My husband and I just returned from a six day trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico. We had a great time. We had some pleasant surprises and some things that weren’t so pleasant. I’m going to share travel tips and suggestions about the places we visited.

I thought I’d start off with some general do’s and don’t’s to keep in mind when you’re traveling to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

DO: Pack light.

I brought six t-shirts (one for every day). I didn’t wear half of them. I ended up buying a sundress in a shop in San Juan and putting it over my bathing suit most of the time. I brought three two-piece bathing suits that were mix and match. Two of them were shorts and those worked great for kayaking in the Bioluminescent Bay. They were also great to wear around town and then go straight to the beach without having to change there.

If I’d needed more t-shirts, they have them in San Juan shops at three for $10. I could have bought what I needed there if I’d needed more.

Do: Pack These Items

Because there aren’t stores and pharmacies on every corner in Puerto Rico like there are on the mainland, I recommend packing these items:

• A hat. I liked my big floppy beach hat better than a ball cap. It shaded my face and neck better.
• Suntan lotion: Pack some SPF 50.
• Lip balm: If you can find some with sunblock, all the better.
• Ear plugs: If you like to sleep without a lot of noise, bring earplugs. Once you’re out of Old San Juan, roosters are everywhere.
• Wet wipes: Carry them to the bathroom with you. Toilet paper isn’t always restocked. Wipes are also great for washing your hands before eating or after eating sticky fruit.
• A rain coat: If you plan to visit El Yunque National Forest, it’s probably going to rain on you. Take a light rain coat. After the first two days that we spent in Old San Juan, we stayed in Luquillo, and it rained there in the mornings. We slept in until the rain passed so I didn’t actually need the raincoat then. But it came in handy when kayaking in Bioluminescent Bay. My rain coat/wind breaker kept me warm and dry in the night breeze.
• Water shoes: I picked up a pair of water shoes at the Walmart in Luquillo for $4.95. It was an excellent investment. We took a hike on the eco-reserve beach and the sand would have been very hot without those shoes. My water shoes were also great for kayaking on the Bio Bay.
• A light-weight cotton long-sleeve shirt: This is great for throwing over your bathing suit or sundress if you’re starting to get too much sun.

DO: Prepare for Lots of Sun

The sun is 60% more intense in Puerto Rico than it is in the mainland. Slather on your suntan lotion, bring a big hat, stay hydrated, and keep to the shade as much as possible. I’m incredibly fair skinned, so I have to be careful. My husband gets really brown, but at the beach even he burned wherever he didn’t put sunblock.

DON’T: Waste Space on a Hair Dryer

I brought my hair dryer and curling iron. Next time I won’t bother. The humidity is higher there. The first day I dried my hair and curled it. Within an hour I looked like Roseannadanna. The rest of the time, I just let my hair drip dry and it was a nice wavy curl that I like even better than I normally fix it. Simple, easy and beautiful without the fuss. The last place we stayed provided a hair dryer.

DO: Download a Spanish Dictionary App

Either bring a Spanish dictionary or download something like SpanishDict. You might also brush-up on your Spanish. You can get by without knowing how to speak Spanish. Most people are bi-lingual in Puerto Rico. But for road signs and restaurant signs, it was very helpful that I had taken a couple years of high school Spanish. I was shocked that many of the words actually came back to me after 36 years.

I also downloaded the SpanishDict app for my iphone and used it for translating words we saw on signs.

DON’T: Carry a Purse

I used a fanny pack to carry my identification, credit cards, lip balm, mints and cash. Carrying a purse around Old San Juan or at the beach would not have been practical. My husband brought his backpack, and we put things like suntan lotion, towels, bottled water and any snacks in that when we went to the beach.

DO: Check the Weather Forecast

Check the weather forecast for where you’re going. Also check what it’s going to be like when you return. I noticed that Accuweather (which is normally very accurate) didn’t even show rain for Luquillo while it was pouring rain. So I don’t know how reliable weather apps will be for Puerto Rico.

