Playa Montones is a beautiful family-friendly beach in Isabela, Puerto Rico. It has sand dunes as well as rock formations, though not a lot of shade, so bring your umbrella.
Its shallow water make this natural pool the family-preferred beach in Isabela, a safe environment for kids and toddlers to play around. A natural wall prevents the strong surf from rushing in.
The beach is also right next to the jogging/biking trail in Isabela, so you can add a nice walk to your day out.
Watch where you park, though! We got a ticket for facing the wrong way on the street.
When we lived in San Juan 28 years ago, Bob and I journeyed south to the Ponce home of Puerto Rico’s renowned carnival mask maker, Miguel Caraballo. We commissioned a beautiful mask that dominated the dining room wall of our homes for more than two decades.
That “vejigante” mask is now in storage in Colorado, and a little bent at the tip of one of its horns. Since we spent a few months in Puerto Rico last fall, we decided to commission another one. So last November, we journeyed to Ponce again, and met Miguel Caraballo, his son and his grandson.
Caraballo’s masks are world-renowned. He has a mask on display in the Museum of the Americas in Old San Juan, and another in the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of American Art.
These papier-mâché masks are typically worn by young men who don the colorful costume of a vejigante, a character who roams the streets during Carnaval de la Playa de Ponce, or the Ponce Beach Carnival, playfully scaring children and other revelers. The carnival held each February, features a huge parade, with the vejigante as a protagonist along with the kings and queens of carnival.
Miguel Caraballo started making masks as an apprentice to a woman in his neighborhood when he was 15, 66 years ago. The masks are made with cardboard, newspaper and brown paper, pressed onto molds and held together with a glue made of flour and water. His son makes masks now, and his grandson of the same name does the family marketing.
We picked up our new mask five weeks after our visit. We were delighted! But it was so big that we almost didn’t get it onto the plane back to the States. We had to buy a very large bin from Home Depot to accommodate all the protruding horns. Although the package weighed hardly anything, the combined length, width and height exceeded Southwest’s size limitations by 2 inches. It was only after we cut open the package and took out the mask to show the ticket agent what we were carrying that he decided to seek special approval from his manager. We had to pay $75 for the oversized item, and the agent exhorted us never to try to fly with such a large item again.
We would have been heartbroken to have to leave such a special item behind.
Now that we have purchased a home in Puerto Rico, we plan to return to the Caraballo home to commission yet another mask!
After indulging ourselves on pinchos (kebabs) at a little food truck park on the way, we spent a peaceful weekday afternoon at Playa Santa, a quiet neighborhood beach in Guanica on the south coast of Puerto Rico.
There were no restrooms, though it looks like on weekends it’s quite lively, and you can take advantage of food kioskos and kayak rentals. The surf is calm and the kids are plentiful.
Puerto Rico is more than beaches and rum, coffee and conquistadors. It’s also pork!
For a glimpse into the real Puerto Rico, with a little tourist kitsch thrown in, we suggest you pay a visit to the Pork Highway, or La Ruta del Lechón.
Locals and visitors alike gather together friends and family for a day trip to the lechoneras of the mountain town of Guavate.
They drive along winding Route 184 up a mountain to feast on lechonera after lechonera serving slow-roasted whole pork (also chicken), heaping portions of rice and pigeon peas, yuca al mojo, mofongo, and other traditional Puerto Rican dishes, all in a party atmosphere. Get ready to dance!
Don’t worry, vegetarians – the yuca and rice are also outstanding.
Lechón means roasted whole pork, cooked for hours over hot coals or an open flame, so that the skin gets crispy while the meat remains tender and juicy. This is a dish you can typically only get in the countryside of Puerto Rico.
One of our favorite beaches on the northeast corner of Puerto Rico is Playa Peña Blanca, a secluded beach in Aguadilla distinguished by white cliffs and interesting snorkeling. It’s tucked away behind a neighborhood, and almost impossible to find, with hole-pocked dirt roads that aren’t found on GPS.
If you require amenities, don’t come here. There are no bathrooms, no official parking lot, no food stands or restaurants. But if you’re willing to pack your own food and drinks, have a sense of adventure and want to experience something different, by all means, come!
