Messy Suitcase Mini-Tour: Isla Verde

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Let's take a quick tour of Isla Verde, a beachfront high-rise neighborhood on the eastern end of San Juan, Puerto Rico, that offers a wealth of amenities and options for upscale travelers and residents.

Isla Verde is a resort strip of San Juan known for its beautiful urban beaches. This neighborhood offers a plethora of dining and lodging options for upscale travelers to the Enchanted Island, as well as for well-to-do homeowners with deep pockets. Its popular white-sand beach backs up to high-rise hotels and condos, with shade trees and many dining and drinking options.

Most travel articles describe Isla Verde’s exquisite urban beach in the heart of the city, but we thought we’d show you the other side of the neighborhood: the avenue that offers all the amenities you need to enjoy your time on the eastern end of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Enjoy our mini-tour!

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Loon Bathing on Lake Rescue

The fog lured me out of bed before 6 AM. I brewed coffee, lazily made my way down to the dock at Lake Rescue, VT, and dropped into a kayak. For almost an hour it was just me and the mist, floating on a mirror-like lake. No breeze. No other watercraft. No eagles. No birds. Total serenity.

On the way back home, I encountered this solitary loon giving himself a bath. So fun to just sit and watch him frolic in the lake! Enjoy.

Messy Suitcase Mini-Tour: Pelican Feeding Time at Palmas del Mar

We wandered down to the coastal area of Palmas del Mar and discovered pelicans having a feeding frenzy on fish in the Atlantic Ocean. It was an amazing sight! Thought we’d share.

We wandered down to the coastal area of Palmas del Mar and discovered pelicans having a feeding frenzy on fish in the Atlantic Ocean. It was an amazing sight! Thought we’d share. Palmas del Mar is a lush golf course/tennis resort development on the southeast end of the island of Puerto Rico. We spent 12 nights there. The beach is largely inaccessible, except by golf cart or walking over to this stretch. There was a lot of sargassum, and it stunk. But the views were gorgeous and clearly the fish -- and thus, the seabirds -- loved it!

Does Melones Beach on Culebra Have the Best Snorkeling in the World?

Judge for yourself!

Locals on the island of Culebra told us we would find the best snorkeling at Melones Beach. This area didn't show much promise at first -- we were greeted by screeching chickens, not much in the way of sand, and stones underfoot. But we decided to give it a go anyway!

The undersea world was truly spectacular. The video doesn’t do it justice. You will have to go see for yourself.

The Pterocarpus Forest: A Nature Enclave Within a Sprawling Resort

Who would expect to find a beautifully preserved nature preserve in the middle of the largest resort development in Puerto Rico? But that’s what we discovered when we entered the Pterocarpus Forest.

The Pterocarpus Forest nature preserve at Palmas del Mar is a 51-acre swamp forest, one of the largest remaining swamp forests in Puerto Rico. It serves as a habitat for 44 species of flora and 52 species of fauna, and this is a relief to see when elsewhere in Palmas del Mar, trees are being razed to create the latest luxury developments.

This wetland forest is named after the Pterocarpus Officinalis tree (“Dragonsblood Tree”), which has awesome roots that spread out majestically. It can grow more than 65 feet tall.

There’s also a lookout tower and a pond, which provide lively bird, turtle and iguana-watching.

Although Palmas is a private development, the Pterocarpus Forest is open to the public. Just tell the guard at the gate that’s where you are going. They have even been known to give out forest maps. There’s also an app that offers a walking tour of the forest.

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Messy Suitcase Mini-Tour: Guayanés Beach in Yabucoa

  

Guayanés Beach in Yabucoa: Swimming Horses and Stinging Ants

Guayanés Beach, in Yabucoa on the southeast coast of Puerto Rico, was lovely, quiet, and tranquil, for most of the day. It even had bathrooms! It was a beautiful crescent of sand and turquoise sea with lively waves. I walked down to one end and found the most beautiful seashells I have seen on any beach in Puerto Rico, including a sand dollar.

Mid-afternoon, the peace was broken when a rural Puerto Rican family arrived with their horses in a trailer, and inadvertently entertained us by riding back and forth along the beach, and even taking their horses into the waves for a swim! By mid-afternoon, they had set up a party, complete with blasting speaker, behind us by the parking lot.

About then, we noticed the ants under our feet in the grassy sand under a palm tree were starting to bite us viciously. We ended up with burning, itching bites and blisters on our feet for days.

I have a feeling that Guayanés Beach is a rollicking party on weekends! If you want quiet, weekday mornings are probably best. Just watch out for the red ants underfoot!

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Messy Suitcase Mini-Tour: La Pared Beach in Luquillo

La Pared Beach is a year-round popular surfing spot a block from Luquillo's main town square. We never swam there because the waves were too high, but we did enjoy watching the surfers, including kids' classes and competitions, while enjoying munchies and libations at Boardrider’s Restaurant.

Enjoy the mini-tour!

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Tour of St. Croix, the largest US Virgin Island

It’s only a 30-minute flight from San Juan, so Bob and I decided to spend a few days in St. Croix, the largest US Virgin Island and the only one we had not yet visited.

St. Croix is an island paradise complete with lush tropical hills, inviting white-sand beaches beside warm turquoise water teeming with colorful coral and tropical fish, a rich history (with seven different flags and even young Alexander Hamilton), two interesting cities, and a wonderful tropical climate.

We enjoyed three days packed with history, nature, food, drink, undersea delights, shopping, and more. One thing we didn’t find was crowds. We did discover a lot of places we need to return to!

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St. Croix

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