9 Incredible Things to Do in Puerto Rico
on Jul 23, 2024
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Visiting Puerto Rico has been on my travel bucket list for years. So, when I heard the TBEX travel conference would be in San Juan in 2024, I registered immediately. With so many things to do in Puerto Rico, one trip won’t be enough.
For a first-time visit, these nine ideas will give you a great sense of the culture and fun this amazing country has to offer. If you’re like me, you will want to see even more as soon as possible. I can’t wait to return with my family for another truly unique adventure.
Whether visiting solo or with friends and family, you will have the time of your life discovering little treasures around every corner. While I was in town for the travel conference, I had the opportunity to explore the San Juan area.
After the conference, I stayed another three nights as a hosted guest of Discover Puerto Rico. We experienced even more of the island’s food, farming, and, of course, rum! Thank you to Discover Puerto Rico for hosting me on the Rum & Cocoa post-event familiarization trip and introducing me to some remarkable travel writers. It was a dream!
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These suggestions are within about an hour or less of driving distance from San Juan. Of course, with more time, you can see even more!
Here are nine ideas to inspire your next trip to Puerto Rico.
1. Tour a Cacao Farm
Take a drive to Barceloneta from San Juan, and in about 45 minutes, you will arrive at the Semila Cacao Experience. This is more than a farm; it’s an expert operation that provides productive cacao plants to other farms to help increase the number of cacao producers worldwide.
On our tour of this woman-owned business, we learned about cacao and how it grows, as well as how Semila has learned to graft fruitful trees into new growth to speed up the process and guarantee more crops.
We had a fascinating hands-on journey through the agricultural process and even got to taste cacao raw!
As you can see in the photo, the fruit is slimy before the fermentation process, but when you taste it, the notes of chocolate are there.
But wait, there’s more! In addition to the agricultural tours offered, you can camp on the farm! If you want to learn more about plants and how they work together, this experience is for you. Better than any science lesson I’ve had.
At the end of our tour, we finished with a chocolate and rum tasting. What a perfect day!
2. Go to Santurce for Nightlife
If your idea of a good time is a party on every corner, head to the Santurce neighborhood, where La Placita is a daytime marketplace that comes alive after dark.
EDM and hip-hop beats pulsating through the streets give way to live salsa music that inspires dancing with strangers. The backdrop is a colorful and artistic scene that is practically begging to be photographed.
Even if you don’t want to dance the night away, the atmosphere and community experience at La Placita are not to be missed.
We had a delicious dinner at Santaella and enjoyed a lovely walk afterward, bouncing along to the music.
3. Mix Drinks at Casa Bacardi
If you’re traveling with adults, there are many rum tours and tasting opportunities. But if you only have time for one, make it Casa Bacardi!
Casa Bacardi is located near San Juan and is easy to get to. This is why many cruise tours book excursions here, but you can also do it on your own.
Book a tour and mixology class, and get ready to laugh! After a quick and informative golf cart tour of the grounds, your group will go inside to make your drinks.
While waiting for your tour, you’ll be served a cocktail. During the class, you will also have a pour of their Special Reserve rum and two more cocktails that you can mix yourself. Let’s just say we were all delighted by the end!
After a quick exit through the gift shop (yes, the Disney girl in me got a kick out of this) and a little shopping, it’s off to the next adventure. Cheers!
4. Explore Old San Juan
If there is a walkable city, you will find me wandering the streets. Old San Juan is absolutely perfect for exploring. It’s full of color, great food, and some of the nicest people.
Go ahead and try out your Spanish in the shops, but if English is your only hope, no worries. It’s widely spoken in San Juan.
During the days, many of the small parks and plazas will have locally handmade jewelry and art for sale. I even heard live music on more than one occasion.
If you tire of walking the old city streets, just make your way to the coast and enjoy the spectacular ocean view from Castillo San Felipe del Morro.
5. Snorkel with Sea Turtles
Halfway through my weeklong trip, I learned about this sea turtle snorkeling experience from my friend Bianca at This Latina Travels.
Right at the edge of Escambron Beach is a bay with natural seagrass. The exterior seawall deteriorated about 25 years ago, and since then, wild sea turtles have come and gone to feast on the seagrass.
If you have your snorkel gear, you can park and get right in the water. Or you can hire a guide through AirBnb Experiences or Viator.
Since I booked at the last minute, I went with a guide. They provided everything I needed for the swim and even took videos and photos of me and the turtles with their GoPro.
