Beautiful Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico – a unique slice of the USA

Our journey through this island began on the west coast in Puerto Real. The kind and helpful Jose got us in our slip and offered advice for our travels on both land and sea.  Many thanks to him for his courteous guidance and suggestions.

With the help of Jose, we rented a car to visit the big city of Mayaguez for a trip to the HOME Depot and SAM’s CLUB. On the ride we passed colorful homes, lush tropical vegetation and unique roadside eateries. The feel of a “foreign” and exotic land persisted until we reached the outskirts of town and spotted a McDonalds, Burger King, KFC and other American icons.  However, it was very helpful to find the replacement water pressure tank that we needed for the boat at the Home Depot and stock up with heavy items from Sam’s. The bilingual signs were the only clue that we were not in a mainland store. To return to the local flavor we continued on to the beach town of Rincon for a light lunch on the shore where visitors were paddle boarding in tropical splendor.

Back at the marina, we were fortunate to be included in the annual holiday feast. The highlight of the meal was roast pork…. A whole roasted pig.  The venue was festive among lights and candles and great food with like-minded boaters. Then there was the live band to top off the festivities.  Thanks again to all the staff and especially Jose for this wonderful evening. Puerto Rico is famous for the happy people and in only a few days we have seen why they have this reputation.

With the new tank installed, we continued on to round the western end of the island and to hop along the southern coast.

Our stop at the southwest corner was to visit the lighthouse at Cabo Rojo – Red Cape. This beautiful structure has been restored and is worth the short climb from the beach both for the view and the historical information in the building beneath the light. From the deck on the second level we even could see our boat resting at anchor in the small bay. Our round trip included the beautiful beach on the south side which is home to several turtle nests. 

We planned to make short runs most days from 6 to 20 miles and spend hours exploring the reefs as well as shoreside delights.

The keys of La Parguera were our next stop.  This town is a lively tourist destination with colorful restaurants and boat trips to the keys off shore a major attraction.  We tied to one of the free moorings and were entertained by the boats that spent the day enjoying the shallow water off the mangrove key. One evening we took a dink ride to a phosphorescent bay where the water sparkled with the bioluminescence. We also harvested a lobster from the local fishermen’s coop for a tasty dinner.  The town also boasted many restaurants, a well-stocked grocery store, and a café/bakery full of treats.

Next, we stopped at Gilligan’s Island – a protected anchorage off another set of mangrove islands.  Here we stopped for lunch at the San Juan Restaurant located at the ferry dock for service to the keys. The food was excellent and at very reasonable prices, but the décor was even more spectacular.  The owners were also very friendly and welcoming.

The big city of Ponce was our next stop. The city, named after Ponce de Leon, is the second largest city on the island. Fortunately, it is was mostly spared the devastation of Maria so the wealth of colonial architecture was on view.  The city is centered around the Cathedral and restored Firehouse with plazas on each side.  Around this park are the historic commercial heart and many of the traditional buildings.  We stopped at the history museum for a comprehensive tour in English.  The contents of the museum were as interesting at the structure – a former home of a prominent doctor. On the recommendation of Jose – the owner of the Pescadoria marina, we also spent several hours at the art museum – with works from the 1300s to today. The majority of the collection comes from one man, Luis A. Ferre, who gathered the works with a plan to give them to his home town. From its start with 71 works of art, it has now grown to over 4500. An unexpected gem in this charming town. (We also met Jose at the marina where he delivered a mail drop that we had sent to his marina - service above and beyond!)

Next to the marina and harbor where we were anchored was the boardwalk called La Gauncha – a very lively spot which also provided musical entertainment into the wee hours. A couple nights in the harbor were enough, so we hopped over to Coffin Island – Caja Muerto which supposedly resembles a coffin.  However, we were told in the museum that it was also the place that passing ships left their dead. The island has an arid climate and surprisingly large cactus dominate the flora.  As a change of pace, we hiked up to the lighthouse.  The view was spectacular but sadly the building has not been restored like the one we saw in Cabo Rojo.

Continuing east we stopped in the very crowded and protected harbor of Salinas. We actually spent a couple days then moved for a few days into the mangrove bays nearby.  These bays are secure hurricane holes where many boats weathered the ravages of Maria in 2017.  We met cruisers who stayed during the storm with only minor damage and one who then helped salvage more than 30 boats who were not so lucky.  Our objective was to practice and master our new kayak in the scenic and protected waters of the mangroves.  Surprisingly not a lot of bird life on our visit nor did we see the manatees that are reported to frequent the bays, but we did spend a few hours on the kayak – enough to work up a few blisters and put gloves on the shopping list. Returning to Salinas to wait out the Christmas Winds, we walked into the town center to visit the grocery store.  This was a unique experience.  The store infrastructure was normal for a full-size grocery, but the shelves were largely empty – the huge produce section had items clumped in only a few skimpy spots and the regular shelves were much the same.  Large sections with nothing or all the same item. It was kind of spooky wandering the aisles, but the staff was smiling and very friendly helping with our limited Spanish. We never discovered if the mostly empty shelves were due to the hurricanes of 2017 or a general change in the local shopping habits. 

Taking a brief lull in the winds we headed to the town of Las Patillas  – making the trip in the morning, calmest time of the day.  Arrival here was another surprise.  Although Patillas is also on the Southern side of the island, it is no longer the arid landscape we had seen further west. Somewhere along the 20-mile route we crossed a rain zone since Patillas was green and tropical. It was also a Sunday in a popular beach/shore hot spot. We anchored off the town/village and dinked into the beach which was still relatively quiet when we arrived about noon.  Things got much livelier as the afternoon wore on, but fortunately this was not a late-night draw at least on a Sunday.  Puerto Ricans, we have discovered, LOVE LOUD MUSIC. Mostly that has been fun to enjoy – especially from the slight distance of an anchorage; however, when the jocularity continues into the wee hours, it wears thin. For lunch we enjoyed the local Frappe stand with empanadas on the side!

Leaving at 0500, we finally, rounded the eastern end of the island for the marina Palmas Del Mar with a view of Vieques Island. Here we took time for a little exploration on land.  First to the rain forest (with some shopping attached) and second into Old San Juan. It was nice to see that this historic city has largely recovered from the destruction caused by Maria just over a year ago.  However, we heard from one old town shop keeper that they were without power for more than six months.  The loss of business was more than 150 days so it was great to see the huge cruise ship and the streets full of tourists enjoying the shops and sites of this beautiful town among the oldest continuously occupied in the new world. The impressive fortifications speak to its strategic importance in the trade routes between Europe and the West.

We extended our stay partly because of those persistent Christmas Winds, but also to get some medical tests done for PSE and to prep our Teddy for the British Virgin Islands.  It was also nice the marina was doing a special rate for the holidays!

We made several stops on Vieques – most importantly to visit another phosphorescent bay before lingering in the Culebra area to walk the famous Flamingo Beach.  (We did make a brief return to Palmas to pick up new credit cards – fraud is still a part of our lives.)

Many of our stops were recommended by Jose, our host at the marina Pescadoria in Puerto Real/ Cabo Rojo. It is hard to understand why the riches of Puerto Rico cruising grounds are not better publicized and more frequently visited by cruisers.  For us this was a delightful, friendly, and easy destination. In the end we finally had to move on …. After more than a month the Virgin Islands were calling us.