Clubber

I haven't done any of this, but you can rent jetskis at the marina.   There is kayaking and paddleboarding on the Condado Lagoon.  You can find outfitters on google maps easily.

I only remember a few chairs on the beach.   Everyone that day was sitting poolside with plenty of chairs and umbrellas.  there was no charge for that since you paid to get in.

 I spent a day at the Vevo Beach Club last week by the airport.   We had the place to ourselves most of the day.   Decent food plus the Ocean Lab Brewery is there for great craft beer.   It's $80 for the day entrance during the weekday.  Probably have to be a member to get in on the weekend.  Beach was nice but pretty narrow.  You can walk a long ways on the beach there.

The historical tour is $40.  The tasting tour is $80.  The prices have definitely gone up in the last several years. 

Here is their ticket prices. 

https://www.bacardi.com/casa-bacardi/tickets/

There is a casino at La Concha Renaissance.  You would have to taxi or uber there, but not far.      I just stayed there for a week.  They had $10 blackjack tables in the middle of the day.    Down the beach there was also a casino at the Marriott Stellaris.  Probably a similar drive timewise to the Sheraton as well.

I just ate at Ladi's Restaurant.  It has a wonderful view of the ocean.   https://ladisrestaurant.com/san-juan.html  I would uber/taxi there.  I had the grouper with the "house sauce" which was wonderful. 

We also ate at Marmelade.   We had a large group, so we did the 14 course tasting menu.   Phenomenal.  https://www.marmaladepr.com/food

We also ate at Mario Pagan in Condado which is also a wonderful restaurant.   I had the spiney lobster.  so good.  https://www.mariopagan.com/

I just stayed at La Concha for a week.  It's a decent resort.  Getting a little beat up with age, but has a nice crowd and decent pools.  they had plenty of chairs for the beach.  If you go to the adult pool and get chairs on the Eastern side of the hotel, there is less people.  I would not swim there unless the ocean is pretty calm.   riptide central.  There was several good restaurants within a couple of blocks.  Easy Uber into OSJ. 

The marriott stellaris  may be a lower pricepoint on the same beach.  The Vanderbilt for luxury, but doesn't really have a beach.   There are a couple nice resorts out by the airport like the El San Juan, but you are next to the runway and not as convenient to walk to restaurants.   However, the beach is better.

Driving further East of San Juan, then you get into the big beach resorts like the Grand Hyatt Reserve, Wyndham Rio Mar, or el conquistador.

We had a group of us do the tasting tour last Thursday.   It's just a very small quaint rum maker.  the oldest in Puerto Rico.   It's $80 per person.   You get the history of it, then see the family house, the old windmill, and the aging warehouse and bottling room.  It is now owned by one of the Bacardi family and a few other investors.   For the sampling, you'll taste the 2 star which is their mixing rum, like regular Bacardi.  You'll then taste the 3 star which is comparable to Bacardi 8, and then for a limited time you'll also taste the 4 star with is up to about 20 years of aging, and then the 5 star which is up to 35 years of aging.  In the giftshop we also tasted the Coquito.   You get one fancy drink at the end at the bar.  I had the Rum Old Fashioned which was delicious.   We enjoyed the tour and tasting.  We picked some Coquito up at the duty free in the airport for home.   If you do it, I would arrange for a taxi to take you there and then stay and wait for you.   You can roll the dice with uber, but you are quite a ways from the tourism zone. 

I've done the Bacardi tour, which is more like a museum of the history of Bacardi.  You don't see making of the real rum making at all.  It was still interesting. 

Go get some good seafood or mafungo at Ladi's.  It has an awesome view of the ocean.   It is about a mile East of Castillo San Cristobal.