I booked the Snorkel with Sea Turtles excursion through AirBnb experiences and it was great from start to finish. If you prefer Viator, try the highly-rated San Juan Guided Snorkel Tour with Videos. You’ll want to give yourself about three hours from start to finish to find the meeting spot, get the gear on, swim, and wait for your videos to transfer.
This is the perfect activity if you dream of swimming with sea turtles! I hope you love it as much as I did.
6. Put Chocolate on Everything
Puerto Ricans are proud of their chocolate, and they should be. Did you know you can enjoy chocolate on savory dishes, too?
Our hostess, Anamalys, took us to Chocobar Cortes in Old San Juan where they specialize in all things chocolate. In fact, everything on their menu has chocolate as an ingredient!
Chocolate and cheese is another famous pairing here. Grab a hot chocolate and it will come with a cube of cheddar cheese to place in the cup. It will melt as you sip and you will want every last drop.
We also tried chocolate grilled cheese, chocolate French toast, and spicy chocolate dip. I ordered avocado toast, which had chocolate chunks in the guacamole, chocolate oil, and even chocolate salt! It was unbelievably delicious.
Chocobar is a must-try if you are in San Juan. As a bonus, the restaurant has two floors of phenomenal artwork above it.
7. Kayak in a Bioluminescent Bay
There are three different bioluminescent bays in Puerto Rico. I visited one, and it was such an educational and unique activity. Not only did we see some of the glowing “dinoflagellates” as we paddled through the water, but kayaking at night was something I had never tried before. It was equal parts cool and creepy.
If you want to try this, follow some best practices. First, not all nights are created equal. For the best chance at seeing maximum glow, time your visit during a new moon and make sure the weather is favorable. It’s also good to check with your tour company in advance to ensure everything is lined up.
Our tour with Las Tortugas Adventures was the closest option to San Juan in Fajardo. Being the easiest to access makes it very popular, and at some points, even overcrowded with kayaks from different tour companies. However, it’s the only place where you can get in the water and swim if you’re brave enough, which I am not.
The glowing organisms were so cool to see as our paddles cut through the water! That said, cameras really don’t pick it up, so save the photography for daylight.
When I do this again, I want to try Mosquito Bay, which has been called the brightest in the world. This takes an additional flight to the small island of Vieques, another stop on my future to-do list. Learn about Puerto Rico’s three Bio bays here.
8. Visit a Rainforest
The rainforest was the one thing I didn’t get to see this time. El Yunque is the only rainforest in the U.S. National Forest System. I was so close!
My friend Sarah from Exponential Travels spent some time exploring before the conference, and from her photos, it looks so amazing! I will definitely be adding a visit to my next trip.
Hike to waterfalls, ride a zipline, or simply admire the scenery in El Yunque. You can also try horseback riding or take a guided tour to learn more about the area.
And don’t forget your rain gear! You guessed it, daily rain is the norm in this rainforest. Who knew? Admission to the forest is free, though there may be a charge for additional activities.
9. Have a Great Meal (or ten)
Oh the food in Puerto Rico surprised me in all the best ways. I tried new things like malanga, which is cooked taro root, and old favorites like the seared Ahi tuna salad pictured below.
Everything I ate was fresh, delicious, and beautiful. I dare say that TBEX had the very best food I have ever had at a professional conference. Que Rico!
Mixology is also a work of art in San Juan. Everywhere we went, we had the best cocktails. There was no way to choose a favorite. Every drink, from espresso martinis to mojitos, was presented with care and perfectly balanced.
If you are looking for something a little different, try a farm tour at Frutos del Guacabo in Manati. Meet the goats who make their cheese and learn about the edible flowers they provide to local restaurants and their many other crops.
Then, have a seat in their outdoor dining area and get ready for possibly your best meal in Puerto Rico. Every flavor was rich and bursting with flavor. The seasonal menu will be served in three courses, plus dessert. You will not go hungry here. Tours are only by reservation and can be booked via email or phone.
Honorable mention: Attend a Conference
This was my first time attending the TBEX travel writer’s conference, and it won’t be my last. I loved the combination of education and culture at the event. The way they partnered with the host country was next-level.
I really got the sense that everyone at each level of leadership was all in and ready to make this week a success. And I’d say they achieved that goal!
I hope you will attend TBEX. Or if you are in another business and find a professional conference in San Juan, book that trip and thank me later.
In the meantime, I’ll be over here plotting how to get myself and my family back to the island. We have much more to see!
