Hi, everyone! Thank you for checking out this blog about our most recent travels. We had a fantastic time in Puerto Rico and here I will share where we stayed, where we went, what we did, and everything in between. I’ll start by saying that traveling during a pandemic doesn’t come easy. We encourage everyone to research even more than you would in “normal times” and really think about what type of traveling works best for you and your family. Also, I must stress the importance of being socially responsible. If you decide to travel, please do so responsibly. When we decided to travel, we got tested for Covid-19 and quarantined while we waited for our results. Puerto Rico requests that everyone who lands on the island upload negative Covid results no later than 72 hours from your travel date. It was important to us to make sure we did that for the safety of all.

Okay so now lets get to the juicy part…

My family has been to Puerto Rico many times, so it was especially important for us to not go to the usual places that we have been to before. I grew up taking summer trips to the island, but it was always to Ponce (where my family is from) and San Juan. There is so much more to this beautiful island and now as I continue to visit with my family we wanted a new experience. We decided to visit the west coast of Puerto Rico. (This turned out to be better than we expected because we avoided big tourist crowds and felt even safer especially during this time. Also, the beaches and restaurants were a lot less crowded and were frequented by locals.) We stayed in Isabela, but also explored Aguadilla and Rincon.

The cities we visited are on the north west part of the island.

“Cara Del Indio” Isabela, Puerto Rico. This marks the entrance to “Porta del sol”, the west coast region of the island.

We booked an Airbnb that we absolutely LOVED. I will not share the exact posting here, but I will advise everyone to use the filters on Airbnb and think about what will work best for your family and/or your vacation plans. For us, it’s always important that we have the entire place. The beaches were said to be closed, so I knew I wanted a pool for the kids in case we couldn’t make it to the beaches. It was important for us to have a private pool that we weren’t sharing with others because we wanted to be as safe as possible, so once again I used the Airbnb filters to show listings of houses with a private pool. I searched the entire island and then the specific west coast cities I was interested in visiting. We found our perfect house in Isabela and we couldn’t have been happier.

After doing some quick google searches on Isabela, Aguadilla, and Rincon tourism and reading information from a few websites, I had a list of activities, experiences, and places that we would want to do. I called all the places in advance to make sure they were open and just had a few conversations about expectations. If it was a restaurant, I would always make a reservation if they allowed us to, if it was an activity I asked my questions, and reserved if I needed to.

What did we do in Isabela?

Paseo Lineal and Tablado de Isabela

This is such a delightful experience! We rented bicycles from Pedalea Isabela located in Villa Pesquera and rode bikes through the city of Isabela. We also rode on the paseo lineal. While riding there you will see beautiful scenery of farmland and of course the beach! The path does cross several streets with traffic, so be attentive of little ones. The paseo lineal leads you to the tablado - a boardwalk on the beach that is absolutely beautiful. You can walk on the boardwalk or ride bikes like we did.

Jobos Beach

Wow! We loved this beach! First, it’s absolutely gorgeous! It’s also near lots of restaurants. I was a bit worried because the beach is known for worldwide surfing events, but the water is calm enough for little ones! We spent the entire day there and even went back there for lunch and a drink on another day. We went on a weekday, in an effort to avoid crowds and we packed super light. We were told the beaches were only open for swimming and sports, so we didn’t pack coolers or chairs because we figured we’d be in the water for a few hours and then leave when we got tired. However, the beach wasn’t crowded and the people that were there had their towels spread out on the sand and would rest there, so we followed suit. We found a tree to sit on and rest our belongings on and when we weren’t in the water, we rested there. There was a great restaurant right on the beach called Uma’s, so we went there for drinks and snacks, while at the beach. The boys also took a surfing lesson while there and if you book surfing lessons you get 10% off your bill at Uma’s, so while the kids surfed, we had some Don Q with parcha (aka passion fruit) and some fish empanadas. All while having front row seats to the boys’ surfing lessons!

Horseback Riding with Tropical Trail Rides

We called Tropical Trail Rides in advance and made reservations for their morning riding session. We figured the temperature would be cooler in the morning and that would also allow us to have the rest of the day to do what we wish. The ride itself is about 2 hours long and you ride through the forest and two beaches (Shacks beach and Survival beach). We initially thought we would do it as a family, but after arriving there and realizing that Baby K would have to ride with me on my horse, I wasn’t comfortable with the idea. I’m not an experienced rider, and 2 hours in the sun with a two year old didn’t sound like something my child could do, so baby k stayed back with dad and I rode with the older boys.

The ranch is beautiful and the horses are known to be gentle and well taken care of. I LOVED the vibe here. The horses were so well behaved and excellent with the riders, especially with the children. I also liked that they pair you up with your horse based on age, size, and personality.

