La Parguera

Introducing La Parguera

La Parguera is a lazy, lovable seaside town, a somewhat disorderly magnet for vacationing Puerto Ricans and US expats who seem to spend most of the morning in bed, most of the day on the water, and most of the weekend half in the bag. During the day, the streets clear out as fishermen and divers head out to navigate the maze of mangrove canals through to open water, to land snapper and shark or dive the 40-ft wall 5 miles off shore.

When the sun goes down on the weekends and during the long summer months between Easter and September, La Parguera parties hard despite its diminutive population. The bars’ jukeboxes blast salsa and reggaeton, and the streets fill with students and travelers, who traverse the crooked, disorderly sidewalks with a wobble in their step.

At the busy waterfront, boats shuttle tourists to the amazing, glowing waters of the town’s big draw – Bahía de Fosforescente – simultaneously diminishing its glow with the pollution from their motors.

The ramshackle mix of new and old buildings has a chaotic charm, from the occasional house on stilts over the water to less quaint vacation condo developments that have sprouted on upland fields beneath a tall, steep hill.

Last updated: Jul 22, 2009