Recreation

While vacationing in Puerto Rico you will come across several engaging activities to undertake even as you explore the sun kissed beaches and beautiful landscapes. Puerto Rico satiates all kinds of preferences put forth by visitors, be it luxurious lodgings and high-powered adventure sports or just scenic serene hillsides to relax and unwind. Some of the major pastimes of travelers range from golf to diving and skating and from bowling to hiking, scuba diving and snorkeling.

Diving

The coastal waters in Puerto Rico are likely to be slightly murkier in comparison to the rest of the Caribbean. There are a few locations where the visibility goes over 100 feet, but even the more usual range of 70 feet is good. Hence, Puerto Rico offers a wonderful diving experience to professionals and amateurs alike.

Biking and Skating

You can enjoy the landscape of Puerto Rico as you ride through the island.

Situated in Santurce, San Juan is ‘Parque Central', which offers amenities for biking and skating. Skating at the Vertical Exploration skate park in Quebradillas will unquestionably be an exciting activity for you.

Golf

Puerto Rico's brilliantly conditioned links are a favorite amongst golfers. Some locations in Puerto Rico where you can go enjoy a game of golf are Club Rio Mar and Berwind Country Club in Rio Grande, Hyatt Beach Hotel in San Juan, Mayagüez Hilton and Cerromar Hotel.

Punta Borinquen Golf Course is an 18-hole ground and is one of the well-maintained golf courses in Puerto Rico. The fees are comparatively reasonably priced, which makes the course very easy to get to.

Yardage: 6889/6314/4908

Par: 72/72/72

Slope: 130/124/119

Address

Punta Borinquen Golf and Country Club

Golf Road,

Ramey Base,

Aguadilla County,

00604

Dorado Del Mar Golf Club is situated in Dorado, 20 miles west of San Juan. It is an 18-hole, semi private golf course. The playtime is Monday to Sunday, 6am to 6pm. The fees on weekdays during the peak season are about US $85 and on weekends it is US $95.

Denims are strictly forbidden on the course. Collared shirts are necessary. Visa, MasterCard and American Express are widely accepted.

Yardage: 6937/6520/6057/5238

Par: 72/72/72/72

Slope: 138/135/125/125

Address

200 Urb. Dorado del Mar,

Dorado 00646

Bahia Beach Plantation Golf Course, apart from being an 18-hole course also presents spectacular views of the El Yunque Rain forest. It is functional everyday and is well known among locals as well as tourists. The fees on weekdays and weekends during the peak season are around US $80 for 18 holes and US $55 for 9 holes.

Address

Route 187, km 4.2,

Rio Grande, PR 00745

Puerto Rico

Palmas del Mar Country Club

The Palmas del Mar resort has two 18-hole golf courses. They are open daily from 7am to 5:30pm; however, working hours may differ according to season. Visa, MasterCard and American Express are the major credit cards accepted here.

Yardage: 6610/6094/5248

Par: 71/71/72

Slope: 131/128/125

Address

Humacao

PO Box 2020,

Hwy. 3, Km. 86.4,

Humacao PR 00792

Bowling

Some of the locations in Puerto Rico where you can go for bowling are Paradise Bowling located in Hato Rey and Cupey in Trujillo Alto. Other bowling alleys include Levittown at Tower Lane Bowling, Western Bowling in Mayagüez and Ponce Bowling

Boating and Sailing

Sailing is extremely popular in Puerto Rico. The west coast, starting from Mayagüez Bay south till Boquerón Bay is famous for boating and sailing activities.

Hiking

For hiking enthusiasts, Commonwealth Forest Reserves are spread all over the island. You have options ranging from mangrove forest down the coast to thick sierra palm forest in the mountains.

Camping

A large number of beaches border Puerto Rico. Five campsites together with cabins at Maricao, Punta Guilarte, Boquerón, Humacao and Añasco are operated by the Government. There are privately owned campgrounds all over Puerto Rico as well, which provide cabins and tent sites. Additionally, camping is permitted in some of the nature reserves, but an authorization is necessary. A law prohibits camping on beaches open for the public, unless camping amenities are available.

Horse riding and racing

You can go horse riding along one of the islands several trails, beaches and parks. The Paso Fino Horse, Puerto Rico's own, exceptional breed of horses, is a beautiful, naturally gaited horse. El Comandante is one of the most beautiful racecourses. It is situated at Route 3, 5.5 Km, in Canóvanas. Here horse races are held all through the year (Wednesday, Friday, Sunday and on holidays).

Scuba Diving and Snorkeling

The coral reefs in Puerto Rico and their natural magnificence are renowned the world over. There are a lot of sites where you can find boats and scuba diving and snorkeling gear. Novice divers and snorkeling enthusiasts can take the help of certified professionals. There are a lot of shallow reefs around Caja de Muerto, an island towards the south of Puerto Rico for diving and snorkeling.

Culebra Island is an excellent top-notch location for snorkeling. Its many caves and bays make snorkeling a memorable experience in Culebra. Its rich variety of marine life and coral reefs, also make scuba diving an incredible undersea experience.

Fishing

Many billfish and big game fish thrive in Puerto Rico, apart from the blue marlin for which the island is particularly famous. If you have your own equipment, you can go fishing in Lake Dos Bocas in Utuado and Lake Guajataca in Quebradillas.

Tennis

Puerto Rico boasts of more than 100 tennis courts. San Juans Central Park is home to 17-lit public courts and these are open everyday.

