Girls Guide to Puerto Rico 🌸🐚
Puerto Rico just went to the top of my list of favorite vacation destinations! Puerto Rico is a Caribbean island with a landscape of mountains, beautiful beaches and the El Yunque tropical rainforest. It is a territory of the United States so you don’t even need your passport or have to wait in custom lines when visiting this beautiful island!
I met a lot of locals that were originally from the states and each of them had such a great love for this island. I personally loved how close Puerto Rico is from the East Coast, only a 4 hour plane flight. I wanted to visit somewhere closer and more of a practical vacation recommendation for my East Coast based following as my typical recommendations of Mykonos and St.Tropez were not getting the traction I’d like. I knew I needed to explore more and I have a lot of Caribbean destinations on my list. I have been to Bermuda, Curacao and Jamaica before and I truly didn’t expect to be so blown away and in love with Puerto Rico. I feel like a lot of Caribbean destinations like Jamaica are places with just resorts and not much you can do to get a local feel and cultural experience like you can in Puerto Rico. I loved how safe and seamless exploring, even solo, was on this island. Mostly everyone could speak English, and many of the Spanish speaking people of the island spoke “Spanglish.” You could feel diversity while also feeling at home because it’s an American island.
The capital San Juan, is known for its luxury hotels, beach bars and casinos. We stayed in the Condado neighborhood of San Juan at the stunning beachfront sister properties of La Concha Resort and Condado Ocean Club. I am the type of person who loves to explore a new place but each of these properties have so much to offer that I didn’t even want to leave! San Juan can be the ultimate relaxation trip where you stay by the pool or beach all day and I would highly recommend both of these properties.
La Concha Resort
La Concha Resort is a luxury resort in the heart of Condado, San Juan, Puerto Rico. The property has stunning oceanfront rooms, fine dining restaurants, a casino and awesome bars and lounges. Enjoy island cocktails by the beachfront pools, dine at one of the seven amazing restaurants on property, feel the Caribbean breeze from sunrise to sunset, and hear the ocean waves from the in room patios all night long. Out of the seven on sire restaurants my personal favorite was Tekka Bar. The hand roll sushi here was some of the best sushi I have ever had and we did sake shots for the first time! It’s tucked away in the hotel lobby and seems to be a spot that brings in not only hotel guests but island locals.
Condado Ocean Club
Condado Ocean Club is equally as beautiful as La Concha resort but to me felt more like an older crowd and more boutique style. As a smaller property with no casino and less restaurants this feels like the perfect honeymoon escape. The views from the room are epic as you are directly above the ocean but with no patios here it’s hard to choose which is better. The way the infinity pool hits the ocean here is picture perfect and the food at the restaurant Social is phenomenal. Come here for sunset and order the spicy tuna tacos and the cauliflower popcorn.
My ideal day is waking up on the ocean and spending the day by the beach and then headed to town to shop and go out. I loved the location of Condado being on the water but still a short Uber away from the going out scene. Both of these properties are only 10 minutes from the exciting Old San Juan, my favorite part of Puerto Rico. Oh yes, Puerto Rico also has Ubers! You can get around the island seamlessly. On the weekend the Uber’s were a lot more expensive than on the week days but you can get a ride for as cheap as $8 from Condado to Old San Juan.
Old San Juan
This neighborhood features colorful Spanish colonial buildings, fortresses, amazing restaurants, unique boutiques and fun bars. This area reminded me of mixes of St. Tropez in the French Riviera and San Miguel de Allende in Mexico and I loved every second of exploring this charming and colorful old town. Here’s a list of my personal favorite spots:
Favorite Boutiques
The Poets Passage- This adorable boutique is where to come for the best souvenirs. I loved the personalized colorful doors that you can make with your last names and house numbers! There is also a local art gallery inside. The artist depicts “how it feels to live in Puerto Rico” with his love in the art and it had me feeling all the feels of true love and the magic of a setting to spend your life in.
