Puerto Rico Vacation - May 2005

Conclusion

Thu, 2 Jun 2005 16:20:44 GMT

Going to Caribbean in May was a great escape from the cold weather in New York. Also it was great to get away from all the everyday hustles and bustles in New York - I needed a vacation!

Culebra Island - Flamenco Beach

Fri, 27 May 2005 04:22:28 GMT

Culebra Island is known for its beaches which are among the most beautiful beaches in the world. Many people recommended to us to check it out and we did. The trip to the island by boat took 1.5 hours. When we arrived to the Island there were many vans that took people to various beaches. We went to Flamenco Beach which was the most recommended. The beach was indeed beautiful. There were hardly any people. The water was crystal clear with the green tint to it. It was so warm, it felt like swimming in a heated pool. The beach is curved and at one end of it the water was calm, but at the other it was quite wavey. As we walked around the beach we were surprised to see the remains of old tanks. One of them was right on the beach!.

We liked the beach so much that we did not want to take the boat back that was scheduled to leave at 3PM. Instead we decided to take a plane back at 5:30 PM. Julia was terrified of flying such a small plane, but I convinced her to do it. We were sitting right behind the pilot and I was able to see all the dials and levers on his dashboard. It only took 15 minutes to fly back. Here is the video of our flight:

All Culebra Island Photos

Luquillo Beach - where waves never stop

Fri, 27 May 2005 04:19:58 GMT

On the way back from San Juan we found this beach by driving around the town called Luquillo. This beach, had very few people despite the fact that it was right next to the residential areas. The greatest thing about this beach was the waves. The only people that we could see on this beach were the surfers. We rented boogie boards and had a blast riding the waves. Here is a video of the surfer girl Julia: We liked this beach so much that we came back to it on another day. Here is Julia's Russo-English report:
All Luquillo Beach Photos

El Morro Fort

Fri, 27 May 2005 04:03:49 GMT

At the west end of Old San Juan overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and San Juan Bay is the old fort called El Morro which was built more than 400 years ago to protect the city from the enemies. It is Puerto Rico's most famous fortress. It's sentinel outposts have become the national symbol that is seen on the Puerto Rican cars' license plates. Those outposts are very similar to the ones found in Saint Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, Russia.

A long road in an open space leads to the entrance of the fort. Inside the fortress was a plethora of passages, ramps, guns, barracks to house the soldiers, and even a chapel. The fort rises 140 feet above the sea and the views from it are spectacular. Next to the fort was the brightest cemetary I have ever seen.

All El Morro Photos

San Juan

Fri, 27 May 2005 03:57:12 GMT

Founded in 1521, the capital of Puerto Rico, San Juan, is the oldest city in US territory. We spent a day driving around in it. We did not really walk there because the weather was excruciatingly hot and finding parking was quite difficult. I have never driven on such narrow streets! Most of the central Old San Juan looked very cute with its quaint multicolored buildings. However along the shore next to El Morro we saw some pretty poor living conditions. The architecture of the city was quite diverse - from Spanish mansions to old European buildings to contemparty residential towers.

All San Juan Photos

El Yunque Tropical Rain Forest

Fri, 27 May 2005 03:02:44 GMT

On our second day we checked out the tropical wildenress of El Yunque Rain Forest. It is the only tropical rain forest on American territory. It was only half an hour away by car from our hotel. At the main entrance of the rain forest we went to the visitor information center and watched a brief movie about the rain forest. Then we got a map of it and drove to various points of interest. The first one was this waterfall. Then we drove further up the mountain to this observation tower and admired the views from its top. We then drove yet higher up the mountain and parked the car to embark on a half-hour hike towards La Coca waterfall. Along the hike we saw some tropical trees which we only had seen in a zoo. At La Coca waterfall I was able to re-live my Grand Canyon experiences as I was swimming under it just like I did back then. Getting underneath the waterfall was quite challenging. Here is the video with Julia's supportive commentary:

All El Yunke Tropical Rain Forest Photos

Palomino Island

Fri, 27 May 2005 02:33:16 GMT

Wyndham El Conquistador resort is not located on a beach, but it has a private island with a beach. The island is called Palomino and it is just 20 minutes away by boat. On our first full day at the resort we went there for our first beach experience in Puerto Rico. Here is a video taken from the boat on the way to the island: The beach looked beautiful with white sand and warm blue water. Next to the beach they had an outdoor restaurant in which we happend to see plenty of rabbits and chickens walking around among the chairs and tables. Here is the video: After spending some time on the main beach, we ventured away from the beach along the shore of the island. We found some abandoned beaches with virtually no people. Along the way I found some interesting rock formations.

Here is Julia's commentary (in Russian) on our way back from the island:

All photos at Palomino Island

The Resort

Fri, 27 May 2005 00:08:52 GMT

We stayed at the Wyndham El Conquistador resort. It is located in the town of Fajardo on the East tip of the Puerto Rico island on the hilly shore of the Caribbean sea. The resort is huge. At first we kept getting lost there.

In several gardens of the hotel there was a lound and abundant sound of bird chirping. The funny thing was that I could not see any birds and when I we went to El Yunque rain forest there were less bird sounds than in the hotel gardens. This made me believe that the bird sound in the hotel gardens was actually produced by hidden speakers in the bushes.

We stayed at the section called Las Olas Village which was below the main hotel area. To get there we took a ride on the funicular. We stayed in a two-story building curving around the swimming pool area. Our room was on the second floor. It was spacious with a big balcony where we had breakfast every morning.

The main hotel had a lobby with many fancy seating areas. It had several ballrooms, casino, an atrium with a fountain. Outside there were several pools and gardens.

There were several nice but not cheap restaurants in the hotel. The one I would recommend is Blossoms. They have incredible service. They draw the chair out for you, give you warm wet towels to wipe your hands, and constantly make sure that everything is ok while you are dining. We went to that restaurant twice. First time we sat at a teppan-yaki and enjoyed watching hibachi cooking right in front of us. Here is the video of the cook performing his act:

At night we mostly walked around the resort premesis and took pictures. One night there was a live salsa band playing in the hotel lobby so we danced a little bit of salsa, and another night we went freestyle dancing in the hotel's disco which happened to play good eurodance music that night. The club was empty so we took over the entire dancefloor. Here is the video:

All Resort Photos

Vacation In Puerto Rico - May 19-24

Thu, 26 May 2005 20:15:00 GMT

Julia and I had a great time in Puerto Rico. We stayed at one of the most luxury resorts of the island, but we did not just stay there. We rented a car and drove to the rain forest, went to San Juan, and visited Culebra Island which has one of the most beautiful beachis in the Caribbean. Below are the photos and videos that we took on the trip. Scroll down for more details of our vacation.
Photo Albums:

The Resort

Palomino Island

After The Sunset

El Yunque Rain Forest

San Juan

El Morro

Luquillo Beach

Culebra Island

Off The Road

Videos: