Quick Trip: 24 Hours in San Juan, Puerto Rico

It has been too long since I have added to my Quick Trip series, and the weather lately has me dreaming of the beautiful water in the Caribbean. A little while before I started this blog, we went on my favorite Caribbean cruise (Alaska still wins the title of best cruise), which started and ended in beautiful San Juan, Puerto Rico. I wish we had more than 24 hours to explore the city, and it is definitely on my list of places I would love to visit again!

What to do: 
We packed as much as we could into our short time in San Juan. First on the list was to visit the Castillo de San Felipe de Morro. It was designed to guard to protect the entrance to San Juan Bay when it was a Spanish colonial city and was later used by the United States during World War I and World War II. Though learning the history of the fort is great, the best part of visiting the fort was the views! I could sit out there and stare at the ocean forever.

We spent a large chunk of our day wandering around Old San Juan. It was such a cute area with fun, colorful buildings. Of course, we had to stop by the San Juan Cathedral, a beautiful cathedral and the resting place of Ponce de Leon, a Spanish explorer who searched for the Fountain of Youth.

If you have more time: Next time we’re in San Juan, I would love to visit the El Yunque Rain Forest.

Where to eat:
Chris keeps telling me we need to go back to San Juan just so we can eat at Ropa Vieja Grill. It had great Cuban and Puerto Rican food. I loved the mofongo filled with flank steak, and all the meat we tried was amazing.

Where to stay:
We stayed at the La Concha Resort and loved everything about it! From the nice, comfortable rooms to the beautiful views, it was the perfect place to relax. My only regret is that we only had one night before the start of our cruise. La Concha (and San Juan), we will be back!

Have you been to San Juan? What's your favorite place to visit in the Caribbean? 

New Year’s Caribbean Cruise: Belize River Cruise

After our New Year’s Eve celebrations the night before, our 6 a.m. wakeup call for our all-day shore excursion in Belize came way too early. Even so, I was excited to go on a river cruise and visit the Lamanai Mayan Ruins.

The tender to Belize City from our ship was long (about 25 minutes), but our excursion was through the boat, so we were on one of the first tenders of the day. (I have heard others complaining about not being able to get on an early tender if your excursion is not through the ship, so we kept that in mind).

We jumped off our tender boat and got straight on a bus headed to the river. On the bus, our guide shared facts about Belize, such as its education system, places to visit, and biggest exports. I was surprised to hear that Belize has a large Mennonite community that is a huge factor in the country’s economy.

After over an hour on the bus, we were eager to get on the boat. When I first read the description for the river cruise, I thought it would be a leisurely boat ride to the ruins. It turned out to be a 25-mile speedboat ride with many narrow passages, with our boat tilting to the left or right just to squeeze through the passage.

Our boat driver was entertaining but also prided himself on being the wildest of the group. He loved taking fast corners and passing as many boats as possible. The other drivers knew this about him, so they let him pass as quickly as possible. I was seated in the middle seat with nothing to hold on to, so I kept flying up in the air when he turned a corner. On the way back, he got there so much faster than the other drivers, so he decided it would be fun to do donuts…and I literally thought I was going to fall out of the boat. I think I would have had more fun if I had expected a speedboat ride because I usually enjoy speedboats, but I thought it was going to be a calm ride. No wonder they had me sign a waiver!

Although most of the time we were going way too fast to take photos, the scenery on the river cruise was beautiful. The area was extremely lush with gorgeous trees and flowers. Our boat driver did stop a few times to point out birds and plants, but it would have been more interesting if we had time to admire the landscape. The devil's gut cactus on one of the trees really stood out to me.

We took the river cruise because it was the fastest way to get to the Lamanai Mayan Ruins, which deserve their own post because they ended up being one of the highlights of the cruise.

Catch up on our New Year's Caribbean Cruise:

Quick Thoughts

Emerald Princess Review

Maya Key in Roatan, Honduras

 

New Year’s Caribbean Cruise: Maya Key in Roatan, Honduras

Maya Key in Roatan, Honduras was our first stop on our New Year’s Caribbean cruise. It also turned out to be my favorite shore excursion of the trip.

We got off the Emerald Princess almost as soon as it docked and got on a bus that dropped us off at a boat, which would take us to the island. As soon as we got on the boat to Maya Key, the rain started coming down in sheets, and I started getting worried about what we were going to do on a beach in a downpour.

Thankfully, the rain stopped shortly after the five-minute boat ride, and it turned out to be a beautiful day. The best part of Maya Key is that there is so much to do. Other than the nice beach area, they had a pier perfect for snorkeling, an animal sanctuary where they led tours on how they rehabilitated the animals, a sea lion habitat, a replica of Mayan ruins with a museum, and a great gift shop.

Chris loves animals, so of course, we had to check out the animal sanctuary first. All of the animals were in the sanctuary for one of two reasons: they were hurt, or they were seized from people who owned them illegally. There were many colorful birds, several kinds of monkeys, alligators, and even two jaguars.

After Chris got his fill of the animals, we headed to the snorkeling area. Maya Key was one of my favorite places to snorkel because when you get off the pier, you are not instantly in 100 feet deep water. Because I only snorkel once or twice a year, I often forget the correct breathing techniques. Maya Key gave me the opportunity to practice the techniques in shallow water where I could still see plenty of beautiful fish and sea urchins before heading to the deeper waters.

Our excursion to Maya Key also included a delicious Caribbean lunch, featuring chicken, fish, rice, and plantain chips. After lunch, Chris and I explored the Mayan ruins, visited the sea lions, and relaxed on the beach.

Honestly, I would go on this cruise again just to visit Maya Key (though we also want to try Little French Key). My only complaint is that I wish we could have stayed longer!