I had the Grouper with the "Home Sauce".  It was wonderful.

https://ladisrestaurant.com/san-juan.html

On 2/7/2020 at 12:34 PM, Clubber said:

Still at it. Approached a friend of mine.  He snapped this picture for me  

This thread has been quiet for a year.  Any sightings recently?  Headed there soon.  I saw him a couple of years ago. 

see below

Of course the recommendation is noon or later for the vast majority of ships that disembark there.  I usually take a 9:30am or 10am flight.  I do the self disembarkation and off ship about 7, get through customs, grab a taxi and usually arrive at airport at 7:45.   I would never take an 8:15am flight unless it was the next day.  However, if you really dock the day before, the question becomes what time can you walk off the ship that morning?  What time does customs/immigration open if needed, etc....?  I've been stuck for a few minutes waiting for them to open at 7 in the past.

https://www.vivobeachclub.com/

This place is fun and has good reviews.  Ocean Lab Brewery is next door as well. 

I have made several 930am flights. I prefer about 10am departure.   I wouldn't go any earlier than that.  However, I am always prepared to miss my flight if there are problems getting off the ship.

"El Quinqué De Douglas’ Pub has also caught our attention."

Douglas Pub was one of our most favorite dive bars in San Juan.  Spent many nights in there. Touchtunes is available to play music.    Looks like they upgraded now and moved up to San Sebastian St..   I'll check it out next visit. Fancier place now.

La Factoria is a top 50 world bar.   Several bars within the bar, but probably pretty quiet until later at night. La Cubanita is the last bar connected to it and has great drinks too.    Lots of fun places to hit in the 2 blocks around that area on San Sabastian St. 

Brickhaus is a psuedo sports bar.     Decent wings

There are many bars all over OSJ.    You should just wander around and see what you find.

Have done it many times.  We have always loved the Kontiki bar when visiting on a cruise ship.  Usually just take a shared van and agree upon a pickup time going back.    We actually just spent a week on Orient Beach mid February and spent more time at the KKO Beach Bar since it was in front of our hotel.    The wifi was much better out in the beach chairs there.   Very similar food quality to Kontiki.  Many of the beach bars are owned by the same company.  

We did a 2 tank dive with Dive Sint Maarten last week.  They are at Bobby's marina which is a short walk from the cruise pier.   We showed up at 8:30am to get our gear and the boat left about 9am.   Easy to do from cruise ship.  Both dives were great.  They guides were very nice and helpful.   We booked online.

You can just stay on until the last group.

Google maps says about 3.5 miles by car.   Taxi ride I've done many times from the Casablanca.

Your video settings is private on youtube.  Need to change to public to make your video viewable. 

If you want beach and nice resort, consider staying at La Concha Renaissance.   The question will be if you are spending time exploring Old San Juan, will you really have time to hang on the beach if only there for a day?   If you fly in 2 days early, you'll most likely be in late afternoon on the first day, you then have a full day to enjoy OSJ the following day, and then to the ship on the 3rd day.   We love cruising around OSJ exploring, shopping, and bar hopping.  We prefer to stay in that area.  The food and nightlife are excellent.    Therefore, we tend to stay  in the heart of it.   But if you want beach, the La Concha is very nice.   Vanderbilt is ultra nice.   Other beach options, the regular Marriott, Intercontinental.  There are some smaller boutique hotels available as well.

We did a 2 tank dive with Prodivers in mid Feb.  Very easy walk to the marina and right to the boat.    They had all our rental gear on board.   We did a reef dive with lots of reef sharks and then did a wreck dive.     No current.  We just had shorty wetsuits and were fine in Feb.      We met them at 8:45 and were back to the ship by about 1:15. 

On 2/27/2020 at 7:45 AM, Angelfsh131 said:

Is it sad that I am hoping to see him? 😂 He’s a little C.C. Famous at the point. 

I've been hoping to see him for 10 years.   Just missed him by ten minutes a few weeks ago when my friend snapped the pic above.  Maybe next time.

We showed up about 1045 and was on board by 1130 a few weeks ago.   Waiting in a line a while before they opened the doors.

Yes per person each way.