I am glad we checked to see what the weather would be like when we got back to Atlanta. When we left Atlanta for Puerto Rico, we’d been having warmer weather for March. When we returned it was 25-30 degrees F in Georgia. So I made sure I wore jeans and took a couple light jackets I could layer for when we landed in Atlanta.

DON’T: Use Bookings.com

My husband booked our accommodations through Bookings.com back in October. They switched where we were staying several times before we ever arrived – most of the changes were made within three days of our flight. It became very frustrating for my husband, and he spent quite a bit of time on the phone with Bookings. When we landed in Puerto Rico, we received a message from the place we were staying for the first two nights in Old San Juan saying we were being moved to another building.

We were supposed to have a private bath, and we ended up in a hostel-type location with one shared bathroom on the floor. The first night we had an air conditioner in our room. The second night, we had a balcony that we could leave open for air and a fan, but no air conditioner. That actually worked fine. I didn’t get hot either night.

I will say the place was clean, but incredibly minimalist in the furnishings/features. The clerk seemed to be a nice gentleman but spoke no English. Fortunately, the owner of the first location who could not take us did speak English and communicated with the clerk on our behalf on the night we arrived.

After the first two nights in Old San Juan, we moved to Luquillo for three more nights. We ended up staying in two locations because of Bookings’ screw-ups. The first night was clean. The people who owned it were very friendly, spoke great English and were helpful. We had air conditioning, a fan and an attractive room. We were within a couple blocks of the beach. The downside was we were in what looked like a seedy area. Of course, lots of areas in Puerto Rico look seedy right now – probably because of hurricane Maria damage.

Unfortunately for the people who own the place, their neighbor has roosters in cages. The cocks screeched incessantly because they were locked up in cages (for cock fighting). This violates city ordinances but the man with the roosters is related to the former city official who turned a blind eye. The innkeepers are hopeful the roosters will be moved out soon now that there is a new city official. We wish them luck!

Fortunately, as long as we kept our bedroom door closed and turned on the fan and the air conditioner, the roosters were faint enough that we could sleep.

The last two nights of our trip we stayed at Sunrise Beach Inn. It was a breath of fresh air. My husband (a master negotiator) got Bookings to comp us for staying in a place that actually cost more than the accommodations we originally booked. He had also paid for a beach view on the original location and we asked for a beach view at Sunrise and got it for $10 more/day. Definitely worth it. Sunrise makes beach towels and beach chairs available at no extra charge. Their staff is friendly and speaks English well.

I really liked their free continental breakfast – fresh fruit, bagels, sweet breads, croissants, boiled eggs. They only had coffee to drink, though, and we aren’t coffee drinkers. Some juice or even bottled water would have been great.

Speaking of bottled water…

DO: Find a store and buy a 24-pack of bottled water.

We were told the water is drinkable but that buying bottled water would be better since you never know how different water will react with your system. Our 24-pack of water got us through the trip. We also got some wonderful smoothies in various places as well as coco-frio, virgin strawberry daiquiris and Pina Coladas.

DO: Hone Your Driving Skills and Drive Defensively

In San Juan there is very little parking – way too many cars for way too little parking space. On an evening you could spend thirty minutes or more driving around looking for a parking spot. When you do find one, it will be parallel parking. So hone your parallel parking skills before you arrive. You’ll have to squeeze into some tight spots. Have someone stand outside the car and direct you.

Most of the streets are very narrow and one-way, and very few are marked as such.

People walk around in dark clothes at night. Keep your eyes peeled for someone stepping out in front of you. One night on a major thoroughfare, a man was rollerblading down the middle of the street. Fortunately, Dave is super observant. I would have probably hit the man if I’d been driving.

Red lights are a suggestion for most people in Puerto Rico. They run lights; they swerve in front of you. Be super observant!

DON’T: Buy Fruit to Bring Home

Finally, don’t try to bring fruit home with you. We loved the mangoes and tried to bring three home, but they got confiscated at security. There’s evidently a large snail that devours everything; and they’re trying to keep it from migrating to the mainland. Inspection did let us bring one of those huge avocados with us. But no mangoes or the pear I had in my purse.

Happy travels! Puerto Rico is an affordable, fun tropical vacation to escape to in the winter months.