Beaches in PR

[alliemcb13]

We are interested in taking a taxi to a near by beach. We will be in San Juan on Oasis of the Seas. We would like a beach with bathroom facilities and a place or 2 to eat and possibly rent chairs. Does anyone have any experience or have any recommendations?

[bouhunter]

Have you been to Old San Juan before? If not I respectfully suggest you visit the forts and explore the old city. Nothing like it in any other Caribbean port and you can do beaches anywhere:p

[alliemcb13]

Thank you, but we are looking specifically for a beach. My 71 year old mother in law will be with us and she is not capable of exploring the forts in the heat.

[OCruisers]

It's somewhat difficult to do beaches there on port stops.

[pghsteelerfan]

There are beaches to enjoy in the San Juan area: two that I know of are Condado and Isla Verde.

 

 

Condado is the closest to the cruise ship piers, but I don't have any opinion and can't give a description of the Condado area since I've never been to the beaches there.

 

 

We have stayed at a hotel in Isla Verde one night, pre-cruise (twice) when sailing out of San Juan. The hotel we stayed at was right on the beach, so we spent the afternoon on Isla Verde beach both those times. The beach is nice and wide and the water was pretty calm on both of our visits. There are two sections of Isla Verde, we've been at the farther end and right by the airport, which from some reviews, is the nicer section. The other section is all hotels along the beach and probably tends to get crowded. We've never been to that section, so I don't know what the beach is like there.

 

 

As for places that offer day passes for use of loungers/pools/other amenities, I can't help you there since we were actually guests of the hotel. Hopefully someone else can answer that part of the question for you. Also, you can check to see if the cruise line you'll be sailing with will offers a beach break (???). The trip from Isla Verde to the cruise ship was 20 minutes. Hope this helps.

[bouhunter]

Yes Condado is about 10 minutes by taxi and Isla Verde 20. I'm afraid I can't offer many details either on public areas at them or day passes. I also think it might be a good idea to see what the ship is offering.

[alliemcb13]

Thank you!

[Stinger-pr]

Basically you have three options:

 

Numero Uno beach club AKA Pamela's in the Ocean Park area between Condado and San Juan

Some info here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2132396

..and here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=49777507 (taken from on of Mitsugirly's awesome reviews)

 

In Isla Verde (my suggestion for best beach) there are one or two vendors for chairs and umbrellas at the end of Tartak street. There are no "packages" and no facilities AT the beach but a few feet away, across the street there's a bar/ restaurant where you can get your food and drinks and use the restrooms while doing so. You also have some fast-food joints (BK, Wendy's, Taco Bell, Church's chicken) within easy walking distance.

 

In Condado you might want to check with the Marriott Sterallis. They usually have day passes available but you cannot pre-book them They are capacity dependent and available strictly on a first come, first served basis on the day you arrive. So if you decide this is what you want, have a Plan-B just in case.

[pdc2013]

I have done this beach break through Island Marketing too

 

You will not be disappointed:)

[2xsin12mths]

We have done Numero Uno Beach Club(Pamelas)....ALL food and drink included. They give you tickets for drinks and we can never drink as many drinks as tickets we have. It's the nicest beach we have found in San Juan....first couple times we stopped in PR we walked to forts but now we just want a beach.