Puerto Rico: North Coast or South?
JRDibis
Three of us (males ages 32-40) will be sailing in mid-November on a 28' foot
boat from Tortola in the British Virgin Islands to Punta Cana on the eastern
tip of the Dominican Republic. One of the decisions that we have to make is
whether to sail on the North or South side of Puerto Rico (the distance is
virtually the same).
We will have all of the provisions that we need, but the existence of places
for resupply, repair, or communication back to Boston is desireable. We would
like to see interesting things (the South Coast seems to have more "contour"
to it), and we would like to avoid any areas that might be dangerous in any
way.
Q: Is there any reason to consider or avoid the North or South side in general?
Q: Are there any sailing or navigation reasons to consider one side versus the
other (tricky currents, poor winds, lack of navigation marks, etc.)?
Q: The North side offers (from east to west) San Juan, Arecibo, Aguadilla as
possible stopping points. The South side offers Bahia de Rincon (the name of
the bay), Playa de Ponce, and Cabo Rojo as possible stopping points. Is there
any reason to consider or avoid any of these places?
Q: Are there any other places along the North or South side that we should
consider seeing (for interesting sights) or avoiding?
-Jeff Dieffenbach
JRD...@aol.com
CLM
Hi Jeff:
I'm a lurker in this group as I am just learning how to sail. However, I
live in PR (working in the tourism industry) and might be able to offer some
pointers anyway, especially more on the tourism end of it:
>Q: Is there any reason to consider or avoid the North or South side in
general?
I have found that our north coast's surf is a lot rougher than the south.
This is especially true in the areas west of San Juan where there are a
number of beaches that are considered "world class" by the surfing crowd.
Seems to me that "world class surfing beaches" and "protected anchorage"
don't generally go together.
>Q: The North side offers (from east to west) San Juan, Arecibo, Aguadilla
as
> possible stopping points. The South side offers Bahia de Rincon (the name
of
> the bay), Playa de Ponce, and Cabo Rojo as possible stopping points. Is
there
> any reason to consider or avoid any of these places?
All nice places. In general, PR's north coast is more developed, in
particular the northeast side from Fajardo to Dorado (just west of San
Juan). This is the area where the largest tourist developments are. The
southern half of PR is drier in general and, IMO, the waters calmer. These
are my observations from driving around the island - like I said, I'm just
learning to sail. You are more likely to find people with a stronger
command of English on the Northern half than on the Southern half (this is a
generalization!!!). The North is busier, the South more laid back.
>Q: Are there any other places along the North or South side that we should
> consider seeing (for interesting sights) or avoiding?
I would strongly recommend stopping by Vieques' bioluminescent bay (located
next to the town of Esperanza). It is fantastic - pick a moonless night.
Then, as a comparison I suppose, you could see the same thing by Parguera
(west of Ponce). The one in Vieques is nicer and less spoiled. Culebra
island is also unspoiled where much of it is national park. These island's
location is great because you can visit them and then still opt for either
the north or south side of PR, although the southern end is closer.
The southern side is dominated by the presence of Ponce, PR's second largest
city, which houses the Ponce Museum, arguably PR's best one - if you are
interested into this direction. Also, there is the Castillo Serralles.
They held a regatta in Ponce a couple of weekends ago out of the Ponce Yacht
Club. You also have Guanica with its dry forest.
Tourism wise, the North coast has more to offer (I think). Just west of
Fajardo is Luquillo beach and just inland of it, El Yunque which is the only
rainforrest in the US National Park system. In San Juan, you just have to
take 1/2 a day to visit El Morro, the fortress that sits at the entrance to
San Juan Bay. Old San Juan is the best restored old city of the major three
Caribbean Islands (Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico) - lots of shops,
restaurants, and lively night life. Also fun is to take the tour through
the Bacardi rum factory in Cataño, he he he! Further west, you have the
Arecibo Observatory, the largest radar dish in the world; it's run by
Cornell U. and you saw it in the James Bond movie "Goldeneye" (no, it
doesn't rise from a lake...). Just inland from there are the Camuy Caves
(Cuevas de Camuy) which they have opened to the public with tours and rides.
You also indicated possibilities of travel to Boston. Almost all flight's
in/out of PR go through San Juan. Ponce's airport has some direct flights
to the mainland (Florida mostly I think). San Juan has several direct
flights to Logan Int'l on a daily basis.
You may want to contact the PR Tourism Company (a government institution).
They definitely have a satellite office in NYC and they probably have one in
Boston as well. The PRTC has an excellent quarterly publication called "Que
Pasa" which has all sorts of tourist information in it. I'm going on memory
here, but I think they also include a listing of all the major marinas.
I remember someone posting a while back who had a sailing page on the
southern side (out of Salinas I think). It was "SJPAV". Hopefully he/she
will reply to you with more sailing related info.
Hope you will enjoy your visit here. PR is a great place. I moved here
after 6 years in Boston and still enjoy myself!
Carlos
Earl Beard
Without doubt go the south coast! The cruising is much nicer - there are
many fine harbors and fery nice towns. Of course you mis San Juan if you
like big cities and very busy harbors.
Additionally the south coast gives you a good shot to the Dominican
Republic. I would suggest Samanna Bay in the D. R.
In Nov. the winds should be moderate on both coasts (No christmas
winds) There are virtually no navigation hazzards on the S. coast. Nothing
but following winds moderate seas, nice anchorages, etc.
Earl
jfenwood
CLM wrote:
> Tourism wise, the North coast has more to offer (I think). Just west
> of
> Fajardo is Luquillo beach and just inland of it, El Yunque which is
> the only
> rainforrest in the US National Park system.
I agree that Puerto Rico has lots to offer. I can strongly recommend a
trip to El Yunque. It's a shame, though, that more people don't know
that it is actually the only rain forest in the National FOREST System
(not Park Service).
--Jim Fenwood
US Forest Service
http://www.fs.fed.us/outdoors/wildlife/