so this year I am using one of my precious weeks of vacation and going to Puerto Rico in November. Where do I want to stay, surf, how to get around, etc. Previous experiences? Worthy advice? lay it on me.
hey, i was in PR two years ago and i loved it. we stayed at a place called the lemon tree. it was a pretty cool place. no fance hotel or anything. it was a five min drive from marias and a little longer to get to sandys and domes. theres a place right near sandys called casa verde. its a hotel and a bar with pretty good food. we rented a car from a place right near the aguadilla airport hope you enjoy your trip,
Both times I've been I stayed at the Lazy Parrot Inn, nice reasonably priced hotel with two bars, kick a** food and gets to have a pretty nice party scene thursday, friday, and saturday night. Marias, dogmans, and Tres Palmes is about a 2 minutes drive down the hill - The sandy beach area is a few more minutes away the other direction. Definitely check out Pool Bar (Sandy Beach) and Calypso (Marias).
Oh, and a GPS is highly recommended. Just my experience but the roads and directions are crazy (especially outside of the Rincon area).
I go to PR every year late season March/April. I take the kids now so we stay south of the point in Rincon- Just south of Marias beach. The North side (Sandy beach) is a little more of a party atmosphere, lots of fun. We fly in from Newark to Aguadilla on Jet Blue. Rent an SUV or van. From that airport your are 5 minutes to the Isabella breaks and about 25 from Rincon. If you fly Philly or Balt. you will have to fly to San Juan. 2 hr 45 min drive minimum. We leave our boards at home and rent. We rent from Hot Wayz surf shop (right at Marias) or my buddy from Brazil. His name is Roger Wagner. Google "Surf787" and his place comes up. He can show you around so you don't get skunked by going to the wrong side of Rincon with the wrong wind, tide, etc.... www.islandmon.com is a cool site to check out as well.
all of the above places are fairly nice and reasonably price. casa verde is half club half hotel so there's a big party scene there. i don't know about your budget, but the nicest i've stayed is at the landing view villas. if you're going with non surfers/partiers its probably a better choice than some of the other places. casa verde and landing view are both within walking distance to sandy beach and antonio's, and are about a 5 minute drive from marias and domes. marias and domes are basically right next to each other, and if you like big waves tres palmas is just another 3-5 minute drive away. sandy beach and the other spots on the northern side of rincon usually get chopped up by 10 am so you'll probably be surfing more at marias and domes. sandys is sand bottom with stone underneath, marias domes and tres palmas are all reef breaks. locals are okay, just watch out for the boogieboarders as they can get pretty aggro. if you don't feel like paying for board fees rent from mar azul, right in rincon on the 413 http://www.puertoricosurfinginfo.com/ bobby is a really nice guy and will set you up with a good board that you can switch out whenever you want for free. to eat, there's a tapas bar by landing view villas, a bar/grill place down the road, and casa verde right next to that. the lazy parrot is also really good, and there's a bar right on the marias parking lot. good luck PM me if you have any questions
Rent a car. Never touch the reef. Brush up on your Espanol. Rent from Bobby at Mar Azul. Snorkel at Tres Palmas on the flat days. Eat roadside food as much as possible - it's awesome, cheap, and puts money in the right pockets. The Rincon Area has a bunch of great spots, but that early in the season you might be relying on windswells instead of the big north groundswells of winter and early spring. With that in mind, Jobos and points east along north shore toward San Juan might have better consistency. But get on it early AM or the trades will make a mess of whatever is there by 9 or 10am. If a solid swell arrives, head to the Rincon Area, where it will be offshore.
What he said. I always tell people to be mobile because it's easy to get skunked in Rincon. Luquillo Beach area will pick up just about any trade swell when everywhere else is flat, but it's the opposite side of the island.
you can score a full week of swell in rincon in november, but later into the winter is usually more consistent. if the aguadilla/isabela areas are breaking, so is rincon, but they're a bit more exposed which is good that early in the season. but like LB said, if you get a good swell go to rincon where marias, domes, tres palmas, and everything in between will be howling offshore. if it gets really really big, tres palmas is the place to be
no matter where you stay, get a car. Puerto Rico is one place, where you absolutely will want to have a car. Can you get a way without having a car, sure, but your way better off traveling around for surf.
