Puerto Rico beaches??

[karenbaco]

Can someone steer me to a nice hotel in Puerto Rico with a beautiful caribbean beach? The places I have seen online around San Juan don't have the nice clear aqua carribbean waters. Not sure where to go to get that?

Thanks

 

[hsmamato2]

We are heading to Luquillo next month.... supposed to be the fave in PR.... go to tripadvisor,there are TONS of forums about PR there..... Vieques is an outlying island, planning on a day trip to visit while there....looks pretty great... San Juan has Ocean Beach and Isla Verde areas which look nice.... I believe the NW part is the surfing beaches

 

[AndreaDM]

We went to Luquillo a few years ago, it was beautiful. I think it cost $5 per car, but was well worth it for a nice clean beach with restrooms. We also went to a free beach closer to our rental home, but it was dirty and no restrooms. A LOT of people just left their garbage on the beach

 

[hsmamato2]

I am very much looking forward to visiting Luquillo, and the beaches east to LA Pared, including Playa Azul.....never been but so excited! Tripadvisor has so much great info on traveling to new places

 

[andrews_dad]

I trust DisBoards more than Trip Advisor, though. I am also considering a PR vacation. Subbing to this one.

 

[disfanforlife]

Me too. Hoping to plan a trip there for next March.

 

[hsmamato2]

I trust DisBoards more than Trip Advisor, though. I am also considering a PR vacation. Subbing to this one.

mmm....disboards is AWESOME for many things, but when you start ventruing outside the Disney realm, Tripadvisor is great

 

[ChristineNic]

My cousin lives on an island in Puerto Rico called Vieques. It is regularly listed as having some of the top 25 beaches in the world. It also has a biolumnescent bay -- plankton in water that makes things glow at night.

I haven't been to visit her there, but I hope to go within the next year or so.

Starwood (Sheraton, Weston ect.) built a new hotel there approx 3 year ago.

 

[andrews_dad]

mmm....disboards is AWESOME for many things, but when you start ventruing outside the Disney realm, Tripadvisor is great

TripAdvisor, in my experience, often is filled with shills that post as customers but are actually affliated with the resorts and giving glowing reviews. Also, I've suspected this same sort of situation where one resort will bash their competitors on TripAdvisor while trying to appear as customers. Also, I think this board to be filled with more like minded folks to us and our family. Not all reviewers are equal. My parents traveled the country via motorcycle and tent when they were younger. They stayed in a hotel recently, now about 70 years old, and glowed about it. It was off 95, run by folks that did not speak English, and was like $35 a night. When they compared against a tent from 40 years ago, it was great. When I saw a photo of their room, let me say I was not quite as impressed. This board tends to have a more narrow demographic than TripAdvisor. Also, folks here tend to be critical and demanding, IMO... which is a good thing IMO when trying to find best vacation spots for the buck. So, that being said I'd rather hear from Dizzers than TripAdvisor... but that is just me.

 

[lilychris]

Cana gorda in guanica is very nice. The copa marina hotel is very nice also at that beach. It is off the beaten path. Located in the south west part of the island. Bouqueron beach and crash boat are also nice. Very calm waters. Good luck

 

[Stargazer]

Can someone steer me to a nice hotel in Puerto Rico with a beautiful caribbean beach? The places I have seen online around San Juan don't have the nice clear aqua carribbean waters. Not sure where to go to get that?

Thanks

We enjoyed Flamenco Beach in Culebra and Crashboat Beach in Aguadilla. Having never been to any other beaches in the Caribbean, I don't know how these compare, but when compared to the other places we visited in Puerto Rico, these were our favorites.

If your focus is the beach, if time permits, you might stay on one of the islands (Culebra or Vieques) and then choose another spot for the remainder of your stay.

While we were there, we stayed at the Wyndham Rio Mar to be close to El Yunque rainforest - although the resort was beautiful, we spent most of our time in the pool since their water was so muddy. We then booked a 2br condo through VRBO at Puerta del Mar when we visited Aguadilla (due to its location to Crashboat). It was cheaper than most of the hotels we looked at -- the unit we rented is no longer there, but there are several others in the same complex.

 

[czycropper]

Luquillo is a great beach and has been for decades!!! I remember going there when I was a little girl. But there isn't a hotel attached to it since it's a "public" beach. But if you stay at a few resorts in Rio Grande-most have beaches in the resorts or you can drive to Luquillo.

In Fajardo, there is El Conquistador which will give you access to a beautiful beach in Palomino Island or you can also go to 7 Seas Beach in Fajardo which another great beach but I may be a little bit bias since it's in my hometown. If I knew how to insert a photo I could show you one that we took the last time we visited. El Conquistador is pricey but sometimes you can get some great deals.

Flamenco Beach has always been a beautiful beach but you would have leave the main island and go to Culebra to visit but it's definitely worth going and you can stay in a few "guest" houses that Culebra offers. I remember going to Culebra when I was a little girl and staying with one of my grandfather friends who had a house walking distance to the beach - that was one of my favorite memories of Culebra.

Another option for you is staying at Palmas Del Mar near Humacao. Pretty nice beach and wonderful hotel or I should say it was the last time I stayed there but that was a couple of decades ago!

I'm not as familiar with hotels in Ponce or on the northern coast of the island because anytime I went to visit we always stayed in the Fajardo area.

Enjoy going there! I'm happy that you're looking for outside of the San Juan area because to be honest the beaches are much better than in San Juan!

Remember to go visit El Yunque the rainforest. My daughters are still talking about their trip there and it's been 7 years since we were there

 

[hsmamato2]

thanks for the good advice! We are staying part of the trip at a condo rental,the other part in a b and b closer to OSJ....
just a side note on tripadvisor...... There is a pretty simple way to know if reviews etc are fake.... usually the fakes have clear clues, i.e. very few actual posts, or all skewed to one opinion that makes it obvious, or in the case of another country,the obvious language differences between someone from the midwest USA and someone who obviously speaks another language primarily but is posing as an American tourist...
As always one should be cautious, I like the feature of seeing a reviewers other reviews too, it tells me if one is an actual traveler,or someone with a false agenda....
Another fun site is oyster . com you can find actual reviews and real photos of many hotels.....
If a hotel reviews well on various sites, it's probably truth,and vice versa But I love reading different travel sites just for fun!