La Playita: A Local Beach, a Hidden Gem

Looking for serenity? Or a party? Depending on the day, you can find either at La Playita, one of our favorite local beaches. La Playita, found at the end of a dirt road tucked among the mangroves near Puerto Real, is just a mile or two from our home in Cabo Rojo.

The beach can be completely deserted, offering a serenity that’s hard to find anywhere else. But a holiday weekend can bring entire families partying for the day, and even overnight campers, though there are no facilities.

This picturesque stretch of white sand offers shallow waters, palm trees, and mangroves. You’ll see fish and even rays jumping out of the water, pelicans flying by, and sand crabs scurrying around. Unfortunately, you will also encounter some trash, and maybe meet a stray dog or two. People park their cars right on the beach, so it’s not a bad place for people with accessibility issues. The water is calm, warm, and fairly shallow – perfect for swimming, splashing, lounging in the water sipping a drink, fishing, or kayaking.

Photos

So grab your beach chairs, pack a cooler with drinks and some frozen Gasolinas (party in a pouch!), stop into Mercado’s Bakery to get sandwiches and chips and use the bathroom– remember, no facilities – and settle on in under a sea grape tree with a good book. Enjoy!

Info

Map

Mercado’sBakery

Messy Suitcase Mini-Tour: Playa Corcega in Rincon

We spent a sweet morning at a beach in south Rincon that is popular with local swimmers and snorkelers. It’s a quiet beach with soft golden sand, but not a lot of shade. A reef can be found about 50 meters from the coastline. Unfortunately, the water kicked up a bit and kept us out of the water. Next time!

There are no amenities and no services, but the village of Rincon is a couple of miles away. Bring a cooler and your lunch.

Info
Map

Mini-Tour: Bird’s-Eye View of Boquerón Beach

Balneario (Public Beach) Boquerón is one of our favorite beaches, and we showed it to you in an earlier video. But now Beto has a drone, and you’ll find the view is even better from the sky! 

The view of the crystal-clear water and the reefs and rocks below is astounding, with the stunning mountains in the distance. And Boquerón, which is a national park,  features many facilities you can’t see from the beach, including beach volleyball, a tennis court, a basketball court, a camping area (with cabins still being restored after damage from Hurricane Maria in 2018), and more.

INFO

Balneario Boquerón
Messy Suitcase Original Boquerón Beach Video

Map

Hiking the Cliffs at Playa Sucia

You feel as though you’ve gone to the end of the earth when you stand atop the stunning cliffs rimming the peninsula beyond pristine Playa Sucia, the beach at the extreme southwest corner of Puerto Rico, and look out across the vast turquoise sea.

Most hikers who come here take the breathtaking 1 ½ mile trail that encircles the iconic lighthouse Los Morrillos. We did it, ourselves, a couple of years ago. (Here’s the video) It was amazing!

But if you sneak off to the very left side of Playa Sucia (also known as Playuela), you’ll find a billy goat trail of about 2 ½ miles that gives you devastating beautiful views of the lighthouse from across the bay, with waves crashing into the cliffs below. You’ll also take in the crescent beach and the vast ocean beyond. The area is called Acantilados de Cabo Rojo, which translates to the Cliffs of Cabo Rojo. If you’re afraid of heights, don’t go too close to the edge! Otherwise, prepare to be blown away, by both wind and natural beauty.

There’s no shade, so wear sunscreen and a sunhat, and bring water to drink. But the most important accessory is your camera! We suggest you drop your beach chairs and swimsuits under a seagrape tree on the beach before hiking so you can cool off afterward with a dip in the warm waves.

PHOTOS

INFO

AllTrails Description

Map

Mini-Tour: Playa Tres Tubos

Playa Tres Tubos is a cozy neighborhood beach just a few short miles up the road from us in Joyuda, Cabo Rojo. There’s parking along the main road, but finding the pedestrian entryway was a bit of a challenge. The short path to the beach offered lovely mural art and shady trees.

Tres Tubos itself was a little gem of a beach, with soft sand; clear, calm water; but no shade. There are no facilities or shops nearby, so we brought our own lunch, and took the opportunity to test out our new shade tent for the beach.

INFO

Playa Tres Tubos – Sorry, no links to provide, there is no official info. Consider yourself scooped by an insider!

Pacific Breeze Easy Setup Beach Tent
Map

Mini-Tour: La Poza del Obispo

La Poza del Obispo in Arecibo is widely considered to be one of the most beautiful beaches on the North Coast of Puerto Rico. We wanted to know why so many people recommend it! 

