Must-see attractions in Puerto Rico

  • El Yunque National Forest

    El Yunque

    El Yunque National Forest is one of Puerto Rico’s crown jewels with nearly 29,000 acres of lush, mountainous terrain scattered with waterfalls, rushing…

  • Military tank left behind on Culebra Beach.
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    Playa Flamenco

    Culebra

    Stretching for a mile around a sheltered, horseshoe-shaped bay, Playa Flamenco (Flamenco Beach) is not only one of Culebra’s best beaches, it also makes a…

  • palm trees at Playa Tortuga (Turtle Beach) on Isla Culebrita, Puerto Rico

    Isla Culebrita

    Culebra

    If you need a reason to hire a water taxi, Isla Culebrita (Culebrita Island) is it. This small island, just east of Playa Zoni, is part of the national…

  • B366R1 The sun setting over the Puerto Mosquito mangrove bay in Vieques, Puerto Rico. The bay is bioluminescent.. Image shot 2007. Exact date unknown.
Bahía Mosquito

    Bahía Mosquito

    Vieques

    Locals claim that the magnificent Bahía Mosquito (Mosquito Bay), a designated wildlife preserve located on the island of Vieques, about 2 miles east of…

  • The lighthouse at Cabezas de San Juan National Park in Fajardo, Puerto Rico; Shutterstock ID 2094186490; purchase_order: 65050; job: ; client: ; other:
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    Cabezas de San Juan Reserva Natural

    El Yunque & East Coast

    A nodule of land on Puerto Rico’s northeast tip, this Para La Naturaleza–run reserve protects the Laguna Grande bioluminescent bay, rare flora and fauna,…

  • Puerto Rico, Old San Juan, section of El Morro Fortress

    Castillo San Felipe del Morro

    San Juan

    A star of Old San Juan, brooding El Morro sits atop a headland, deterring would-be attackers. The 140ft walls (some up to 15ft thick) date to 1539 and it…

  • Castillo de San Cristobal, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
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    Castillo San Cristóbal

    San Juan

    The city's second major fort is one of the largest Spanish-built military installations in the Americas. In its prime, it covered 27 acres with a maze of…

  • Plaza del Cuartel, in front of Museo de las Americas, near Galeria Nacional/National Gallery, and Instituto de Cultura Puertorriquena

    Museo de las Américas

    San Juan

    This museum presents an impressive overview of cultural development in the Americas, including indigenous, African and European influences. Four permanent…

  • Playa Carlos Rosario

    Culebra

    This remote thin, white-sand beach has one of the best snorkeling areas in Puerto Rico thanks to a barrier reef that almost encloses the beach's waters;…

  • Balneario El Escambrón

    San Juan

    This sheltered arc's raked sand, decent surf breaks, local action and a 17th-century Spanish fort shimmering in the distance are the hallmarks of what's…

  • Culebra National Wildlife Refuge

    Culebra

    More than 20% of Culebra is part of a spectacular national wildlife refuge, which was signed into law more than 100 years ago. Most of it lies along the…

  • Worlds largest single-dish radio telescope, the Arecibo Observatory, Arecibo, Puerto Rico. (Photo by: Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

    Observatorio de Arecibo

    North Coast

    Puerto Ricans reverently refer to it as ‘El Radar’; to everyone else it is simply the largest radio telescope in the world. Resembling a spaceship…

  • SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO - JUNE 04: The entrance of the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico (Puerto Rican Museum of Art) on June 4, 2012 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Photo by Alfredo Sosa/The Christian Science Monitort

    Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico

    San Juan

    San Juan boasts one of the largest and most celebrated art museums in the Caribbean. Housed in a splendid neoclassical building that was once the city’s…

  • Playa Zoni beach on a sunny day in Culebra, Puerto Rico.

    Playa Zoni

    Culebra

    Head to the eastern end of the island and you’ll eventually run out of road at Playa Zoni. Many locals think this is a better beach than Flamenco and it's…

  • Isla Verde Beach, San Juan, Puerto Rico

    Playa Isla Verde

    San Juan

    With countless tanned bodies lounging or flexing their biceps around the volleyball net, this urban beach basks in its reputation as the Copacabana of…

  • Museo de Arte de Ponce

    Ponce

    Brush Strokes in Flight, a bold primary-colored totem by American pop artist Roy Lichtenstein, announces the smartly remodeled MAP, where an expertly…

