Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
taurants in Las Croabas. Some of the públicos at the ferry terminal will take you to Luquillo
($2, 15 minutes), and to and from the Río Piedras section of San Juan ($4 to $6, 1½ hours),
but you might need to take one into the center ($1) and transfer first. For other trips, you'll
need to negotiate a fare with a taxi. If you are coming from San Juan and going to the ferry
dock, make sure to tell the driver to go all the way to the port.
Taxi
You can always find taxis at the ferry terminal to take you to Luis Muñoz Marín In-
ternational Airport (LMM) in San Juan ($80). Based in Fajardo,
Alvaro Cuellar (
787-590-9001)
charges $60 to $65.
Naguabo & Around
POP 26,700
There are two parts to modern Naguabo: the so-called downtown - which you'll curse for
its nutty traffic and impossible-to- understand one-way system - and the laid-back and loc-
al Playa Húcares, where you might want to linger for views, a snooze, and lunch in one of
its down-to-earth seafood restaurants. Pretty Playa Húcares bay was one of the set locations
for
The Rum Diary
movie (see the boxed text,
Click here
).
Sights
PlayaHúcares
doesn't actually have a beach - the waterfront is a rock seawall overlooking
a bay. It does, however, have a dramatic view of Vieques, 10 miles out to sea, and Cayo
Santiago, closer to the coastline. It's worth visiting to get a look at the brightly painted fish-
ing sloops and the two Victorian mansions that stand like sentinels over the sleepy little
boardwalk, officially named Malecón Arturo Corsino. One of the mansions, the Castillo
Villa del Mar, is on the National Registry of Historic Places (despite the dilapidation and
the graffiti) and was once home to a restaurant and art gallery where local painters showed
their work. These days it's a run-down old eyesore, but the mansion next to it has been
somewhat restored, giving rise to hopes that both structures will eventually be returned to
their former state of grace.
On weekends people flock to the line of open-air seafood restaurants just across the street
for freshly caught
chillo
(snapper) and
sierra
(kingfish). If you follow Hwy 3 a half mile
further south, you'll see about 2 miles of thin, tree-lined, vacant beach. Beyond this, the
road carries you into the tiny village of
Playa Humacao
. Dilapidated Playa Humacao has
one bright spot: there is a pristine balneario and
centro vacacional
(vacation center) at the
