Puerto Rico Beyond San Juan: Rincon Surfing, Vieques Bio Bay, Culebra Reef, Ponce Art Deco, and Coffee Highlands
The Puerto Rico beyond San Juan encompasses the world-class Rincon surf and whale watching, the brightest bioluminescent bay in the world at Vieques, the pristine Culebra reef, the Art Deco excellence of Ponce, and the coffee hacienda highlands of the western mountain region.
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Rincon: The Surfing Capital
Rincon on the northwest coast of Puerto Rico, accessible from San Juan in approximately two hours by car, is the surfing capital of the Caribbean and one of the finest surf destinations in the Atlantic, with the consistent winter swell of the Mona Passage creating world-class waves at the Domes, Sandy Beach, and Maria's Beach breaks from November to March. The humpback whale watching off Rincon from January to March is the finest in the Caribbean east of Samana.
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Vieques: The Island of Horses and Bioluminescence
Vieques, the offshore island east of the Puerto Rico mainland accessible by ferry from Ceiba or by short flight, is the most complete island destination in the Caribbean for combining pristine beaches, the bioluminescent Mosquito Bay, and the wild horse population descended from the horses left by the Spanish colonial farmers who were displaced when the US Navy took the island for bombing practice in World War II. Mosquito Bay is the brightest bioluminescent bay in the world.
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Culebra: The Pristine Reef
Culebra, the smaller offshore island east of Vieques accessible by ferry from Ceiba, has the Playa Flamenco beach consistently rated among the finest beaches in the world, and the reef systems of the Carlos Rosario national wildlife reserve protecting the most pristine coral in Puerto Rico. The absence of resort development on Culebra preserves the beach and reef environment that has been degraded throughout the main island.
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Ponce: The Southern City
Ponce, the second largest city in Puerto Rico on the Caribbean south coast, has the finest Art Deco urban center in the Caribbean, the Parque de Bombas firehouse of extraordinary architectural eccentricity, and the Museo de Arte de Ponce, whose collection of pre-Raphaelite paintings and European masters assembled by the Ferré family is the finest art museum in the Caribbean. The Ponce character, drier and more aristocratic than San Juan, is the alternative Puerto Rican urban experience.
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Coffee Country: Maricao and the Haciendas
The coffee-growing highlands of western Puerto Rico around Maricao and Las Marias, where the plantation hacienda tradition produces the Puerto Rican specialty coffees that were once the most expensive in the world and are now enjoying a quality revival, represent the agricultural heritage of the island that is increasingly visible in the farm-to-table restaurant movement of San Juan. The coffee hacienda tours of the western highlands connect the urban capital to the agricultural landscape.
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Phosphorescent Bay Lajas: The Western Bio Bay
The Phosphorescent Bay at La Parguera in Lajas on the Caribbean south coast, the original bioluminescent bay of Puerto Rico accessible by kayak excursion from the village, is the most accessible of the Puerto Rico bio bay experiences and the one where the concentration of the dinoflagellate microorganisms creates the electric blue glow that illuminates the kayaker's paddle strokes and the fish fleeing below the hull.