Last year we enjoyed three nights in Fort Lauderdale for April break - combining days of adventure in the National park with relaxing days of beach and pool. This year, we used the formula on a slightly more exotic destination - Puerto Rico. In four nights we had a history/culture day in Old San Juan, an adventure day in the El Yunque rainforest, and a beach relaxing day in Isla Verde. Our family of four (kids age 8 and 10) had the perfect spring break vacation in Puerto Rico.
Here’s how to recreate this adventure:
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| Hotel Pool at Embassy Suites San Juan |
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| Lobby at Embassy Suites |
Day 1 - Fly to San Juan, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico is a US territory although its cultural and linguistically different than the mainland, you do not need a passport to travel there. Four hour direct flights from Boston were reasonably priced. We flew in around dinner time, picked up our rental car without any issue (I like Avis) and drove the 10 minutes to our hotel - Embassy Suites San Juan Hotel & Casino - which is actually in Isla Verde - a beach community just outside San Juan. Once checked in, we walked the two easy blocks to the beach where we grabbed classic pina coladas in coconuts and food at Lifeguards on the Reef Cafe. We watched the sunset, walked back to our hotel and did a night swim in the giant pool. It really felt like we were instantly on vacation!
!!Hotel Pick!! I spent more time researching hotels than anything else! The Embassy Suites was chosen because it literally checked all the boxes:
Close to the airport (we didn’t want an exhausting or stressful drive the first day)
Not far from Old San Juan or El Yunque - the two main places we wanted to go - it’s in between both.
Beach access by walking - ES provided beach umbrellas, towels, and chairs down on the beach. It was an easy walk.
Kid Friendly Pool - it was massive and aesthetic with stone landscaping and a waterfall. It also had a pool bar, attendants, and restaurant.
Included breakfast - When traveling, I don’t like the stress of figuring out where to eat breakfast at 8 am and getting everyone out the door right away. ES has a great continental breakfast including a cook doing made-to-order omelets.
I was really happy with our choice! There were even some extra perks that made it even better than I thought:
Happy hour - ES puts out complimentary snacks from 5:30-7ish. Adults got two free drink tickets per day. I usually used mine to get the rum punch and the kids liked the chips and hummus.
Suite - We had a king bed suite. The kids slept on the pull out couch in the living room. It was nice having two separate spaces. We also used the fridge for leftovers. There was also a sink and microwave.
Walking distance to restaurants, shopping, and supermarket - Even though we had a car, we only used it twice. We could walk to restaurants, souvenir shops, and even a supermarket.
Parking - the ES is also a small casino with a large parking garage so our car was always safe. This however, comes with a price of $25 but it has easy in and out ability with your card.
I’m really happy with our choice to stay at Embassy Suites. We had a comfortable, quiet, and clean experience. I booked through the Expedia app and that was smooth as well.
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| Drinks at Lifeguards on the Reef Cafe |
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| Happy Hour included at hotel every night |
Day 2 - Culture and History of Old San Juan
Our first full day in Puerto Rico was about experiencing Old San Juan. *Fair Warning* this was a lot of walking! We parked the car at Escambrón beach ($6 a day). This was a surfers beach with spectacular views of waves, palm trees, and sand. From here, we walked the Pasea Puerta de Tierra - a scenic, award-winning pedestrian walkway stretching roughly 1.5 to 2 miles (about a 30–45 minute walk) along the coast from Escambrón Beach to the entrance of Old San Juan. It offers spectacular ocean views and convenient access between the beach area and the historic city center, capitol building, and passing by Muñoz Marín Park. We stopped at Old San Juan when we got to the San Cristobol castle - the largest fortress built in the Americas! It is a National Historic Park. We paid entrance and did a self tour. The kids loved the dungeons and I loved the views from the top!
Moving on, we wandered into Old San Juan. We marveled at the large colorful buildings and blue bricked roads. We popped into some shops (Matt bought the popular four pocket shirt called a guayabera) and we all got Puerto Rican ice cream from a street vendor. We made it all the way to the end where we also visited San Felipe del Morro fort (nick named El Morro). Our entrance from San Cristobal got us into this one as well.
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| Escambrón Beach where we parked |
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| Old San Juan Streets |
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| Dungeons in San Cristobol fort |
At this point we were hot and tired. Matt chose our lunch spot of Caleta cafe where we had fantastic sandwiches outdoors right in the Cathedral Plaza - an aesthetic masterpiece. We started our walk back - but first got gourmet popsicles for dessert at Zippops.
