Puerto Rico - Not According to Plan

 




When I decided to fly to Puerto Rico for a long weekend in January, 2017, I imaged a weekend of SCUBA diving and hanging out with friends.   I got to do both, but the weekend did not happen according to plan.

But as often happens, things turned out great anyway.    Puerto Rico has some great dive sites.  I didn't get to see any of them because the ocean waves were unusually high.  The boats were not operating due to the high seas.   So instead of exploring the ocean, our friend Carlos Rojas, who lived in San Juan at the time, helped us explore the island.

The first day got off to a great start.  We met in downtown San Juan, where this photo was taken.  

Chad Chernet, Jim Bowman, Steve Hunsicker and Carlos Rojas at Castillo San Felipe del Morro

From the fort, we headed east to the Cueva del Indio Caves.   This was an amazing place and be sure to watch the video linked below to see what it looks like.  We hiked into the caves, getting wet as we went.

The next day, the ocean was still too rough for diving.  Carlos suggested a plan "B." We head to the "other" side of the island.   He said it was beautiful and the water might be calmer.   We first stopped at Faro Los Morrillos de Cabo Jojo, with its beautiful seaside cliffs and lighthouse.  From there we headed to the village of La Parguera.    Here on the southern coast, the water was more calm.  And we found a dive boat that was operating.  Only my friend Chad Chernet and I decided to dive.   After all the whole purpose of the trip was to dive.  We grabbed our gear and went.  There was nothing special about the dive and not a lot of see. (A few diving shots are included in the video linked below.)

We then made the 2 1/2-hour drive back to San Juan.   The next day, diving wasn't an option since you can't dive 24 hours before you fly.  Instead, we headed out to El Yunque National Forest for some hiking in the rainforest and waterfall swimming.  

The trip to Puerto Rico did not happen as planned, but looking back, I'm happy I got to see so much of this island country.   Hurricane Maria hit later that year and many of the places we visited were heavily damaged or destroyed.   

Dates of Travel

  • January, 2017

Places Visited

  • San Juan
  • Ponce
  • Cueva del Indio Cave
  • La Parguera
  • Playa Fortuna
  • Cabo Jojo Faro Los Morrillos

Videos

Links

Maps


This post is part of my series "One Photo - One Country."  I'm am selecting one photo and writing one story from every country I have visited.   Your comments and questions are welcome.  

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