Puerto Rican Beaches

Click Photo to Enlarge Photo © Paul Buceta - Dreamstime.com

- "I like the city of San Juan."
- "I know a beach you can lie on."

While the words don't quite match the song from West Side Story, the truth is Puerto Rican beaches are often passed over as prime tourist destinations, although they represent some of the finest shimmering strands in the Caribbean. And you won’t have to hop a boat to get there. Just a short flight south and you’ll be relaxing on a Puerto Rican beach in no time. Good-bye frozen north, hello sun!

If you stay in San Juan, hang out at Isla Verde Beach, which plays like Vegas, Caribbean style. With scenery as steamy as a jungle fire pit, bikini clad patrons will parade by exuding a sizzle that’s...hot, hot, hot!

But for those who prefer their salsa less picante, take your moveable feast west along the coast to Playa Dorado or east to Rio Mar. Here you’ll find spice of a more subtle variety. For at these urbane Puerto Rican beaches the order of the day is - giving the order of the day - to a smiling waiters who return with that frozen concoction Jimmy often sings about. All done from the relaxing repose of a lounge chair.

For those who long for a peaceful beach where the only sound other than the surf is your quickening heart caused by an amazing scene, head west to Arecibo for an unbelievable display of wave energy - from a safe protected bay, of course. Or set sail over to Flamenco Beach on Culebra, a small island just off the northeast coast of PR. This long crescent of soft sand is often deserted, even though it may be the very best of the Puerto Rican beaches.