Puerto Rico
Eight rainy, beautiful days on a mountaintop finca in the Puerto Rican clouds — waterfalls, empanadas every day, and winding one-lane roads with no guardrails. Here’s the week in Laura’s words.
✅ another off the list. Stephen Baughn and I had coffee every morning in our hammocks in the clouds. I loved the smells and the sound of the birds. We played bingo in the morning and uno at night. It rained a lot but we made the best of it. Saw lots of waterfalls and beaches. Olivia made us fresh bouquets with the flowers around the house. Evan ate empanadas everyday. We never had a bad meal. Lots of places that only spoke Spanish so we did a lot of pointing because apparently my kids haven’t learned anything in Spanish class 🙄 People were good to us. Once we made a wrong turn and ended up somewhere we shouldn’t have been and even then someone was kind enough to have us follow them to get us out. I swear we were always riding on winding one lane roads that somehow fit two cars with no guardrails. I LOVE watching my kids play outside. 🇵🇷 you were good to us.
🌤️ Weather we had: Highs around 76°F, lows around 65°F, with 7 rainy days (3.0” total) — “it rained a lot but we made the best of it.”
🛏️ Where we stayed
Finca La Sierra — “A Hidden Gem” (Orocovis, in the central mountains). A working finca up in the clouds, hosted by Tito — the spot for “coffee every morning in our hammocks in the clouds.” We flew JetBlue from Orlando into San Juan and drove the winding one-lane mountain roads from there.
🥾 Trails we hiked
- Juan Diego Falls (El Yunque · recorded 1 mi, 207 ft gain, 59m) — a lush rainforest scramble to a hidden cascade off the main road.
🍽️ Eats & places
From our Google Maps Puerto Rico lists — the west coast (Cabo Rojo / Rincón) and the rainforest.
- Únicos Coffee, Río Grande — “excellent customer service. Very polite and talented. Coffee is excellent!”
- VenPaca & Salao Tapas & Bar — the standout sit-down meals (“we never had a bad meal”).
- Empanadillas Cherena, El Punto Empanadillas & El Fogón de la 31 — the empanada stops (“Evan ate empanadas everyday”).
- Cialeños Pizza & Pub and Kelly’s Coffee & Wine Bar — casual pizza + coffee/wine.
- El Grifo — the vegan spot in the mix.
- Mirador de El Gato — clifftop lookout café with the coastal view.
Beaches & nature
- Playa El Combate, Playa Sucia & Peña Blanca (Cabo Rojo) — the turquoise west-coast beaches near the Los Morrillos lighthouse.
- Reserva Marina Tres Palmas (Rincón) — the snorkeling/surf marine reserve.
🏞️ National parks & monuments
NPS sites in and around this trip:
- El Yunque National Forest — the only tropical rainforest in the U.S. forest system.
- San Juan National Historic Site — the old Spanish forts of Old San Juan.
📷 More from our camera roll
🛰️ Our recorded GPS tracks
The actual routes we walked, recorded on AllTrails.