When to Go

The peak tourist season is between December and April, but this has more to do with the climate in North America than anything else. During these months the island is swamped by visitors, prices are highest and accommodation can be hard to find. Obviously it’s much less crowded during the official hurricane season (May through November). Although hurricanes are rare, they’re able to do more than merely put a dampener on your holiday. Definitely keep an eye on weather reports if you’re in Puerto Rico at this time, especially in August, September and October. If you intend to travel inland bring a sweater for the evenings regardless of when you visit – it’s much cooler in them thar hills.

San Juan

San Juan (from the Spanish San Juan Bautista, “Saint John the Baptist“) is the capital and largest municipality in Puerto Rico. As of the 2000 census, it has a population of 433,733, making it the 42nd-largest city under the jurisdiction of the United States. San Juan was founded by Spanish colonists in 1521, who called it Ciudad de Puerto Rico (“Puerto Rico City”). In addition to being the oldest city in Puerto Rico it is the oldest European-founded U.S. city, older than even St. Augustine, Florida. Puerto Rico’s capital is the second oldest European-established city in the Americas, after Santo Domingo, now in the Dominican Republic.^[3] Several historical buildings are located in San Juan; among the most notable are the city’s former defensive forts, Fort San Felipe del Morro and Fort San Cristobál, and La Fortaleza, the oldest executive mansion in continuous use in the Americas.

Today, San Juan serves as one of Puerto Rico’s most important seaports,^[4] and is the island’s manufacturing, financial, cultural, and tourism center. The population of the metropolitan area, including San Juan and the municipalities of Bayamón, Guaynabo, Cataño, Canóvanas, Caguas, Toa Alta, Toa Baja, Carolina and Trujillo Alto, is about 2 million inhabitants; thus, about half the population of Puerto Rico now lives and works in this area.^[5] The city has been the host of numerous important events within the sports community, including the 1979 Pan American Games, 1966 Central American and Caribbean Games, 2006 World Baseball Classic and the Caribbean Series.

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (Spanish: “Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico” [literally, English: "Associated Free State of Puerto Rico"]), is a semi-autonomous territory of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands. The territory is composed of an archipelago that includes the main island of Puerto Rico and a number of smaller islands and keys, the largest of which are Vieques, Culebra, and Mona. The main island of Puerto Rico is the smallest by land area but third largest by population among the four Greater Antilles (Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico).

Puerto Ricans often call the island Borinquen, from Borikén, its indigenous Taíno name.^[4][5] The terms boricua and borincano derive from Borikén and Borinquen respectively, and are commonly used to identify someone of Puerto Rican heritage. The island is also popularly known as “La Isla del Encanto“, which translated means “The Island of Enchantment.”