Pink Tree- This is the Loveshackfancy of Puerto Rico and it is so my aesthetic! When I walked in the sales girl said “most of our items are two piece sets,” and it made me chuckle thinking of the five people that told me this store was so me, because that’s my favorite thing to wear! I actually didn’t buy anything because of course my suitcase was already full but the shopping bags alone made me so tempted to purchase something I didn’t need. Either way I love to window shop on my trips to truly immerse myself in everything I love.
Luna market- Vintage, Coffee, Secondhand, Art and more can be found at this eclectic pop up shop open everyday! I found the cutest sticker with The Pink Building of Old San Juan here that I am going to stick onto a pink phone case for a souvenir from this trip that I can look at everyday.
Restaurants & Bars
La Factoria- This vibrant hangout is the place to be! I was recommended by a lot of friends that have visited PR this spot. The rustic-chic vibe and multiple rooms remind me of The Bungalow, my favorite spot in LA. This spot is voted #24 on North America’s BEST BARS make sure to try the Lavender Mule their signature drink.
Barrachina- This is where Pina Coladas were invented! Cute patio with local cuisine and appropriately the best Pina Colada’s around.
La Casita- We really hit all the pink restaurants here and this fun and floral decorated spot had open air patio seating and yummy cocktails. I however would not recommend the food as it was all fried which I personally hate!
Pira Rum- Eclectic pink tapas and cocktail spot with fun music and instagrammable signage.
Finca Cialitos- The owner grows, roasts and serves the coffee here! Another pink spot in Puerto Rico but this one was recommended to me by locals and had the best tasting coffee I had on the trip. The one negative is that they only had soy and almond milk options for non-dairy.
We dined at the resort most of our trip and I would highly recommend Social and Tekka Bar as mentioned above.
Tourist things to See:
El Morro- This is a gorgeous old fortress that’s known to be the most picturesque military structure. I came here on a Sunday and it felt like a movie scene with locals hanging out, flying kites, and watching the waves crash from the top of the hill.
Calle Cementerio- Right next to El Morro you will see this bleach white graveyard overlooking the ocean. You can access it through a tunnel but it is often photographed and less frequently visited. It’s definitely a site to see but I personally don’t like to spend my time in cemeteries. It’s the burial site of some of the most famous Puerto Ricans and apparently if you do go down to the cemetary theres a gorgeous view of the islands beautiful colored houses and the El Morro fortress.
Plaza De Armas- One of the main squares of San Juan, pictured aboved. This square dates back to Spanish colonial times and seems like a spot where locals hang out around.
Casa Rosa- Sometimes when I’m exploring alone I have an awful moment where my phone dies and I don’t have a photograph for a priceless moment. Like this one when I walked into the iconic pink house of Old San Juan that I did not even know existed. This Pink House is a historic house built in 1812 and can be found on the hill on way up to El Morro.
El Yunque- This tropical rainforest is the only rainforest in the U.S. Forest System! The forest receives over 120 inches of rain every year. I unfortunately naly didn’t get to go to the waterfalls in here that you see all over online when researching Puerto Rico but I definitely think you should if you have time!
Carabali Rainforest Park you can ride ATVs that take you to a top of the mountain with beautiful views of El Yunque. They also offer ridding horses on the beach which was a top experience of my trip!
What to wear
Puerto Rico is warm and tropical, you can expect quick afternoon showers and the temperature varies between 70 and 80 degrees. I recommend wearing linen pieces and maxi dresses. I feel like my vacation style stays pretty similar through and though and I am a total outfit repeater but in my own little world me loving and rewearing pieces is helping the environment one step at a time!
I learnt that the island has so much more to offer than the capital of San Juan where I spent almost all my time. With 300 miles of coastline and some of the world’s best beaches there are a lot more beaches that I’d like to visit! I did hear from a few people that have explored more of the island that Vieques has the most beautiful beaches. I can’t wait to come back to explore more of what the island has to offer!
As always please feel free to reach out for any additional tips or recommendations for your upcoming trip to Puerto Rico! I hope I’ve inspired you to book your next vacation!!
xoxo,
Jules