Do not drive a car in Puerto Rico !
Worse than Asia srsly.

>>2655633
Skill issue

>>2655622
Its pretty safe desu, a lot of the crime is drug related and staying away from ghettoes (caserios) is the way to avoid like 90% of the crime. Learning to avoid hotspots is another good one (old san juan for instance is super safe unless you go to La Perla up north).

In terms of what to visit and do, when do you arrive and for how long will you be there? As a localfag I can give you a lot of recommendations. I'm at lunch but once I get home from work in a few hours I have a full copypasta I wrote up that I can put itt for you. If you already have a booking lmk so I can tell you how badly you fucked up or how well you did. Nightlife tends to run on a schedule, so day of arrival matters a bit regarding where you should go and what you should do
>>2655633
No one uses turn signals and everyone will cut through 4 lanes of traffic just to get to an exit on the highway, but its really not so bad. Drive assuming that you'll be cut off if you have exactly 1 car length between you and the car in front, and if you see an exit prepare for some dude to cut through every lane at the last second. There, you mastered driving in PR. Oh, and no one will be nice and just let you come in, you either force yourself in or you will wait forever for a break to swap lanes.

>>2656246
I will stay for a good week. Around late May to early June

>>2656331
I was a bit busy last night and couldnt post, but for a 1 week visit id recommend the very standard downtown weekend + beach bum weekdays. Its a nice sampler of nightlife, tourism and just enjoying the water and nature. What day of the week do you land in PR and what day of the week do you fly out? Nightlife runs on a schedule so that really determines how you should structure your stay. La Placita, for instance, is jam packed in Fridays but pretty dead thursday and Saturday. Old San Juan will likewise be pretty dead Thursday and Friday but impossible to park at on Saturday night. You want to structure your stay so that you land on a friday afternoon and immediately go out that night and fly out on Sunday the following week (9 day stay).

For beach bumming, St Regis or Rio Mar resorts in Rio Grande, El Conquistador in Fajardo, or get an airbnb in Palmas del Mar in Humacao. All are close enough that you can go to the rainforest and the fajardo bio bay kayak tour, catamaran tour from Fajardo, and/or just chill with endless booze and seawater. I'll give a more detailed recommended itinerary tonight, but it helps to know your exact arrival and departure dates just because of how nightlife runs. Its weird but thats just how it goes. If you want to avoid the crowds, you swap to off days instead.

>>2656842
Yeah man that sounds like exactly what I wanted to do. I just want to relax and enjoy some time in Puerto Rico. It looks beautiful with beautiful people. Very excited for my trip. Just want to try new food and drinks and enjoy new things

>>2656878
The typical spots you'll want to do are old san juan (vsj), condado, la placita en santurce (but nowhere else in santurce proper) and in miramar the closest you can get to the bridge from miramar to vsj the safer it is. For miramar you typically want to Av. de la Constitucion until the miramar food truck lot and calle cerra. Lote 23 is another stop near santurce that is fine, foodtruck area with a stage and a few beer serving trucks so nice spot for food and drinks. If you stay in old san juan you'll need to drive or uber out to ocean park beach to swim or at el escambron (has 2 beach access areas, the point behind the sixto escobar stadium is the better spot). Calle Loíza in Condado is getting gentrified but some crime exists there so there is a bit higher risk but not necessarily super bad (great restaurant scene and a few amazing bars there though).

The Yunque rainforest is a typical stop, though you have to book in advance now because coof policies. Go in a swimsuit, you can take a dip at the waterfall at the end of la mina trail or by one of the smaller 5 minute trails near the entrance (past the giant waterfall behind a bridge). Despite there being spots like club 77 gaining serious life on thursday nights, avoid the Uni of PR rio piedras area like the plague, massive high crime area. Isla Verde is another typical stop as its close to the airport, beachfront and full of hotels, but it's mixed on crime as there is no urban planning here. They went full "class doesn't exist" and set up tons of ghettoes (residenciales/caserios) which are very dangerous next to higher end apartments. If you're outside of the major spots I've mentioned before, keep a lookout at night, otherwise you'll be fine. You don't really need to ever worry for your safety in old san juan or condado, but move deep into santurce and suddenly you'll want to really keep a look out.

>>2656968
You should plan your vacation around length of stay and day of the week you fly in. PR runs on a schedule to help flood places. Thursday's Club Brava and Rio Piedras get stacked. Rio Piedras is mostly college kids from the UPR, Club Brava is a bit of a mixed crowd and there is a dress code + entry fee. Condado is a nice spot for the daytime with an end partying at Calle Loiza or moving down to Placita en Santurce on Friday nights. Saturday nights are Old San Juan hands down and you will want to be here early. It's a good idea to do a day tour and then wait until nighttime already parked, some nights its so busy that cops will essentially shut off entry and tell you to park outside and walk in (though its rare) and parking outside of an actual ticketed parking lot is likely going to land you a fine. Streets are very thin in VSJ and residents get exclusivity for street parking almost everywhere in VSJ.

Planning is important because this lets you actually be social and relax. Thurs-Sat in the metro area with Sun-Wed beach bumming it up works best. You can do a condado airbnb for ease of stay then uber or drive to the rest as they'll all be close. For beach resorts, airbnb or rooms at the Palmas del Mar/Wyndham Candelero Beach will be cheap and its a very nice and safe area (rich people central). Wyndham Rio Mar is pricier and has a nicer beach but the overall quality of person around you drops. For high rollers hit the St. Regis and if you want to roll with Jeff Bezos then stay at the Dorado Beach Ritz Carlton Reserve (6 star hotel, RIP wallet when I spent $3k for a night).

