Travel Itinerary: Real Advice for Planning Your Trip

I’ll be straight with you – I’m terrible at planning trips. Like really bad. My usual strategy is showing up somewhere and figuring it out as I go. But Puerto Rico? That approach kinda backfired on me the first couple days. So I’m gonna share what actually worked for things to do in Puerto Rico itinerary based on what I learned the hard way.

My wife spent weeks making this detailed spreadsheet before our trip. I made fun of her for it. Then day two hit and I realized she was absolutely right. Having some kind of plan matters, especially when you’ve only got limited time and there’s so much to see.

Day One – Landing and Getting Your Bearings

Most people fly into San Juan, and that’s what we did. The first day was basically a wash because we landed around 2pm, got the rental car, checked into the hotel in Condado, and by then we were hungry and tired. Grabbed food at this place near our hotel – can’t remember the name but they had amazing mofongo.

Here’s my advice for day one in your things to do in Puerto Rico itinerary – don’t plan anything major. Just walk around your neighborhood, get dinner somewhere local, maybe hit the beach for sunset if you’re not too exhausted. We tried to do Old San Juan on arrival day and ended up cranky cause we were tired and rushing. Not worth it.

Day Two – Old San Juan

Okay so day two is when your things to do in Puerto Rico itinerary really starts. We spent the whole day in Old San Juan, and honestly you could spend two days there easily. The cobblestone streets are beautiful but brutal on your feet – wear comfortable shoes, not flip flops like I did.

Day Three – Water Sports in San Juan

This is where things got fun. Big mistake – I fell off that thing like six times. The water in the lagoon is calm but I apparently have terrible balance. My wife stayed on hers the whole time and wouldn’t let me forget it.

For your things to do in Puerto Rico itinerary, I’d say dedicate at least one full day to water activities in the San Juan area. There’s jet skiing, parasailing, snorkeling, paddleboarding – basically whatever you’re into. And the companies running these activities know what they’re doing, which made me feel way more comfortable trying stuff.

Day Four – El Yunque Rainforest

One of the most frequented trails is the La Mina falls which we hiked. It is not very long – a mile or so maybe – but part of it is slippery and muddy.

It is worth the waterfall in the end. You may get into the pool on the bottom, and the water there is freezing but it was amazing after hiking in the humidity. We spent an hour or so chilling out.

There is one thing about El Yunque – it rains a lot. Like a lot. On our way home to the car we were caught in a downpour, and were fully wet. Simply anticipate it and carry a rain jacket or do not care whether one gets wet. Anything dries quickly anyway.

Day Five – Fajardo Eastward bound

Day five was drive day. We moved out of our hotel in San Juan and drove east to Fajardo. It is just an hour drive but we took a detour to Luquillo Beach along the way because everybody told us to.

This lucrative beach is a calm one called Luquillo due to its being reef-shielded. Ideal to swim without having to fret about facing large waves. Also, we have these food kiosks that are nearby where you can get fresh seafood and all types of fried foods. 

Day six – Island hopping and Snorkeling

This was most likely my favorite day. We had a boat adventure trip which took us to a number of little islands off the Fajardo coast. Icacos Island was the first place of visit, where the water is so clear as to be rare. We mean you can see the bottom even fifteen feet down.

Others in our boat had used the jet ski tours to the islands as opposed to having to go with the boat, which seemed to be quite entertaining but also more costly. There are several alternatives available to the water sports operators in Fajardo that will depend on what you want to do and how much money you have.

We had a late lunch at this seafood restaurant which was suggested by the captain of the boat after island hopping. Ocean air, cold beer, fresh fish – a great way to be at the end of the day. Then we simply crashed in the hotel since we had received much sun and were tired.

Day Seven – Bioluminescent Bay

The bioluminescent bay in Laguna Grande was night seven. It is among those things you must include in your things to do in Puerto Rico itinerary since it is only one of those locations in the world where you can see it.

You might put your hand in, and have it shine round about your fingers. Sounds consistent but I vow it is true.

What I’d Change

On the south coast we did not get to Ponce which I had heard is quite cool.

Also would have booked more water activities at the beginning of the trip rather than waiting. We did the majority of them at the end and I would have preferred to have done it earlier.

Build in flexibility. Day four completely changed our originally planned itinerary due to the change of plans by the weather and the things we learnt we needed to do. Don’t schedule each and every hour.

Carry cash because lots of places around are small and do not accept cards. On several occasions, we were caught short and could not afford to visit food stands we desired.

Pack light on day trips. We continued to bring excessively too much stuff to the beach and it irritated me to carry it about.

Final Thoughts

It is not necessary to over-complicate creating things to do in Puerto Rico itinerary. Combine the culture with the nature, like Old San Juan with El Yunque, add water sports, since the island is all beautiful ocean, add bioluminescent bay, since it is unique, leave some undetermined time to simply discover.

Puerto Rico is not too large, a week is enough to explore it, and at the same time, it is not that small that you will not have anything to do. Simply get out there on the water as much as you can, and just have some type of loose plan, which you need to be flexible to change. That’s my advice anyway.