  • Birth of the New World Statue

    North Coast

    Undeniably Puerto Rico's biggest, most bizarre attraction, the 362ft likeness of Christopher Columbus (Cristóbal Colón) navigating toward the Americas is…

  • Playa Ocean Park

    San Juan

    Protected by offshore reefs and caressed by cooling seasonal trade winds, this wide sweep of diamond-dust sand is a favorite of locals. But this…

  • Sun Bay

    Vieques

    Part of Puerto Rico's national park system, this half-moon-shaped bay, less than a half-mile east of Esperanza, is the island’s balneario (public beach),…

  • Reserva Natural Humedal Punta Tuna

    El Yunque & East Coast

    This lush wetland reserve spans 1.4 miles of coastline, just north of the Faro Punta Tuna. Interpretive trails through the mangroves and along the beach…

  • Playa Caracas

    Vieques

    Calm and clear, this beach is reached on a paved road and has gazebos with picnic tables to shade bathers from the sun; there's excellent snorkeling –…

  • Playa La Plata

    Vieques

    This secluded beach is as far east as you can go at present, spread across a mushroom-shaped bay with icing-sugar sand and a calm sea that shimmers with a…

  • Playa La Chiva

    Vieques

    A favorite with locals, this gorgeous playa at the eastern end of the main road is long and open with occasionally rough surf. It's easy to find your own…

  • Palm trees on the beach, Luquillo Beach, Puerto Rico

    Playa Luquillo

    El Yunque & East Coast

    Along with its must-visit kioskos, Luquillo is synonymous with its fabulous – and hugely popular – beach. Set on a calm, northwest-facing bay and…

  • Casa Bacardí Rum Factory

    San Juan

    The ‘Cathedral of Rum’ sits in vast grounds near the mouth of San Juan Bay. Three signature tours (45 minutes to 1½ hours) are offered throughout the week…

  • Playa Mar Chiquita

    North Coast

    An anomaly among Puerto Rican beaches, Playa Mar Chiquita isn’t alongside a main thoroughfare, has no long strand and isn’t good for swimming or surfing…

  • Iglesia de Porta Coeli

    Puerto Rico

    This small, squat building might not look like much from the outside, but it is actually one of the oldest surviving ecclesial buildings in the Americas…

  • Playa Santa

    Puerto Rico

    From the same parking space as that of Los Morrillos Lighthouse, or from another further on down the track bending left from the lighthouse-approach track…

  • Museo de Arte MUSA

    Puerto Rico

    This brilliant, bold art space is the best museum west of Ponce. Opened in 2016, it focuses on work by Puerto Rican and Latin American artists from the…

  • Playa Survival

    North Coast

    Even the surfers rarely make it to remote Playa Survival, best reached by a 45-minute walk west from Playa Shacks. The narrow strip of sand found…

  • Espacio Emergente

    San Juan

    Close to the Museo de Arte Francisco Oller, this modern museum features thought-provoking work from emerging artists in Puerto Rico and beyond, including,…

  • Aerial view of the coastline of Vieques National Wildlife Refuge on Viques, an island in Puerto Rico.

    Vieques National Wildlife Refuge

    Vieques

    Lying within these protected confines are the best reasons to visit Vieques. This 18,000-acre refuge occupies the land formerly used by the US military…

  • Lion Fountain in Plaza Las Delicias, the main square in Ponce, Puerto Rico.

    Plaza Las Delicias

    Ponce

    Within this elegant square you’ll discover Ponce's heart as well as two of the city’s landmark buildings, Parque de Bombas and Catedral Nuestra Señora…

  • Museo de las Americas and plaza, San Juan

    Cuartel de Ballajá

    San Juan

    Built in 1854 as a military barracks, the cuartel is an impressive three-story edifice with large gates on two ends, a series of arches and a large…

  • Playa Brava

    Culebra

    It's beauty lies in its isolation; with no road you have to hike about 30 minutes along a little-used trail that is often overgrown with sea grape and low…

  • Catedral de San Germán de Auxerre

    Puerto Rico

    San Germán’s cathedral, at the top (west) end of town is named for the town’s patron saint and is noticeably grander than the diminutive Iglesia de Porta…

  • Parque de las Ciencias Luis A Ferré

    San Juan

    A veritable smorgasbord of family-friendly museums and exhibits plus a minizoo are housed in the expansive Parque de las Ciencias. Kids learn about…

  • Punta Soldado

    Culebra

    On the southwestern tip of the island, Punta Soldado has a rocky beach perfect for exploring. The water is calm and clear and filled with healthy coral,…