For the past few months Rowan University has been covered in mounds of snow and I need to escape it. With spring break right around the corner I took this as the perfect opportunity to flee from the cold and head down to Puerto Rico. This is the perfect destination for you and your friends to get tan, hang out at the beach, party, go on amazing adventures, and make life long memories. So many of my friends on campus are also going to Puerto Rico for spring break and others are going to tropical places just like it. Here’s everything I’m looking forward to doing on my 5 day trip and hopefully it can help you while planning yours!Â
Day 1:
Today is the first day of our trip! Woo Hoo! I have an early flight so I am arriving at the airport at around 6 a.m. for my 8:30 flight. The flight is early enough I should be able to sleep through it, leaving me ready to go for a night when I arrive. The flight will land at San Juan Airport about 12:30 p.m. From here we will pick up our rental car and head to our Airbnb. The Airbnb I rented is in Pitahay which is in between Luquillo and Fajardo. This is the perfect area for people looking tobe at the beach, do lots of activities, but still be close enough to San Juan to go out for the night and see the beautiful scenery. On our way we are going to stop at a grocery store to get just a few essentials to keep in our house. For the rest of the night we will enjoy Luquillo beach, and grab dinner and drinks in the area; before heading back to the house to relax in our private pool.Â
Day 2:
Tuesday we have an early morning because we are headed to El Yunque National Rainforest. This is the only tropical rainforest in the U.S. Our Airbnb is about a 20 minute drive from the rainforest so we are going to leave around 8 am. The park opens at 8 and we want to make sure we get parking so the earlier you head over the better. It’s only about $8 per car to enter. We are going to take our time driving, stopping at spots along the way for possible quick swims or pictures. Some of the best nature spots are La Mina Falls, La Coca Falls, Yakahu Tower, and Juan Diego Falls. The group I’m going with is not the biggest group of hikers but some moderate but still beautiful hikes that also have swimming locations are Mount Britton Trail, El Yunque Peak Trail, Angelito Trail, Camillo Trail, and Big tree trail. The natural swimming holes and natural water slides I’m looking most forward too are Charco el Hippie, Charco FrĂo, and Las paylas. It’s important to note that wearing sneakers that are okay to be messy, water shoes, clothes that will most likely get dirty, and bring a change of clothes to change into. There are plenty of tour groups but it is also very accessible to get around the rainforest yourself.Â
Later that day around 3 p.m. we are going to head over to a zipline park in the rainforest. Puerto Rico has some of the longest ziplines in the world. They have several that go around the rainforest but others all over the island so it is definitely a must do when going. We prebooked our zipline excursion online. The whole zipline process should take about two hours before we head back home to shower and get ready for dinner. This night we are going to grab dinner in Luquillo before heading back home for the rest of the night.Â
Day 3:
Today we have more of a chill day at the beach with some fun excursions! We are waking up and going to get brunch at a local restaurant near our Airbnb. It is a goal of ours to try and eat from as many locally owned businesses as we can. Throughout the trip we have recognized the importance of supporting small locally owned companies instead of big corporations. After grabbing breakfast and getting ready for the day we headed to Luquillo beach to do some jet skiing. There are so many jet ski companies you can rent from all varying in time length and group size to make sure you check that before booking. We decided to go for an hour and then made our way over to a nice spot on the beach to relax for a while. We are also planning on enjoying lunch and trying different foods from the Luquillo street fair food vendors. After that we headed over to the ATV rental site where we had the chance to ride ATV’s offroad for about an hour. Make sure to bring a change of clothes cause you will most likely get dirty. After this we are going to run home for a faster shower and change of clothes before heading to Fajardo for a bioluminescent bay kayaking tour. There are only about 5 bioluminescent bays in the world and Puerto Rico has three so this is an absolute must! Afterwards we are going to grab dinner and drinks for the night before heading back to the Airbnb.Â
Day 4:Â
Today seems to be our most chill and least planned day of the trip thus far. We are having a slow morning not rushing to go anywhere just yet. We took our time getting ready and enjoying the day. We headed over to San Juan to snorkel in the afternoon. We paid for a two hour snorkeling excursion but there are thousands all over the island for you to pick from. After that was done we spent some time enjoying the beach and soaking up the UV rays. After we changed out of our swimsuits and into more comfortable clothes as we drove around San Juan. We stopped all over looking at different historical sights and street art. Some historical sights we are making sure to check out are Castillo San Felipe Del Morro, Calle de la Fortaleza, Catedral Basilica Menor de San Juan Bautista, and Plaza de Armas. Later that night we booked a mixology class at the Bacardi Rum factory where you get to make two drinks and learn all about mixology from experts. The rest of the night we plan on spending our bar hoping before heading back to our Airbnb.Â
Day 5:
Today is our final day of our trip and we decided to leave it open. We didn’t really want to set any places in place in case we found something interesting we wanted to do once we got to the island. We do have a private infinity pool at our Airbnb which of course is an option for our day or we can just relax on the beach. We plan on just allowing the wind to take us free. Later this night around 10 p.m. we will head back, return our rental car and head to the airport for our 12:30 a.m flight. Overall, I am so excited for our trip and can’t wait to make so many amazing memories. I hope I can continue to plan many more amazing spring break trips for the rest of my college years and I’m so excited as to what’s to come!