Messy Suitcase Mini-Tour: Buye Beach

Messy Suitcase Mini-Tour: Buye Beach

Buye is a popular family beach in Cabo Rojo, on the west coast of Puerto Rico. It can be a little crowded on weekends and very lively. The water is calm, perfect for swimming, and there is a kayak concession at the southern end and some decent snorkeling at the north end. You’ll also find an open-air restaurant, a mini-market and a frappe place (usually only open Friday through Sunday). The beach fronts a popular family cabin camping area.

Don’t expect Buye (pronounced BOO-yay) to be as pristine as some of the public beaches you’ll find on the island. But if you’re looking to sit under a shade tree and watch the kids play in the sand while you listen to someone else’s radio pumping out Bad Bunny and take in the beauty of the turquoise water, you could do a lot worse than Buye Beach. It’s not a pristine touristy beach. What it is might be even better: a true Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, beach experience.

Buye has some unique features: a close parking area ($4, or park farther away for free), bathrooms, showers, and a spectacular hiking area nearby, Guaniquilla.

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Time to Party! Carnaval de Ponce (Ponce Carnival) 2023

Carnaval de Ponce (Ponce Carnival) 2023

The southern Puerto Rican city of Ponce (pronounced PONE-say) has been celebrating its annual carnival for 165 years, making it one of the longest-celebrated carnivals in the Caribbean. The festivities are brought to life by vejigantes, a local folk character that wears a colorful paper-mâché mask and a bright jumpsuit. Since we have commissioned a couple of vejigante masks from renowned mask maker Miguel Caraballo, we were eager to see the colorful masks in use during a carnival parade!

The event spans six days right before Lent. The carnival parades includes King Momo's appearance and the Carnival Queen's coronation, a masquerade ball, and the Burial of the Sardine, a simulated funeral marking the beginning of Lent.

We were there on Saturday night for the kids’ day and Queen’s Coronation activities, which included a family-friendly version of the main event. It was a delight! (But thank God we brought our ear plugs.) Enjoy!

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Messy Suitcase Mini-Tour: Playa Ostiones

Messy Suitcase Mini-Tour: Playa Ostiones

Playa Ostiones is the very definition of off-the-beaten path. It’s a little neighborhood beach, not mentioned in any tourism brochures. It has a small, deeply-potholed dirt parking lot among the palm trees, a put-in for small boats and jet skis, a small beach and swimming area for families, and a few wooden benches. No bathrooms. No restaurants. No facilities. There are a couple of small condo complexes behind it. But if you have simple tastes and a deep appreciation of nature’s beauty, it has everything you need.

You can walk through a nature reserve down a path beautifully maintained by a dedicated local man by the name of Harvey John Ducot, and take your choice of countless small beach areas tucked within the mangroves. You can sit under a low shady tree and watch the placid water. You can snorkel from a beach, or kayak out, and see countless reefs and plants and fish. You can do yoga in the sand, fish off the jetty, or just laze the day away.

(Shh, don’t tell anyone!) Playa de Ostiones is our definition of Paradise.

Note: In the summer, the crowds on weekends can be loud and raucous, with lots of jet skis and speakers blaring Daddy Yankee.

Map: https://goo.gl/maps/Nb2xz99utRrFkgug9

https://youtu.be/4f1CcPIpdbI

The Battle of the Puerto Rican Rums, Part 2: Bacardi

The name Bacardi is synonymous with Puerto Rican rum – even if is originally from Cuba. We decided to take a tour of its factory! We combined it with a $75 mixology class, which you can watch in a separate video.

The tour itself was very crowded and not as comprehensive as we expected for such a sprawling factory, but the drinks were great! Interestingly, Bob did this tour in 1994 and it was dirt cheap, maybe $5. How times have changed! Rum tours are now big business, and an obvious revenue stream from tourism. But if you’re on a Puerto Rican vacation, why not? Experiencing rum is an important part of experiencing the local culture. Bacardi offers a number of different tours, ranging in price from $40 to $200.

Normally, to get there, you take a ferry across the water from the ferry terminal in Old San Juan – an awesome experience in its own right! – then grab a quick Uber to the factory in Catano. We went on a Puerto Rican holiday when no ferries were running, and had to drive.

Learn more and buy tour tickets at the Casa Bacardi website.

The Battle of the Puerto Rican Rums, Part 1: Barrilito

Ron del Barrilito is the original Puerto Rican rum, and many would say the finest. Or is the ubiquitous Bacardi better? Guess we’ll have to tour both rum factories (in the name of research, of course). Join us!

https://lnkd.in/etmVZYgf

Mini-Tours: Southeastern Beaches - Punta Santiago and El Cocal

We spent our time in the southeastern corner of the island searching for beaches. Since the one at Palmas del mar was covered with seaweed and had dangerous waves, we headed west, and discovered El Cocal and Punta Santiago.

We waited out a rainstorm to discover one beautiful beach with sea turtle nests taped off. The other provided a view of Monkey Island!

 

Puerto Rico Must-Do Experiences and Adventures

Sorry for the long gap between blogs. We've had a lot of stuff going on: buying a house in Puerto Rico, taking care of some health issues, and welcoming our oldest child home from college. We've been moving and buying furniture and repairing toilets and getting kayaks and watching sunsets. But now we are settled in PR for half the year, and the questions are coming from friends and friends of friends planning visits to the island: What should they do here? Here are some of our favorite experiences for visitors based in San Juan.

Read the blog HERE!