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| Getting our National Park Passport Stamped |
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| Views from El Morro |
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| Getting street ice cream ($5 a piece) |
Back at the hotel, we relaxed and enjoyed the happy hour and pool. For dinner, we got authentic and affordable dinner at Bebo’s BBQ - a short drive from the hotel.
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| Popsicles on the go at Zippos |
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| Bebos BBQ - all this for $24 |
**TIPS** Wear sunscreen and comfortable shoes for this itinerary. My phone read I had walked 15,000 steps by 1 pm! If we had had the energy, it would have been nice to hang at the Escambron beach before heading back. We got caught in a 10 minute downpour in Old San Juan - none of us minded since it cooled us down a little, but an umbrella would have been handy in the backpack. Lastly, bring cash to buy ice cream or shaved ice from street vendors.
Day 3 - Adventure in El Yunque
I knew we wanted to experience some adventure in the rainforest. I waffled between going on our own and choosing a tour. Based on my Costa Rica experience this summer, I knew with a tour guide I wouldn’t have to stress about getting in, where was safe to hike or go, as well as help identifying plants and wildlife. To relieve stress and get access to some adventure, I booked a guide. I chose ComfortPR tours - a one man operation of David Ortego - who does his own booking and does not use third party booking like tripadvisor and getyourguide. We booked his Trails-River-Beach tour that included transportation to/from our hotel.
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| short walk to the waterslides |
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| Fruit stand/smoothies before the rainforest |
This excursion had three stops: First, a visit to a fruit and smoothie stand outside the rainforest, then a short hike to natural waterslides - including safety and photo/video taking, and last, a trip to Luquillo beach - another must-see destination famous for the kiosk market. My son would have spent all day doing the slides! We all tried the small one but he was the only one brave enough to to the big one…over and over. At Luquillo beach, we had lunch at La Parrilla restaurant - kiosk # 2. We tried the traditional seafood mofongo as well as a conch salad.
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| David helped us stay safe in the waterslides |
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| David made sure we got great photos |
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| Our guide David with Comfort PR tours |
David was very knowledgeable and even helped Matt do a side quest to a take-out place to get him mondongo (not to be confused with mofongo) - a tripe soup he wanted to try.
This day was lots of fun and we felt we were in good hands with David. We saw a lot of large group tours doing similar experiences but without the safety warning, life jackets, etc.
We were pooped that night - so we stayed in - used the pool and had dinner at one of the hotel restaurants.
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| Mofongo and conch salad at the Luquillo kiosks |
Day 4 - Manatees and Beach
My daughter loves manatees, and last year we weren't able to see any in our Florida trip. I was determined that we’d see them this one! After some searching, I found out that San Juan’s manatee rescue organization offers one hour tours of their facilities which include seeing the manatees receiving care! The Caribbean Manatee Conservation Center is located in the Bayamón Campus of the Inter American University of Puerto Rico - a 35 minute drive from our hotel. Our guide Shelly was engaging and informative. We learned about the rescue process, the animals they treat, and the veterinary services they provide. We got to safely view their patients including four manatees, sea birds, and a sea turtle. It was a wonderful experience!
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| Manatee viewing |
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| Great tour at the Manatee Conservation Center! |
The afternoon was designated our beach day. Embassy Suites is two blocks from the Isla Verde Beach - a large family friendly beach. We brought some portable sand toys and the hotel provided a beach attendant with lounge chairs, towels, and umbrellas. Unfortunately, it rained on and off during our afternoon, but since the kids didn’t care - Matt and I decided that neither did we. They loved making sand castles and body surfing in the warm, tropical water. We got food and drink from the hotel cafe and also from Lifeguards on the Reel Café again.
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| Big beach and warm water at Isla Verde - 2 blocks from hotel |
For dinner, we took a local’s suggestion for Metropol for local Puerto Rican favorites. Matt and I each tried a new mofongo again and we had the traditional dessert of flan for dessert.
Day 5 - Heading Home
Our last morning in Puerto Rico included another continental breakfast and pool time. We got to the airport early. I’d heard scary tales of four hour TSA lines, but we didn’t have this experience. The required USDA check (don’t miss this!) took about ten minutes and the TSA precheck line under ten. As a result, we had at least three hours to kill before our flight.
Would repeat!
I felt this vacation was a nice blend of relaxing, culture, and adventure. With more time, it would have been fun to visit one of the islands - Vieques and Culebra. If the kids were older, a snorkeling, jetski, zipline, or atv adventure would be fun as well. Overall, we have no regrets and hope to come back.
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