Part 3: Rincón
"Back at Isla Grande, I called our Charlie Car Rental shuttle from the runaway. Renting with Charlie Car Rental was great and the Condado location is very close to Isla Grande. By 1:05 (only an hour after leaving Vieques), we were on our way to Rincón. The drive out of San Juan was easy and before long we were on the toll highway (Route 22) heading west. We had the autotag from Charlie Car and that was awesome as there were probably three or four toll booths on the way to Arecibio, where the toll road ends. Again, I was surprised by the beauty of Puerto Rico on the drive: mountains to the south and ocean to the north.
"At Arecibo, the road changes to Route 2, and gets busier. There were cool stands everywhere. One word: Hammocks! There were hammocks for sale everywhere so if you are in the market for some Puerto Rican hammocks, this is your road! We stoppes and picked up a $2 Raggaetón CD on the way that we pretty much played and loved the rest of the trip. We turned off on our way to Rincón to stop at Isabela and Jobos Beach, which looked really nice. We had an entertainment coupon for 50% off a place called Ocean Deck Bar, which had decent, greasy burgers, good rum and cokes, and an amazing beach. The surf was really up and there were lots of people surfing. However, the north end of the beach is protected by a rock juttting out so it is super calm. Very nice place!
"Soon after we were on the way to Rincón via Route 413 - the road to happiness! We stayed at the R House (on Vacation Rentals By Owner), which was great. Although not as nice as the house in Vieques, it definitely had more of a beach house feel and most importantly, was RIGHT on Steps Beach! We traded the roosters and dogs for the sounds of waves all day and night. Ali and Leon who own the house lived upstairs and were so helpful in my pre-trip obsessive planning! The house even came with an amazing CD collection and all the beach accessories (snorkels, surfboards, watershoes, etc.).
"A quick word about Steps Beach: amazing snorkeling! No comparison to anywhere else we have been. The main snorkeling area is to the right of Steps Beach, not more than 50 yards from shore. Steps beach is a little rocky and again very different from Vieques, but beautiful just the same. The elkhorn coral was amazing and there were so many fish so close to the shore. You really have to be careful to stay horizontal to the water as the coral in some places comes close to the surface. To snorkel, you don't even have to swim, just float really. It was an amazing and almost eerie feeling to be able to just float above the corals and look at the sealife. Leah saw an octopus and we both saw a couple of very small sharks, along with about a million fish!
"After we arrived, walked down Maria's Beach to Calypso Café, about a 20-minute walk on the beach. When we got to Calypso Café they had to turn off all the lights in the bar to keep the termites at bay. We really didn’t think anything of this until we got back to our house and there were termites all over our house! Again this seemed to be a problem in the whole area that night, not just our house. Nonetheless, Ali was helpful with a vacuum and the termites were soon gone. Really weird! This was the only night of three we saw the termites.
"The next day we went out for bloody's at Villa Confresi (nice hotel) and then spent the day snorkeling and on the beach before going out to party at night. One thing I noticed in Rincón is that there seems to be a shortage of good breakfast places with good Bloody Marys. So if anyone out there wants to finance a great breakfast and Bloody Mary place, Leah and I would be more than happy to move to Rincón and run it for you! :)
"The next day, we woke early and headed south to Cabo Rojo and Boquerón. So Cool! It was amazing how the topography changed from Rincón to Cabo Rojo, going from lush mountians and forest to desert. We went to the El Faro lighthouse which felt like we were at the end of the Earth! It was great. Amazing cliffs and right next to the lighthouse among all these weird salt marshes was the beautiful Bahía Sucia. We spent some time there relaxing before heading back to Boquerón.
"Boquerón was really cool! It was quiet that day for a Saturday, but there were still about 20 oyster and clam stands. This was one of the highlights! I love oysters and these oysters were picked just that day or yesterday from the mangroves at the end of Boquerón. Each stand is independent and each is a little different with the variety of sauces. At the first stand, I had 6 oysters and 3 clams for $2.50!) We also used our entertainment coupon at Galloway's which was really good. Finally, we got to have the mofongo and lobster, both fresh and good! We also finally got our first dose of extended rain, but no worries. We drove along the coast and saw many cool sopts, including Buye Beach! Although it was pouring at this time, we were able to drive our car practically right into the water and at least look at the beach. On the way back, we did stop by the Rincón Beach Resort to crash their beautiful infinity pool and hot tub and have a piña colada. Very nice place, and they have a really nice swimming beach here if anyone is looking for that (not all the beaches in Rincón are good for swimming).
On our last day, we had one last adventure: the secret waterfall at San Sebastián. It was amazing! It was about 45 minutes from Rincón. For a while we were the only people there. The water is so clear and there is a great rope swing and about a 15-foot rock that you can jump into the water from. We drove through the mountains past a nice, large freshwater lake and then stopped at Sport 19 on Highway 19 for our last cold Medallas and more great conversation.
"We dropped off the car at Charlie's in Isla Verde at no extra charge and within 10 minutes were back at the airport, exhilarated and somewhat sad, but happy in the thoughts of everything we experienced in 6 short days!"
And there you have it! One amazing honeymoon in Puerto Rico, brought to us by Jody, who very kindly allowed me to share it with you. Thanks Jody!