You said it, brother. "...really really big..." meaning Tres at solid DOH or bigger. At 8' it's considered "Baby Tres." But it's highly unlikely you'll get that during your stay. From 8-10' there are a number of spots in Rincon could give you the session of your (or at least my) dreams. But I have a special affinity for PR. Again... unlikely, but possible. At 10'+ I'd say Tres or Wilderness... and at at either spot, 15' is all I can handle. But let's face it... that's a major cold front, and those only happen in Winter.
everything here is all you need to know. the reef up north is way worse tho. domes and marias you can walk on cuz of the grass or whatever it is. if you put forth the effort to be nice and respect the lokes youll find they are right nice most of the time. weekends at domes maybe not so much. get up early and get on it.casa verde aint the place to be if you want sleep.
I'll second the recommendation for Roger at Surf 787. Really chill guy and he's got waaay better boards than anyone else in town. I rented from Mar Azul once and they barely had anything I was interested in... I'm sure that's changed by now, but that was my experience. Roger always has a few very decent shortboards, many of which are locally shaped. I had a great time last February on his 5'10 Monchito RNF style thing, shaped by a guy up in Puntas. Have fun! Definitely get a car, you'll hate life without one - trust me!
Hell yeah you guys delivered! Def getting a car and renting a board. I think I will have to fly into San Juan but my girl is coming so first and last nights spent in the city could be pretty sweet. That will leave 5 days/ nights to explore rincon and nw coast. So the big storms won't be brewing up yet in nov? Do you think waves on the north coast will fare better than the rincon area that time of year (mid-november)? IF not, any recommendation on places right on the beach or walking distance from good breaks (preferably right and left, as im goofy). I've done my share of driving around costa rica looking for surf but you know what? there was a hotel right on the break at hermosa, negra, pavones, etc. I don't want to drive in circles if I don;t have to. Thanks dudes. Oh someone asked about price range, My girl is coming to so that rules out slumming it but we don't need to stay at the ritz either. Something in the $50-$100/night range would be good.
In that case, I can't recommend Coconut Palms Inn (google it) enough. The people there are super nice and accomodating, it's right on the water, with an awesome outdoor kitchen, and has a really cool little rainforesty bit. Two times ago, my girl and I stayed there in one of the rooms on the water for less than $100. Plus, cooking on that grill every night saves dollars. It's on the south side of town, so it's not ultra convenient to the breaks like staying up near Sandy Beach, but you can walk out onto the beach in the morning, turn right, and see whether there's surf - you'll definitely be able to see a breaking wave from there. I've stayed with Bobby from Mar Azul in Puntas and last time stayed some place further south, outside of town, purely because Coconut Palms was booked up. I won't hesitate to go back to them every chance I get. And my girl definitely liked it a bunch - we took the beach chairs out on the sand every night and split a bottle of wine from the grocery store. Was awesome. Now I'm just starting to get jealous... Oh, make sure you take some time on the beach before paddling out anywhere. There are some areas with stuff underwater that you'll really want to avoid... plus, there are well defined entry/exit spots. Get swept south of the entry point at Maria's on a day with some current and unless you know the other 2 or 3 breaks in the reef right there, your session will start to be not so fun pretty fast.
Ah...the mention of the place with the bbq grill made me think of this crucial food related tip. Every time I've gone to puerto rico, I've gone the first or second day to the fishermen's cooperative at Crashboat Beach (Gas Chambers) It's on the road from Aguadilla Airport to Rincon and you should see signs. I buy a bunch of mahi mahi or whatever the guys have caught that day and just grill that up for the next 3-4 days of dinners. It's cheap, super fresh, and you're buying it right from the guys who caught it. Highly, highly recommended. Crashboat is a cool little beach to visit anyways. Just tip the dude to watch your car. And if the fishing cooperative building is locked and looks like no one is there, ask around by the fishing boats and someone will usually open it up and help you.
Stayed at Villa Montana on the NW corner of PR just before my 1st kid was born. Prego wife wanted to sit on a nice relaxing beach with a waitress and I wanted to paddle out right outside my door and be close to other spots. This place didn't disappoint. Super secluded, quiet and relaxing. Little bit more than $100/night though.
In mid november you can get a few good swells, but its not as likely as going later in the winter (december-february). If you have to go that early though, then yeah I'd probably stay on the northern side. I usually fly in to aguadilla because its much closer than san juan. I have yet to find a flight at a decent time though, most of them are between 9PM and 4AM, so its unlikely you'll be able to enjoy a night in the city anyway. you could stay in San Juan if you wanted to, but you'll probably end up doing a lot more driving also, this link should be helpful http://www.surfline.com/travel/index.cfm?id=2726
Lodging Earl of Junk Where do you stay? Looking for a place to stay with the chick and a kitchen would be nice to have Any suggestions thanks
