[Travel] Puerto Rico 2011-2012

dAPhREAk

Nauru12397 Posts

January 15 2012 20:27 GMT

I like to travel a lot and decided it might be fun to create a travel blog to share my experiences with other people on teamliquid. I am also hoping for advice for future trips I am planning on taking, and given teamliquid's diverse user base, I hope there is lots of helpful advice coming.

A little about me, I started traveling in 1999 when I did a year foreign exchange in Japan during my third year of college. Since then I have gone to at least one country each year (mostly a few countries a year). One of my goals (albeit unrealistic) is to travel to every single country in the world before I die.

Without further ado, here is my recent trip to Puerto Rico with my girlfriend over the New Years break. Since she is more attractive than me, I will use her pics instead of my own. ;-) This is pic heavy because I prefer to look at pictures than hear people blab. We took about 1,000 pictures so feel free to msg me if you are looking for pictures of any particular areas.

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Day 1 - we flew into San Juan and stayed at the Conrad Hilton hotel in Condad Beach. The hotel is amazing (and expensive), but the beach itself is just a small stretch and not terribly impressive. We mostly stayed in the hotel's hot tub, including drinking vodka with these random Russian dudes.

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Day 2 - visited El Morro, which is an old fort that has been used over hundreds of years to protect the Caribbean for trade, etc. It is rather large and amazing.

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Day 3 - visited El Yunque (the only tropical rainforest in the United States). First picture is of Juan Diego Falls; because it is a little out of the way, nobody goes there and so we were able to wade around in the pool all alone. Next we went to Luquillo Beach, which is a nice swimming beach, but not the most beautiful beach. Finally, we went to a bioluminescent bay in Fajardo. You are not able to capture the luminescence on camera, so I am using a photoshopped picture to show what it looks like. It is amazing. If you move your oars around in the water it looks like a lightsaber.

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Day 4 - we flew to Culebra Island on a puddle jumper. We spent the first day on Flamenco Beach; a white sand, half moon beach that is supposedly top 10 in the world. Very beautiful sand and water.

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Day 5 - spent the next day on Melones Beach. This is a snorkeling beach. Strap on your mask and jump in the water and you are immediately over coral. The beach is also made of dead coral, which hurts your feet, but is cool to look at.

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Day 6 - took a water taxi to Culebrita Island (i.e., Small Culebra Island), which is uninhabited. Went to Tortuga Beach on Culebrita, which is another white sand, half moon beach. It is called Tortuga because there are turtles that live in the sea grass and on the beach there. We went too late though, so we didn't get to snorkel with the turtles. Did enjoy the beach, which I personally think is more beautiful than Flamenco Beach.

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Day 7 - spent the day at Flamenco Beach again then puddle jumper back to the main land.

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Day 8 - Isla Verde Beach. This is the view from our hotel room. Very beautiful beach, but nothing like the white sand beaches. While we were sitting in the hot tub, a green iguana visited us. He/she walked around eating bugs and we just watched him/her. Even at a resort they had some nature, which was surprising to me. We went home the same day.

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Great trip for the winter break. It was nice to get away from the cold weather and sit on a beach or in a hot tub drinking pina coladas. =) Not terribly expensive as well even though we stayed at nice hotels (my girlfriend likes the luxury, and I have no complaints about it).

NEXT TRIP.

My next trip will be in September 2012. My friend and I are going to Turkey and Jordan. If you have any suggestions for these trips, please put them in the comments below. THANKS for any advice.

dAPhREAk

Nauru12397 Posts

January 15 2012 20:27 GMT

Now for a couple of polls to see if people want me to continue this.

Poll: Did you find this interesting?

Yes (12)

92%

No (1)

8%

13 total votes

Your vote: Did you find this interesting?

(Vote): Yes
(Vote): No

Poll: If you said yes, what would you like to see of my trips?

Japan (3)

27%

Taiwan (2)

18%

Costa Rica (1)

9%

Brazil / Argentina (1)

9%

Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam (1)

9%

Mexico (1)

9%

(1)

9%

Peru (0)

0%

France (0)

0%

France / Monaco (0)

0%

11 total votes

Your vote: If you said yes, what would you like to see of my trips?

(Vote): Japan
(Vote): Taiwan
(Vote): Costa Rica
(Vote): Peru
(Vote): Brazil / Argentina
(Vote): Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam
(Vote): France
(Vote): Mexico
(Vote): France / Monaco
(Vote):
(Vote):

Roe

Canada6002 Posts

January 15 2012 20:39 GMT

looks really beautiful there, like paradise.

DONTPANIC

United States340 Posts

January 16 2012 00:15 GMT

My fiance and I are headed there in May! Thanks for some ideas on things to check out! That rainforrest waterfall looks awesome. How did you find it?

dAPhREAk

Nauru12397 Posts

January 16 2012 00:20 GMT

On January 16 2012 09:15 DONTPANIC wrote:
My fiance and I are headed there in May! Thanks for some ideas on things to check out! That rainforrest waterfall looks awesome. How did you find it?

I was researching what the best sites to see at El Yunque were and I found the link below. We had a great time in Puerto Rico. If you would like any suggestions or tips, feel free to PM me. We considered (and ultimately rejected) other places to go for reasons I could tell you. Culebra or Viqeuies, and the bio-luminescent bays are a must-do for your trip.

http://www.puertoricodaytrips.com/juan-diego-falls/

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[Travel] Puerto Rico 2011-2012

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