Here’s why: Lots of parking right by the beach. Deep, soft golden sand. A few shady palm trees perfect for hanging hammocks. Incredible views of cliffs and turquoise sea in every shade imaginable. Food trucks nearby along the road to the beach. A “poza” (pool) of calm water protected by rocks from the jaw-dropping waves, which creates a perfect pool for kiddies to safely swim.

What’s not to love?

La Poza is also located right in the shadow of the beautiful Arecibo Lighthouse, so we hiked up a small mountain into a brisk wind to get a better view. Definitely worth it!

Photos

Info

Discover Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico Day Trips

MAP

Mini-Tour: Combate Beach Walk

There is so much to do at Combate (pronounced Come-BAH-tay) Beach in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico! Beto prefers to relax in his Tommy Bahama beach chair with its cooler and cupholder for his frozen Pitorro rum drink, doom-scrolling on his smartphone or reading a book on military history while watching the pelicans fish in the Caribbean Sea and la Policía zip around in their black speedboat chasing nautical scofflaws.

But Lisa likes to explore, walking down the beach looking for shells and sea glass, or hiking or running in Boquerón State Forest, at the edge of a lagoon that attracts a lot of birds, including unique migratory birds. The hiking/biking trail that meanders through the dry forest by the lagoon stretches 7 miles south to the Salt Flats.

Join her for a walk!

(Watch our original Combate Beach video)

INFO

Combate Beach
Boquerón State Forest Hiking Trail
Map

Is Combate the Most Beautiful Beach in Puerto Rico?

We almost hesitate to share this video because we love El Combate Beach (pronounced Come-BAH-tay) so much. It is one of the most beautiful beaches in Puerto Rico, with golden sand, calm turquoise water that creates perfect swimming conditions, and lots of shade trees. Pelicans dive for fish and rays occasionally jump out of the water. Combate’s location at the edge of Boquerón State Forest means we also get to enjoy a nearby lagoon that attracts a lot of birds, including unique migratory birds. The hiking/biking trail that meanders through the dry forest by the lagoon stretches 7 miles south to the Salt Flats.

The nearby village of Combate has our favorite waterfront restaurant, Annie’s, where you can sip a drink, nibble queso frito or red snapper, and enjoy the best sunsets in Puerto Rico.  It’s very quiet on weekdays but can become quite lively on weekends. But the faryher away from town you walk, the quieter it gets.

The biggest drawback to Combate is parking, or the lack thereof. There’s no lot and a long woodland path to get there. ! (We usually park on the street near Combate Beach Resort, and then walk in via the woodland path along the lagoon.) But it’s worth the effort!  

There are also no facilities, either bathroom or changing, so you might pay Annie’s a visit just to use the restroom. There are other places in Combate to get pina coladas as well.

Info
Map 

MiniTour: Playas Clavellina and Jauca

If you’re searching for a good beach near Ponce, Puerto Rico, you might want to visit Playas Clavellina and Jauca.

In our most recent effort to find that elusive quality south-coast beach, we followed the map to the coast, east of the Ponce Airport, past the giant windmills, to these small gems in Santa Isabel. They are located in a rich agricultural area that produces an abundance of tropical fruits such as mangoes.

Playa Clavellina is good for one thing: kite surfing. It was so windy we could only stay for a couple of minutes The sand whipping against our skin actually hurt! But for kite surfers, it was likely a gift from God. And it explained the location of the nearby wind farm.

Further down the same road, on the edge of the Punta Petrona Nature Reserve, we happened upon mostly deserted Playa Jauca. It was a black-sand beach with a few shade trees and a lot of mangroves, in quiet, shallow Jauca Bay, well-protected from the wind. We spent a relaxing couple of hours and even enjoyed a visit from the piragua guy!

Info
Map: Playa Clavellina
Map: Playa Jauca 

Messy Suitcase Mini-Tour: Playa Rompeolas

Rompeolas means breaking waves, but what we found at this local beach in Aguadilla were not surfers but lots and lots of jet skis. The playa had a bit of an urban feel, with an expansive parking lot, a boat put-in, and a food truck area nearby. A local man befriended us and showed Lisa where to find some really nice snorkeling, and we whiled away an enjoyable afternoon under a palm tree in the golden sand.

Map
Info

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial
Facebook
Instagram
YouTube
Twitter
Pinterest