Bioluminescent bay or El yunque with 7 year old?

[Bossladyn]

We will have a full day after our cruise in San Juan and I am trying to decide what to do.  The Bioluminescent bay boat tour isn't operating the day we are there, and I am worried the kayak will be too difficult for my 7  yo boy to navigate (with all the other kayaks and the mangroves, etc).  I also looked and it will be 3 days before a full moon on the night we could go.  Is this difficult for a child?  Would the rain forest be better?  I've seen where a lot of it still isn't open since the hurricane, so i wasn't sure it was worth the trip.

 

We will have done Old San Juan the day before our cruise, but i didnt think there was enough to do there for 2 days.  Any thoughts?

[Stinger-pr]

If you have a full day after your cruise I'll give you an alternative that might interest your 7yo (and you as well) more than the rain forest. You should check with the Bio Bay tour operators to see if they have 2 person kayaks. That might be better for you since an adult would be controlling the kayak and to tell you the truth, I'm not really sure they let kids that young pilot one themselves anyway. The phase of the moon could lead to a bit of a disappointing trek, so you might want to take that into consideration.

 

Another option you might want to consider is a tour of the Las Cabezas de San Juan nature reserve. Check out this site: http://www.puertoricodaytrips.com/las-cabezas-de-san-juan-nature-reserve/

 

They have a daily English tour but I can't seem to reach the reservations page so you might want to give them a call. You'd have to rent a car since there's no shuttle or organized tour from the hotels to the reserve but driving in PR is fairly easy since road signage, while in Spanish, is designed to be the same as in the States and Google Maps and Waze work great in Puerto Rico. There's an awesome, calm beach just outside the reserve gates so you might want to take the opportunity to spend a few hours pre or post tour there. There's also a small restaurant just across the street as well or stop by the food kiosks at Luquillo.

[Bossladyn]

Thank you for the info.  That looks very interesting.  I will check it out  I had read you shouldn't rent  car in San Juan, but it sounds like its not bad?  Is it only bad in the city or is it over blown on how bad the drivers  are?

[2Long2NxtCrz]

On 2/17/2019 at 7:32 PM, Bossladyn said:

Thank you for the info.  That looks very interesting.  I will check it out  I had read you shouldn't rent  car in San Juan, but it sounds like its not bad?  Is it only bad in the city or is it over blown on how bad the drivers  are?

We spent 3 days in San Juan pre-cruise back in 2015 and had zero problems driving our rental around.  I didn't find the drivers as bad as those in most large US cities and nowhere like in Mexico City (even hubby will not drive there). 

[seventhwardhustler]

On 2/16/2019 at 2:54 PM, Bossladyn said:

We will have a full day after our cruise in San Juan and I am trying to decide what to do.  The Bioluminescent bay boat tour isn't operating the day we are there, and I am worried the kayak will be too difficult for my 7  yo boy to navigate (with all the other kayaks and the mangroves, etc).  I also looked and it will be 3 days before a full moon on the night we could go.  Is this difficult for a child?  Would the rain forest be better?  I've seen where a lot of it still isn't open since the hurricane, so i wasn't sure it was worth the trip.

 

We will have done Old San Juan the day before our cruise, but i didnt think there was enough to do there for 2 days.  Any thoughts?

 

i did el yunque with my daughter who was 5 at the time. it was a pretty decent hike but, when we got to the waterfall, there were SO many folks there that, due to congestion, it was going to be very time-consuming (standing in a forever line) to get down there. we glanced at it for a minute and headed back (waterfall photo is taken from a bridge). although she was ahead of me the entire time, heading back got tiring (i think i remember covered benches along the trail to stop and rest, if you need to) for her at the very end but she pressed on and slept on the bus the entire way back. if your child loves nature, the hike is a cool experience, but otherwise, if you get other recommendations, go for them.