Our experience was great and it rained (poured actually!) for half of our ride, but honestly the rain made it that much more special. I would definitely do this again the next time I’m in Isabela.

Restaurants that we dined at in Isabela: By Cheffs (so good), Sonido del Mar, Uma’s. We missed El Platanal because they were closed for renovations, but if you’re there check them out because I heard that’s THE BEST restaurant for authentic and fresh Puerto Rican food.

What did we do in Aguadilla?

Playa Crash Boat

Another beautiful beach! This beach is known for its crystal blue waters and people often jump from the piers. People also bring gear for snorkeling because of the easily visible life in the water. We saw a ton of different fish swimming around us, a little crab walking around the beach, and 4 big fish (probably the size of tuna!). The water is calm and we loved our time on this beach. Once again, we visited the beach during the week to avoid any big crowds. On this beach there were a couple of vendors selling drinks and piraguas. There is also a restaurant across the parking lot that we visited while we were at the beach. It was another great day!

Palmas Cafe

This restaurant came very highly recommended. Honestly, it didn’t live to my expectations of it, but what I did like was that it offers healthier and vegetarian options. After a few days of heavy Puerto Rican food and frituras, we wanted something light and some vegetables and Palmas Cafe offers that.

Survival Beach

We were on this beach when we rode horses, but not on the section of the beach known to have picturesque scenery and huge boulders. For this section, you have go through a very specific route, which we were intended on finding. This is what we did: We parked our car in “Surfer’s beach.” When you arrive there go down the hill to park on the beach level. Drive carefully because the road is bumpy. To the right you will see the sign that begins your hike to the beach and the bridge you cross over.

The hike isn’t too strenuous, but it definitely isn’t a clear pathway and requires some attention. There are a couple spots on the trail where you may question where to go, but for the most part it’s pretty clear. Follow where there is space for your body to fit. Most of it is made up of deep tree roots, so follow that. However, there are also rocky outcrops and slippery slopes. Wear good sneakers (no flip flops or sandals). Also, wear sneakers you do not care about. My sneakers were soaked, sandy, and on my hike back got caught in a rock and ripped. There are also a few parts where you may have to climb over or go under a tree limb.

Just hiking on through.

There are no signs that you have arrived, but you will know because you will begin to see the beautiful beach and some boulders. This is just the beginning; continue to walk on the beach, always going to the right. You will have to climb again at the end of this first part of the beach.

This is the initial view after we began our hike. From here we walked on the beach...continuing to our right and eventually started hiking up some rocks and ...

Here I am walking on the beach before the second hike to find the caves.

Here is the end of the walk that leads to continue the second part of the hike to the caves.

We went back up rocks and continued our hike in this rocky area that also has some shrubs and greenery. This short hike will lead you to an even more beautiful part of the beach. This is where the cave is.

We visited this beach for the experience, to get the view, and to take photos. It wasn’t our intention to actually swim in the beach. However, if you’re interested in swimming there are areas where the water is calm and you can swim around. Expect to see lots of sea life though. When we went there were a ton of crabs everywhere and I read that there are often sea urchins. Also, the beach is secluded, so you’ll probably be there alone. While we were there, we only saw one other couple.

TIPS

Wear good sneakers that you don’t care about.
Travel Light (We had a book bag with 2 water bottles, our phones, and a very light tripod). You don’t need towels. The heat will have you dry in no time.
The surf is tough where the cave is. Arrive early to beat the tide. We got there at 9:30 am, but I wish we would’ve arrived earlier than that. I would try to be there between 8am-9am.

I also want to add that because we aren’t hikers we were a bit apprehensive about going, but once we were there actually hiking through the forest we realized it wasn’t as bad as we thought and the reward is amazing. There are some spots where we almost turned back only because we had never done it before and we were unsure, but trust me, just keep going.

Now let me make fun of myself and share the bloopers…

Quick stops in Rincon and Loiza

Rincon, the city at the most western tip of the island, is known for their beautiful sunsets, so we wanted to have an outdoor dinner there at least one night. We ate at The Beach House, which we LOVED. The food is excellent and the view is gorgeous. Too bad we went on a day that was overcast, but we still enjoyed it very much.

The town of Loiza, is near San Juan, so we went there on our last day, since we were flying out of San Juan. Loiza is known for their excellent food, which you can find in the part of the town called Piñones. We stopped for some frituras and drinks. In addition, Loiza is rooted in Puerto Rico’s African ancestry, so expect to see a celebration of “everybody black.” ::Issa Rae Voice::

I hope this blog helps you out if you find yourself on the West Coast of Puerto Rico or that it inspires you to book a trip there. Trust me - you wont regret it!