Old Meets New in Beautiful San Juan

A stretch of the beach in the Condado district

A New Yorker visiting San Juan needs to get accustomed to "island time."

This is the phenomenon where you sit down at a restaurant and the waiter takes 20 minutes to bring you the water. It's where long nights at the club bleed into long mornings on the beach, the hands on the clock a mere suggestion as to the appropriate activity. It's where the people on the street and the cat sleeping beneath your patio brunch table find spiritual equilibrium.

Pictured: Aforementioned patio cat

It's the ability, in other words, to relax, you neurotic freak!

Also, brush off your high-school level Spanish.

Despite no need for a passport and plane tickets no more expensive than any other domestic route, San Juan still remains an underutilized and underrated escape. Overshadowed in the American imagination by the bustling glamour of Miami Beach, LA, or the spring break meccas of Texas and Mexico, San Juan fills a niche. It is accessible, yet authentic, beautiful, yet slightly troubled - not enough to make you feel unsafe, but just enough for you to realize that you're someplace real people live real lives.

In the Condado district, resort hotels and luxury shopping play to the tourist who craves the feel of Miami Beach, only with the signs in Spanish first and English second. Old San Juan is the must-see historical district complete with fine restaurants, museums, old forts, and stunning architecture dotting cobblestone streets. Much of the nightlife is centered in Condado or just to the south and west, in Miramar.

A street in Old San Juan

It's highly recommended that you think outside the box and engage with the locals to get the most out of San Juan. I traveled with a large group that stayed at the Coqui Del Mar  guest house in the Ocean Park neighborhood - this is about a 30-minute walk from the major tourist district in Condado and a cheap cab ride (negotiate price upfront!) from Old San Juan. It was a wonderful experience with a very attentive and friendly housekeeper by the name of Estee. So, if you're going with more than three people, I highly recommend checking them out!

While you walk from Ocean Park to destinations further west, be sure to drop by La B de Burro for some of the finest Mexican in the city, or Mango's Ocean Park for brunch and a breakfast cocktail to get you over the previous night's partying!

Your soaked and windswept blogger / friends on their mini-boat

An article covering everything there is to see and do in Puerto Rico is well beyond the scope of my first visit. That said, it's worth it to rent a car and get out of San Juan - most of the commonwealth is within an easy day trip, but popular destinations include the Arecibo Observatory (frequently used as a filming location), the El Yunque National Forest, and coral reef snorkeling off the coast of Fajardo. Check out Kayaking Puerto Rico for excellent tour guides and snorkeling instructors - you get to pilot your own mini-boat, which is a slightly terrifying and salt-water-soaked adventure in its own right!

Also, while I did not personally make it there on this trip, I hear the Bioluminescent Bay in Fajardo is quite the sight. Avatar fans, take note.

So, the next time that the sky is spitting ice crystals, the wind hurts your face, and you're thinking of escaping someplace sunny, give the United States' Caribbean commonwealth your consideration. You are sure to find the weather and people that will bring much-needed warmth to your frozen body and defeated spirits.