touring rainforest

[MJN]

Hi all,

Who has toured the El Junque rain forest just outside San Juan? We will be there in August before and after our Serenade cruise and have Monday morning before our flight leaves (3:42 flight) to tour the rainforest. I saw a nice write-up about one tour that does a nice job but it goes from 8am till 2pm and am concerned that doesn't give us enough time before our flight to check in at the airport.

What tour companies did you use or did you just drive up there with a rental car? We weren't planning to rent a car if we don't have to. Thanks for any info.

[RayInPR]

Rent a car and drive yourselves. It's an easy, straight run out Route 66 to Route 3 to Route 191. It will be less expensive in the long run, you'll have added flexibility and you won't be at the whim of someone else's schedule.

[Fourseventeen]

I hired a private tour guide in advance to take my wife and I up to the rain forest. Keyword...PRIVATE. I specified I wanted our tour private because it was my wifes birthday on that day and wanted her to have an extra special time and go anywhere SHE wanted to go. We got picked up with 6 people already in the van...an 8 person van! So we were the lucky 2 who got to be stuck...me in the back row and her in the middle row. Needless to say I wont recommend his services for that. Otherwise he wasnt a bad guide despite the fact he kept hinting around for tips and the fact he promised me a private van for the 2 of us...and yes I agreed to pay more for this service. We ended up going places everyone wanted to go to and not places WE wanted to go to with exception of the rain forest. We had a blast at the rainforest but I wouldnt take "Surf Cab Tours" again.

[Mary Ellen1]

I agree that you should hire a private tour guide. There's so much to see in the rainforest, and you won't appreciate what you're looking at without a guide to explain things to you.

 

Fourseventeen and & I used the same tour guide. I had a great experience and he had a terrible one. Seems this guy's services have gone WAY downhill lately, so I'd suggest you try & find another tour guide.