the beach and within walking distance of nearby restaurants and other resort properties.
One of our favorite parts of Puerto Rico was Old San Juan. The colorful buildings that line the streets, the Paseo De La Pincesa and the Castillo San Cristobal make this area a beautiful place to visit. We could literally spend an entire day wandering this part of the island. It was also in our opinion the nicest part of Puerto Rico. Once you are out of the Old San Juan area, every window and door is covered with bars and there are police officers patrolling on just about every street corner. There were even police officers patrolling the beach. While we didn’t feel unsafe during our visit, the police presence and the security measures taken on almost every home made us wonder if we should feel differently.
We were in the middle of getting our scuba diving certification and decided to do our checkout dive during this trip. It’s honestly the one and only time we’ve used our diving skills. We had planed to dive the Great Barrier Reef however, a Category 5 Typhoon had other plans. We met our instructor on the beach, performed our mandatory certification skills and ended the day with our official dive cards.
The El Yunque Rain Forrest was another highlight of our trip. We spent half the day exployring the flora and numerous waterfalls.
Finally, we enjoyed meals at the La Concha Renaissance Hotel, Raices and Pinky’s enjoying some traditional Puerto Rican cuisine.
Bottom line:
Puerto Rico is an easy tropical destination to get to from the U.S. While it wasn’t our favorite place for a beach destination, we are glad we made the trip.
Habitual Tourists 
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