Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
El Yunque & East Coast
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Why Go?
The east coast is Puerto Rico shrink-wrapped; a tantalizing taste of almost everything the
island has to offer squeezed into an area not much larger than Manhattan. Sodden rainforest
teems with jungle waterfalls and noisy wildlife at El Yunque National Forest, the common-
wealth's giant green lungs and biggest outdoor attraction. Down at sea level, beach hedonists
bask on the icing-sugar sand of Playa Luquillo.
Golfers and resort-seekers will find a different kind of nirvana: the highest concentration
of mega resorts outside San Juan.
Scruffy Fajardo is the island's uncrowned water-sports capital, where adventurers kayak,
dive, snorkel and fish, and rich yachters park their sailboats.
Cutting through the region like a thin, green ribbon is the Northeast Ecological Corridor,
a slender tract of undeveloped and endangered pristine land featuring Las Cabezas de San
Juan Reserva Natural 'El Faro,' a tiny nodule of coastline harboring one of Puerto Rico's
stunning bioluminescent bays.
When to Go
Noteworthy annual events in Luquillo include the Fiesta de los Platos Típicos (Traditional
Food Festival) in November, and on the third Saturday in April the Sierra Club promotes
the preservation of the Northeast Ecological Corridor with a child-friendly turtle festival
(Festival del Tinglar). An April kite festival is a fun event in Fajardo.
Note that hurricane season - early June through late November - can bring sodden condi-
tions to El Yunque, with the possibility of trails being closed due to mudslides and flooding
some years.
