Author Topic: A Puerto Rican Adventure  (Read 2533 times)

Offline Divora M

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A Puerto Rican Adventure
« on: October 17, 2021, 10:55:32 PM »
My SIL wanted to celebrate her 40th bday somewhere tropical so we choose Puerto Rico mostly by default since some family members had expired passports. We went from Friday-Wednesday and stayed at the Courtyard Marriott Isla Verde Beach Resort. The hotel seemed a bit worn out but the location was perfect and are located on a beautiful beach. We signed up with the Chabad to eat meals there, it is $55/person for Friday night meal. The Chabad is a 10 min walk from the hotel. We lit candles at the Chabad house so we wouldn’t have any problems with the hotel. The shul is beautiful and the meal was delicious. Shabbos day they have a sit down kiddush as well. After shabbos we went to the pool and hot tub but to our dismay the hot tub was the same temperature as the pool.







Sunday we enjoyed the beach and then went to the airport to pick up another family member and get the car rental. We drove to ToroVerde adventure park where they have real extreme ziplining. The Monster zipline is a Superman style that you go two minutes over the mountains. They also have bicycles that you ride over a tightrope/zipline. It happened to be pouring rain but they do not close the ziplines for weather. The car ride was an hour and a half away from our hotel but it is a beautiful ride. We stopped at Walmart and got snacks, bakery goods, drinks and vegetables.







Monday we had planned to go to El Yunque National Park. We could not get a reservation for the park but it did not seem to matter since there was no barrier stopping us from entering and the trails were open as well. We had wanted to go to Junglequi and check out the river there but since a storm was coming they closed it as well as Las Pailes (natural water slide) was closed as well. We drove around the rainforest and then walked through the Angelito Trail in the pouring rain. We had booked a tour with Bio Island that night but the tour was cancelled and we rescheduled for Tuesday night.













Tuesday the weather was also showing thunderstorms throughout the day but we decided to proceed with our original plans of going to Culebra. We had reserved ferry tickets ahead of time and we parked at the lot nearby the ferry. The ferry ride is an hour each way but it is spacious, air conditioned and relaxing (as long as you don’t get seasick). The ferry costs $2.25/each way which is a steal. Once we got to Culebra the sun was shining and no clouds in sight. We rented a golf cart for $80/day from Carlos Jeep Rentals, no need to do it in advance they are waiting for you as you get off the ferry. We drove to Tamarindo Beach and went snorkeling. We saw multiple sea turtles, stingray and a variety of fish. Then we went to Flamenco Beach where we had lunch and then continued to the beach. The beach is the most beautiful beach I have ever seen and makes sense that it is continuously rated one of the top most beautiful beaches in the world. We rented an umbrella  for $20 and chairs $10/each. We relaxed at the beach for a while and then decided to drive around the island exploring it. We took the ferry back to the mainland. Our boat tour to the bio bay was cancelled again so we rebooked with a kayak tour for that night. We drove to the location where we meet for the tour and made sure to spray tons of bug spray. The kayaking was pretty difficult as a beginner but we finally made it. They said there was a lot of light pollution so we needed to cover ourselves with a tarp so we could see the microorganisms light up. It wasn’t very bright and they said the best time of year to see them light up is April-June.









Wednesday we packed up and went to Old San Juan to walk around. It is a very quaint place and lots of souvenir stores. After spending a couple hours walking around we needed to return the car and catch our flight.
We had a great time and would highly recommend people go there.














Offline sam28

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Re: A Puerto Rican Adventure
« Reply #1 on: October 18, 2021, 05:12:57 PM »
Thanks for the write up the bike zip lines looks scary ...

Offline Cat18

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Re: A Puerto Rican Adventure
« Reply #2 on: October 25, 2021, 08:07:32 AM »
Thanks for the TR.

What's the shopping like in Walmart for basic Kosher food stuff - bread, milk, yogurt etc..?
« Last Edit: October 25, 2021, 08:26:47 AM by Cat18 »

Offline Divora M

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Re: A Puerto Rican Adventure
« Reply #3 on: October 25, 2021, 01:16:24 PM »
Thanks for the TR.

What's the shopping like in Walmart for basic Kosher food stuff - bread, milk, yogurt etc..?

I definitely saw bread there but I did not look at the dairy section to see if the milk and yogurt was kosher. I would assume that they have since the rest of the store looked like all the normal US brand names.