Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
» Drinking on the beach is legal.
Maps
Travelers who are doing a lot of driving on Puerto Rico's network of central roads, or are
interested in cycling or hiking extensively on the island, will require maps that are in great-
er detail than those provided in this topic. While roadmaps are fairly common, including a
basic hand-out from many tourist desks, it is essential to order topographical maps before
you go to the island, as they are a rarity.
MetroData(
www.metropr.com
)
Local Puerto Rican map makers that publishes a variety
of road and tourist maps. Often the most up-to-date product. Metro Data's
Guía Urbana
for San Juan and Ponce
($15) is by far the most detailed, and is stocked in most San Juan
bookstores.
Rand McNally
Publishes a foldout road map including detailed city maps of Aguadilla,
Arecibo, Caguas, Mayagüez, Ponce and San Juan, as well as the islands of Culebra and
Vieques. The map is available at bookstores and newsstands for about $8.
US Geological Survey (USGS;
www.usgs.gov
)
An agency of the US Department of the
Interior publishes very detailed topographic maps of Puerto Rico, at various scales up to
1:250,000. Maps at 1:62,500, or approximately 1in = 1 mile, are ideal for backcountry hik-
ing and backpacking. Some bookstores and outdoor-equipment specialists on the island
carry a selection of topographic maps.
Media
Puerto Rico's largest newspaper in terms of circulation is
El Nuevo Día,
a Spanish-lan-
guage periodical founded in Ponce in 1909. It currently circulates in the vicinity of 155,000
copies daily. Its largest competitor is
El Vocero,
a tabloid with more sensationalist news,
although its tone has become more serious in recent years. The island's English-language
newspaper was the
San Juan Star,
but following the trend of so many other print newspa-
pers, went under in 2008. The loss is great; founded in 1959 the
Star
won a Pulitzer Prize
a year after its inception and was famously fictionalized as the
Daily News
in Hunter S
Thompson's seminal Puerto Rican novel
The Rum Diary
(
Click here
).
