I was fortunate to return for a second trip to Puerto Rico in the summer of 2017. Puerto Rico enjoys warm, sunny and humid days most of the year with average temperature of 80 °F. There is no winter, spring or fall, only summertime. Puerto Rico is a popular destination for American vacationer’s as there is no passport required to visit this island paradise.
Accompanying my brother on a house sitting job, we stayed at the same place as before, at a nice couples home (Ed and Carolyn) in Fajardo. This location was ideal; staying in a local home rather than a resort hotel, and it’s accessibility to the rest of the island. During the days would wander out to discover Puerto Rico.
Located just a short drive from our location in Fajardo is Balneario Seven Seas Beach, one of the most popular beaches in Fajardo, Puerto Rico with beautiful turquoise water and calm seas for swimming and snorkeling.
Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, nicknamed Rosy Roads, is a former United States Navy base in the town of Ceiba, Puerto Rico, just a short drive south of Fajardo on the east coast of Puerto Rico. It was the largest naval station by land mass in the world. Roosevelt Roads consists of 31,000 acres: 8,600 acres on the island of Puerto Rico and 22,400 acres on Vieques Island, seven and a half miles Southeast of the main station.
President Franklin Roosevelt ordered the construction of the facility in 1940. It was completed in 1943 and Roosevelt Roads was commissioned as a U.S. Naval Operations Base. It served as both a training facility and base for Navy ships and aircraft during Word War II.
The United States Armed Forces keeps some portions of the former Roosevelt Roads Naval Base for the Reserve Component of the U.S. Army. It consists of the existing Roosevelt Roads U.S. Army Reserve Center and an Armed Forces Reserve Center that can serve 600 personnel on a rotating basis 345 service members per weekend. They also maintain a vehicle maintenance shop, storage building, weapons simulator, learning center, wash bay and parking.
One of my favorite destinations in Puerto Rico is Luquillo beach, located along PR-3 between San Juan and Fajardo. More than 12 miles of spectacular coastline make this area a haven for surfers, snorkelers, and sun-worshipers alike. It is a beautifully groomed beach with many amenities. Adjacent to the beach is the famous Kioskos de Luquillo (Luquillo Kiosks), where you’ll find a collection of more than 60 vendors with tasty local food, cool drinks, and unique souvenirs.
Punta Tuna Light is a historic lighthouse located in the southeast of the town of Maunabo, Puerto Rico on a narrow promontory at the southeasternmost point of the island. It was first lit in 1892 and automated in 1989.
While you can’t enter the lighthouse itself, the park and beach area are worth a stop. There are some great views from the park of the water and beaches on either side of the point. There is no cost to access the lighthouse park nor the beach.
The Arecibo Observatory, also known as the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC) and formerly known as the Arecibo Ionosphere Observatory, is an observatory in Barrio Esperanza, Arecibo, Puerto Rico owned by the US National Science Foundation (NSF).
The observatory’s main instrument was the Arecibo Telescope, a 305 m (1,000 ft) spherical reflector dish built into a natural sinkhole, with a cable-mount steerable receiver and several radar transmitters for emitting signals mounted 150 m (492 ft) above the dish. Completed in 1963, it was the world’s largest single-aperture telescope for 53 years, surpassed in July 2016 by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in China.
Following two breaks in cables supporting the receiver platform in mid-2020, the NSF decommissioned the telescope. A full collapse of the telescope occurred on December 1, 2020, before either repairs or controlled demolition could be conducted. In 2022, the NSF announced the telescope will not be rebuilt.
Borinquen is a barrio of Aguadilla located in the northwestern tip of Puerto Rico.
Aqua Adventure to Culibra.
El Rancho Original is part of the famous “Pork Highways” that features both restaurants serving roasted pig as well as numerous shops selling everything from locally made souvenirs to ice cream to homemade Puerto Rican hot sauces and candies. The restaurant has seating for approximately 150 people and features live music. The prices are great and the food is even better.
Of course, any trip to Puerto Rico will include a visit to San Juan. This Puerto Rico’s most important seaport and is the island’s financial, cultural, and tourism center.
The Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery is located outside the walls of Fort San Felipe del Morro. It is the final resting place of many of Puerto Rico’s most prominent natives and residents.
