Quality Inn El Tuque Ponce

... San Juan is about 3.5 km (Yeah! It's 'km'. The distance is posted in km while the speed limit is posted in mile/hr) from the main San Juan city. Braving the bumper-to-bumper traffic on all entry ways to Old San Juan we reached there in late morning. We decided to do the city on foot for a few reasons. First of all, it was about a mile at its longest part; secondly there was heavy traffic and thirdly we didn't ...

... was too good to spend the day sleeping. After spying a few people wandering around on the island an official vehicle came down to the dock and since we were only 15metres from the shore Pete and I swam in to meet them. First were the 2 customs officials who were very friendly and kind, welcoming us to the island, after a few more minutes another vehicle arrived (good news travels fast) and again we were greeted by another 2 guys working at the research facility on ...

... for swimming. We spent a couple of nights relaxing here doing the usual and the boys also did a bit of chaosing around the bay some with some spectacular results. Our next stop was Boquerón, a much hyped place but probably not one of our best. The water in the bay was really murky (the only place we'd come across) and we chose not to swim here although that didn't stop thousands of Puerto Ricans who over the Easter and ...

... nature than we can afford to most of the time! For us this trip to the rain forest was amazing & very relaxing at the same time. A surprising range of vegetation encompassing the full spectrum of colors, starting from wild mushrooms to gigantic leaves which changed color & turned white on the inside as they received sunlight to hundreds of flowers from the hibiscus family in all different shades of reds & oranges ...

... were paddling out was that the fish that we disturbed left a very distinct light trail as they darted away. Being Australian, I was a little concerned about sharks and the fact that I was swimming in a foreign ocean at night but I relaxed when I realised that HAD there been a shark approaching us, we would have seen it light up miles away! Here's the story behind how I ended up in Vieques, Puerto Rico (since it ...

... Mina) that on the sign says a 1/2 mile round trip but in actuallity is a pull for older folk such as us. Once we got there the pool at the bottom was full of kids and tourists and resembled a 60's happening more than anything else. The primary camera we were using was taking some funky photographs. I have doctored them as well as I could in Photoshop but some may appear grainy. We ...

... ago this would have been the place to stay. Today, Wyndham has owned it for less than a year. With the transition in place you can see how run down the hotel had become and how much their commitment to upgrading the hotel is in place. Everywhere you see transition. The rooms have been upgraded to more comfortable beds, flat screen TV's, and new carpet ...

... all what we had in mind, but we finally got food. From there, we took the same road back to San Juan. We decided to drive around some more and ended up at the Fort San Felipe del Morro (or EL Morro). We parked and walked around, took lots of pictures. It was beautiful. The kids loved it and talked pirate lore. We got back to the hotel at about 9 pm. We decided to go to the tapas place for dinner (Madrid San Juan). We ...

... this to be certain to have a full tank of gas and a few snacks. We still had snacks from yesterday's trip, so we were prepared to head out. And since I was still stuffed from the dinner last night I didn't think we needed to grab breakfast and the gang agreed. So off we went. Heading west along highway 22, we drove for about an hour before coming to the first town suggested by the hotel called ARECIBO . The day was beautiful near our hotel however off in the ...