Photo Palominitos /Frazier Nivens
Beaches April-2005, By:Travel and Sports Staff
Beach Hopping
Puerto Rico has beaches, hundreds of beaches: long beaches, short beaches, white beaches, beige beaches; beaches as calm as a lake in summer, beaches as rough as a storm in winter; cliff-lined beaches, pebble-strewn beaches; beaches surrounded by mangrove trees, beaches shaded by coconut palms, beaches with and without people. The beaches are warm, tropical, and lovely.
Beach aficionados could spend a year exploring Puerto Rico and its offshore islands, visiting a different beach every day. They’d find long strips of sand, cliff-bordered shorelines and half-hidden coves. But all Puerto Rico’s beaches have several characteristics in common. Sand in most areas is shaded a pale beige, and coconut palms, trees that weren’t even found on the Island half a millennium ago, sway to the trade winds virtually everywhere along the coast. Here is a sampling of the beaches Island-wide.
In the San Juan metropolitan area, beaches form long gentle curves that face the Atlantic Ocean and front hotel resorts and residential districts. Here you find rentals for just about every watersport your heart desires, from surfing and kite boarding to snorkeling and kayaking. Two of the best-known beaches, Escambrón and the “Balneario” of Isla Verde, are balnearios, public bathing beaches with parking, lifeguards, changing rooms and snack bars. They were recently admitted into the European-based Blue Flag program for environmentally sound beaches. Yet even the metro area has its out-of-the-way gems such as Piñones, an undeveloped track of coastline set amid a mangrove forest, former coconut plantations, kiosks, restaurants, and a six-mile-long bicycle boardwalk/path.
Elegant describes many of the beaches along the northeast and eastern coasts. Waters are shallow, sands are bordered by stately palms, small cays dot the horizon, and deep-green forests rise in the background. The best-known beach in the northeast is Luquillo, both a balneario and a Blue Flag beach, making it ideal for families (with facilities for special needs travelers). Rustic kiosks in front of the beach along Highway 2 serve up traditional Puerto Rican snacks.
If you visit the offshore islands in the East, you find the crystal-clear turquoise waters for which the Caribbean is famed. Shallow coral-fringed waters surround islets off Fajardo and continue to the inhabited islands of Culebra and Vieques. These are important nature reserve areas, known for their stunning beaches. One of the most spectacular, Flamenco Beach on Culebra, resembles a vast palette of turquoise sea, white sand, green hills and blue sky. This is the fourth and final of the Island’s Blue Flag beaches, and it has an area for overnight camping. On Vieques, a series of beaches to the east of Sun Bay were recently opened to the public. Still semi-deserted during the week, they are as beautiful as Flamenco but on a much smaller scale.
The south coast of Puerto Rico faces the Caribbean Sea. Waters here are calmer, particularly in winter. Mangrove forests, once found in abundance Island-wide, remain common. They protect the coastline and harbor large quantities of wildlife. For a remote, treasure-island sort of adventure, take a chartered boat to Caja de Muertos, some nine miles off Ponce’s coast. Back-to-back beaches, a little-used snorkeling trail and a hilltop lighthouse distinguish the islet. One popular land beach is the Caña Gorda balneario in Guánica. Also in Guánica you will find the ferry to Gilligan’s Island (scheduled to reopen in early summer), a south-coast favorite.
One of the best-known beaches on the west-coast is the balneario of Boquerón, a large and deeply recessed bay bordered by bird-rich lagoons. For a real off-the-beaten-track adventure, head down the coast to the southwestern tip of the Island. A dirt road passes salt-mining pools and a mangrove preserve as it heads to the neoclassical Cabo Rojo Lighthouse, set at the edge of 200-foot cliffs. To the left is an undeveloped (take everything you need), beautifully formed half-moon beach known as La Playuela.
The town of Rincón marks the division between the calm Caribbean Sea to the south and the rough Atlantic Ocean to the north. Most beaches in this region extend for miles and virtually every kind of water adventure, from low-keyed beachcombing to world-class surfing, is found. Many beachgoers head to Crashboat Beach in Aguadilla. Colorful fishing boats line the shoreline, set at the foot of limestone cliffs.
If you check the directories as you head back to San Juan, you will find a wide variety of excellent beaches (such as Shacks in Isabela, the Arecibo lighthouse area, Las Criollas in Barceloneta, Los Tubos in Manatí, Sardinera in Dorado and all the municipalities along the coast).
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