Recreation spot

Oja del Buey, also referred to as The Ox's Eye, is a superb family recreation location. It is located in Dorado, a tourist town in the north coast of Puerto Rico, and 15 miles towards the west of San Juan. Oja del Buey is so called owing to the formation of a massive rock in the shape of an Ox head.

Surfing

Puerto Rico is a surfer's paradise. Fine places where you can go surfing include Stop Eight and Condado Beach Lagoon in San Juan, Aguadilla and Jobos, in close proximity to Isabela and Arecibo and La Pared in Luquillo. Other good locations for surfing are Aviones in Piñones and Pine Gorve in Isla Verde. Equipments for surfing are available on rent at several water sport shops.

Bird Watching

Punta Ballena Reserve in Guanica is an ideal spot for bird watching. It was stated a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO owing of its excellent representation of ecosystem. Patillas, which lies one and half-hours away from San Juan and is home to the Carite Forest Reserve, is another excellent location to go bird watching. You will find not less than 50 species of birds here, amid spectacular plant life. The reserve stretches over 6,000 acres of land and has a dwarf forest, which has come about on its own due to high humidity and moist soil in the area.

VI. Shopping

All over the Puerto Rico Island, you will find several craft centers that are owned by the locals. A lot of them may even invite tourists to visit their studios to watch how the traditional arts and craft items are made. In Puerto Rico markets you can find skillfully carved religious statues and masks made of paper-mashe that are made use of in a majority of the festivals.

Puerto Rico along with some additional tourist towns on the coastal side, has managed to maintain low rate of the import tax and VAT charges off their goods. As a result, if you want to purchase tobacco, wine, perfumes or perhaps some electrical goods, you can do so easily as they are far cheaper in Puerto Rico in comparison to any other European country. However, you ought to keep in mind that in contrast to other European Countries; there is a limit as regards the amount you are permitted to export into UK and other EU nations. For example, the limit on spirits is 1 liter; wine is 2 liters, 50 cigars and maximum of 200 cigarettes. Therefore, even though shopping in Puerto Rico is much cheaper, you may not be permitted to take a large amount of it.

A majority of the Puerto Rican stores and craft markets normally aim at tourists and sell souvenirs, gifts and pottery. However, all around Puerto Rico, you would also come across markets that sell products such as cheese and confectionary for the local residents.

San Juan is in reality, Puerto Rico's shopping hub. However, it is not a free port; hence, you will not be able to bargain on electronics and perfumes. But you can, on the other hand, find jewelry at excellent prices. Plaza Las Americas, Puerto Rico's and the Caribbean's largest shopping center is also located in San Juan. This shopping center boasts of more than 300 shops including J.C. Penney's, Sears, and Macy's. There are a number of other smaller shops that deal in everything from pottery, gifts, cosmetics and garments to local cuisines. Some well-known merchandise that you will almost certainly get on each nook and corner are hand-rolled cigars, men's shirts called as Guayaberas and Mundillo lace from Aguadilla. You can also shop for the home-produced coffee (robust) and the local rum of the island, which is believed to the best in the world.

Shopping in Puerto Rico involves no sales tax, and tourists are not required to pay duty on return to the U.S. only jewelry is subject to sales tax.

Old San Juan

For exclusive shopping you can also go to Old San Juan. You can visit designer stores for exceptional merchandise and island discounts. This is a great location to shop around for traditional stuff, Puerto Rican arts and crafts, jewelry, excellent leather wares, souvenirs, clothes, books and music.

Condado

This region is renowned for its elite designer stores. Here you can find mini malls with well-known brand stores down Ashford Avenue.

Barrachina, Inc.

Address

104 Fortaleza St.

San Juan

Barrachina, Inc. lies only one block away from the La Fortaleza (the Governor's Mansion). It is the biggest and oldest shop of its type in Puerto Rico. This place covers an area of more than 10,000 square feet and sells fine merchandise such as jewelry, perfumes, gifts, liquor, souvenirs, paintings, statues, ceramics, serigraphs, lithographs, and hand carved cantos. It is open from Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm.

Centro Comercial Plaza del Caribe

This is the most stylish shopping mall in Ponce. In this mall, you will find more than 100 stores, in addition to six theaters and a restaurant. It is open from Monday to Thursday from 9am to 7pm, Friday to Saturday 9am to 9pm and on Sundays from 11am to 5pm.

El Alcazar

Address

103 San Jose St.,

Old San Juan

San Juan

This antiques store, houses an excellent assortment of old handmade Santos figurines.

Gillies & Woodward

Address

San Justo,

San Juan

This shop sells hand rolled cigars that are made from Puerto Rico's tobacco.

Galeria Palomas

Address

207 Calle Cristo,

Old San Juan.

Galeria Palomas deals in beautiful antiques and religious works of art.

Ole

Ole in San Juan is a store that sells a wide range of crafts such as gourd masks and watercolors.

Coqui International

This venue is simply incredible if you want to buy locally made treasures as souvenirs. They sell candles, lotions, and handmade soaps that are made on the premises itself. You can also buy works of local artists, paintings, statues, coffee as well as jewelry. It is a reasonably priced store.

Address

Palmer,

Puerto Rico.

On the whole, exclusive buys in Puerto Rico include cigars, hammocks, rum, straw weavings, coffee, statues, Santos (carved religious figures), and stringed musical instruments.