We paid a local to park in a yard in the neighborhood, not wanting to receive a parking ticket as we had done at Playa Montones a week earlier. It was $5 well spent. The walk to Playa Peña Blanca from the neighborhood was short, though a little rugged closer to the beach. We came back another day via a back road not found on GPS, which took us to a small parking area right beside the beach.
Playa Peña Blanca is a clean, intimate, secluded spot with crystal clear waters and interesting snorkeling. The left side is a little wilder, with stone steps down a hillside to where white karst cliff walls and caves abut the golden sand.
It’s hard to describe the appeal. You just have to experience it yourself!
Crash Boat Beach in Aguadilla is one of Puerto Rico’s most popular beaches. It’s a party beach with a festive atmosphere, highlighted by the colorful pier perfect for diving off of or snorkeling beside.
Bring the family and enjoy the gentle surf and the pincho (kebab) and smoothie kiosks.
It’s supposed to have bathrooms but we couldn’t find any.
Feel free to enjoy our video about snorkeling Crash Boat – the undersea world is astonishing. It’s at https://youtu.be/HOsYt4y6pYY
Balneario Carolina and Terraplen La Posita de Piñones are among the most popular local beaches for people living in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Here’s why.
Balneario Carolina is a lovely public beach and a local favorite just east of Isla Verde in San Juan, Puerto Rico. You pay $5 for parking, and in return have a clean white-sand beach with minimal waves, as well as clean bathrooms, showers and food stands. Is there anything better than enjoying a mojito from your beach chair while you watch the waves? The beach has attractions for every age and stage, with watersports, a Beach Volleyball court, and a small water park for the kids. At the far end, a stage is sometimes set up for major concert events.
For an even calmer and distinctly Puerto Rican experience, head a little farther east to & Terraplen La Posita de Piñones. You’ll park (for free) on the road or in one of several small parking lots, and there are no facilities. However, there is a beach chair vendor and several little eateries to buy your Puerto Rican frituras (various fried foods). This is a great beach for families because a reef protects the shoreline from waves, so small children can play in the shallow water without causing their parents worry.
It’s a long haul to get to breathtaking Playa Sucia, one of the most beautiful beaches in Puerto Rico, but worth every mile and bump in the road.
This crescent-shaped stretch of sand is at the end of the road in the extreme southwest corner of the island, Cabo Rojo. It’s framed by Los Morillos Lighthouse on the bluff to the right and rock arches and the beach La Playuela to the left. It offers breathtaking views and plenty of wilderness to explore. The beach is part of the town’s nature reserve, with no services, not even bathrooms, but plenty of shady spots among the mangroves. It requires a little walking from the limited parking; arrive early to get a spot. On the way in you will pass the famous Salt Flats.
Bring lots to drink and eat because you can’t buy anything there. Bring hiking shoes and a camera for the spectacular cliffside trail around the lighthouse.
Travelers to Puerto Rico who stay in Isla Verde at first behold a cluster of high-rises soaring above the palm trees. But behind the tall hotels and condos is a clean, bustling tropical beach in the heart of the city, one of the finest urban beaches you’ll find anywhere.
When we started looking for a home in Puerto Rico, realtor after realtor recommended that we buy in Palmas del Mar, a massive oceanfront resort development on the southeast coast. The largest planned resort development in the Caribbean, Palmas del Mar bills itself as “Puerto Rico’s #1 vacation destination.” But is it? Not for us.
The many rings of gated security work for some people, but for us they made us feel disconnected from real Puerto Rico. We visited the beach and were underwhelmed, and access to it is extremely limited.
Palmas del Mar started as a vacation spot and evolved to include residential opportunities, and features a golf course, tennis club, athletic club, equestrian area, a forest (Bosque Pterocarpus), marina, school (Palmas Academy), shopping area, hotels, restaurants and more. The residents ride around in golf carts, and their association has regular social events.
So what’s it like? Take a tour and see if it’s your cup of tea. We decided it’s not ours. Lisa calls it Gringolandia.
