Caribbean Trading - Destination Puerto Rico

An island adventure without really ever leaving home. Wouldn't it be nice if there was a handy Caribbean destination nearby that offered outstanding tropical amenities and little or no travel hassles for U.S. travelers? And while we're wishing, let's require such a destination to be full of color, culture, sassy music, historic landmarks, tropical rain forests, smaller island excursions, scientific research centers to tour, exotic wildlife, pristine beaches, great cuisine and plenty of nightlife. North Americans who are looking for comfort, beauty, a Caribbean environment and plenty of outdoor activities should book their next trip to sunny Puerto Rico, Jewel of the Caribbean.

Yes, Puerto Rico - land of salsa and sun, makes for a great getaway regardless whether you have a long weekend or an entire season to bake under the tropical sun.

With first class hotels in San Juan to beach cabanas in Isla Culebra, the sunsets and the sunrises just don't get any better than from a sandy Puerto Rican beach.

Many visitors to the island never leave the streets and beautiful plazas of historic San Juan. The colonial city is one of the most beautiful of all the major Caribbean cities and can charm you in a way few tropical destinations can. From narrow cobblestone lanes and wrought-iron balconies, archways, and plazas, it doesn't take long to realize you are in an 18th-century Spanish colonial city alive with antique shops, art galleries, and small, attractive sidewalk cafés.

Nightlife in San Juan is well noted for its salsa rhythms and all night clubs and discos. But San Juan is merely a portal into the amazing world of Puerto Rico and the many secrets it hides beyond the boundaries of its capitol city.

Lovers of sand and surf can choose among hundreds of beaches, including the famous and popular beach resorts at Rincon on the Porta del Sol western coast, home to the best surfing in the Caribbean. Divers can explore some of the least known dive sites in the West Indies and spend countless hours beneath a watery wonderland of tropical elegance.

For lovers of the real tropical outdoors, an hour east of San Juan is El Yunque National Park's vast 28,000 acre rainforest, a treasure trove of towering trees, ferns, orchids, exotic birds , and countless coquis, the tiny tree frog whose piercing call is a nightly lullaby for visitors. Abundant trails lace the park, including a relatively easy path to the often cloud-shrouded summit of El Yunque Peak. For a more relaxed outing, make the 30-minute trek through a fern gully to the cool pools of La Mina Falls.

If including a lesson on science is in your travel plans, the remarkable big array radio telescope at Arecibo is a perfect stop in the backcountry.

U.S. travelers will truly appreciate the ease of travel on the island. Both Spanish and English are the official languages, the local currency is the U.S. dollar, and no visas or passports are required to enter Puerto Rico from the United States. There are no customs duties on articles bought in Puerto Rico and taken to the U.S. mainland. Major credit cards are accepted at most businesses, and ATMs connected to major US and international networks are easy to find.

Puerto Rico is 100 long by 35 miles wide—but don't let these measurements fool you. Close to 4 million people live on the "Island of Enchantment," with more than a million in the greater San Juan metropolitan area alone. It is a vibrant, modern, bilingual, multicultural society, one that has been molded by Spanish, African, Indian and U.S. influences. Residents of Puerto Rico have much in common with their fellow Americans in the continental United States, yet they retain a decidedly Hispanic heritage.

The climate is as close to perfect as it can get, averaging 83°F (22.7°C) in the winter and 85°F (29.4°C) in the summer. In other words, it's always summer! The trade winds cool the coastal towns and the temperature decreases as you go up into the higher mountains.

There is no place quite like a tropical volcanic island, and no island in the Caribbean quite like Puerto Rico. The geography of the island is very unusual, as it encompasses distinctly different kinds of topography and microclimates in a relatively small area.

A rugged mountain range runs across the center from east to west, which often prevents rain clouds from passing to the south. The north side of the island is covered by dense vegetation, karst formations, and rushing streams, while, the south side is sun-toasted terrain, home to tropical dry forests and many species of exotic birds.

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