6 of the 7 Continents For The Budget Traveler: Puerto Rico

For me, when I travel, my constant goal for the next trip is to be the far opposite of the last trip. If the last trip was a desert adventure the next may be a city museum tour, if the last one was hiking in the South East Asia jungles the next one may be a road trip thru New England, you get the point. Spring of 2021 had rolled around and Covid restrictions were still high. So very unlikely for me, but after just leaving the Caribbean in Jamaica a few months before, it was time to go back! But luckily there are enough difference between Jamaica and Puerto Rico that although climate was the same, the adventure aspect was definitely different. Here's my go to tips on how we enjoyed Puerto Rico and how you can as well as a budget traveler!

Airbnb is going to go a long way here over the hotels and resorts, it's a much more fun way to experience the culture. We stayed at an old home in Old San Juan with a balcony over looking the street and ocean views on both sides. It had the perfect feel of living there not just visiting there at a much cheaper price than the resorts.
Speaking of Old San Juan, while I loved the beaches of PR my favorite part was Old San Juan. As a guy who loves South and Central America old San Juan is a similar experience of course with a little United States flavor. Just walking around seeing the old buildings, trying different food, drinks, and the coffee made for a fun day.
We opted for a snorkel tour at Escambron Beach to check out the local sea turtles, as a budget traveler I can definitely say you can easily bring your own gear and do this on your own, but also as a guy that packs light with a carry on only I was happy to pay $40 or so for the tour guide who brought gear and was better at finding turtles than I would have been!
La Factoria is a tourist spot, but one well worth it, the famous Despacito video was filmed here, so while it's part tourist trap, the drinks are definitely top notch. Due to curfews I can't vouch for the party scene first hand, but I'm confident to say when Covid is over this is going to be a great spot to drink and dance the night away.
More old San Juan bars, roof top bars (Al Fresco for us), little alley bars, coffee stands, and fun street art.

mmmmm!!!!
And of course you want to check out Castillo de San Cristobal and Castillo de San Felipe del Morro (check out the cemetery here too!)
We also went further afield with Rocaliza Tours to visit the El Salto Waterfall and do a great hike there, some zip lining, some swimming, and to top it off the tour ends at a family home for a home cooked lunch!
Spanish helps but is definitely not needed, this is USA and just about everyone speaks English.
Speaking of which, this is USA if you are a US citizen coming from the mainland, no passport needed.
Prices overall were very cheap, not south America cheap, but north America cheap. Even at La Factoria and upscale restaurants, especially if you compare them to mainland big US cities.
La Perla, to see or not to see? La Perla is a fascinating part of town because anywhere else in the USA a beach front area between two historic fortresses would be an expensive upscale tourist area. La Perla is not quite there, some dilapidated buildings, and definitely the feeling you probably shouldn't be there at night. That being said, day time, in a small group, you can check it out. Buy some lunch there and help out the area, because one day, it will rebound and then maybe we $ the budget travelers $ won't be able to enjoy it!!!

La Perla
Take it all in, breathe the ocean, taste the cocktails, dance, practice Spanish and have fun, its a great destination for a budget traveler and a perfect spot for a long weekend, or if you are lucky even longer to explore more!

The first time I went to the Caribbean was close to 20 years ago in the Bahamas. I ended up going twice on Spring Break. I hope one day to go back there because I've learned a lot traveling to not just get drunk and party, but actually explore and learn (don't worry a lot of partying is still done!). Going back to back to the Caribbean for Jamaica and Puerto Rico was a gift. Being in the same region was not at all a repeat trip for me. Because each island has it's own flavor, it's own culture, it's own pace, and the same beautiful climate. We felt the pulse of San Juan, breathed in the air of the beaches, tasted so many great flavors, and discovered a part of the USA I've always known of but never truly knew. Claro, quiero regresar... ¡y te recomiendo que tú también lo hagas!