>>2656973
>bars
I'll do a split by area.
VSJ:
>Casa de Montecristo (Cigar Lounge and top tier cocktail bar, they do jazz nights on thursday too)
>La Factoria (top 50 bars in the caribbean, has multiple hidden rooms behind the saloon doors next to the bar)
>Taverna Lupulo (Beer hall with outdoor patio past the bar, smoking allowed in patio)
> El Batey (smoking allowed, pool table, not bad but not great though it's got good vibes and is popular with locals)
>La Verguenza (Dive bar on the very top of VSJ, great views to the ocean and 3 floors with balconies)
>La Grieta is a great mezcal bar if you want to get into rare agaves (not espadin).
Condado/Calle Loiza/La Placita en Santurce:
>Jungle Bird (Placita)
>La Penultima (Placita)
>El Bar Bero (Loiza)
>El Tap (Loiza)
>VC Lounge at Vanderbilt Hotel (Condado and Pricey)
Miramar:
>Bar la Unidad
>El Carey
>Machete

Restaurants:
VSJ: Honestly, use yelp because there's too many good spots to recommend. However I'll give you the true hole in the wall that is NYC dining tier
>La Lanterna (You will need a walk in reservation for 2 or less at like 5pm for dinner or you'll need to book a week or two in advance)
>Get a tripleta sandwich at a food truck when its late night after drinking, trust me
Condado:
>La Bodeguita de Manolo
>Cayo Caribe (Seafood Mofongo top tier)
>Wicked Lily (Beachfront seafood or skirt steak [churrasco])
Calle Loiza:
>Molini's (PR food)
>Pinky's (Sandwiches with amazing vinaigrette sauce)
>La Preña (Filled Arepas, basically street food but high quality)
Miramar:
>El Axolote
>MUSA
La Placita:
>Santaella
>Tasca el Pescador
>Delavida
>La Alcapurria Quema ("street food" at a restaurant)
>Walk to Lote 23 for food trucks

>>2656974
One final stop at la placita I'll recommend is La Picara by Chef Xiomi, everything is delicious there. Out of the way in the mountains you should go to a Lechoneria, small restaurants doing spit roasted pork and local dishes for pretty decent prices.

Stops:
>Casino del Mar in La Concha hotel in Condado is the best casino on the island. Cheap minimums of $5 for table games makes it easy for anyone to play cheaply for fun and for a long time
>Casa de Montecristo is seriously good, I recommend it twice even if you don't smoke since the bar itself is just that nice and the interior is high end kino
>Dry Forest of Guanica hike
>Yunque Rainforest
>Las Pailas (Natural water slides on massive rocks) near el Yunque
>Cliff Diving in Las Tinajas
>Surfing in Rincon
>Arecibo Observatory is kill so don't even think about it
>Mar Chiquita (beach) and the Pozas between Manatí and Arecibo
>Cueva Ventana hike in Arecibo
Day Trips:
>Ferry/Catamaran to Icacos
>Ferry/Catamaran to Palominito
>Ferry/Catamaran to Caja de Muertos (Perk is that it's Caribbean Sea, not Atlantic Ocean so smoother and clearer water)
>If you're staying in Palmas, you can drive to Mar Medio Mundo in Ceiba but not much to really see/do, it will be super empty though so practically only you on the beach
Overnights:
>Parguera for the bioluminescent bay, call the tour company ahead of time and ask if they let you swim in the bay. Kayak Tour in Fajardo is an alternative but you cannot swim there so not as cool, but its a lot less out of the way
>Flamenco Beach in Culebra
>Mosquito Bay (Bioluminescent) in Vieques

Holy shit dude, thanks. This is perfect. I originally planned to show up and just walk around and shit and discover stuff. I really appreciate all of the recommendations. God bless you and your family

>>2655633
I was in PR about 8 years ago for a business trip. Driving was no problem. Got lost once and went into a somewhat dicey looking barrio in San Juan but was able to find my way out.

>>2657412
This is literally what the board should be for, so I'm never upset at tossing out recommendations like this. You should actually plan your day and stops accordingly. Personally, I love doing a weekend > Palmas del Mar trip. Stop at a costco or grocery store, load up on bbq food and stay for Sun-Wed night, leave Thursday morning for the rainforest tour and bio bay kayak tour, return to a metro area airbnb or hotel to party it up for another weekend.

The places in Palmas are pretty solid, especially if you can get stuff like these:
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/47390968?adults=1&children=0&enable_m3_private_room=true&infants=0&pets=0&check_in=2024-06-03&check_out=2024-06-08&source_impression_id=p3_1715304460_4zRHAwkb0q8wtip2&previous_page_section_name=1000&federated_search_id=29fccbe2-f42c-4ea8-aa70-20e873ed16da

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/40305931?adults=1&children=0&enable_m3_private_room=true&infants=0&pets=0&check_in=2024-06-01&check_out=2024-06-06&source_impression_id=p3_1715304988_1OneTvsALp2XKn8j&previous_page_section_name=1000&federated_search_id=25fdfed7-41c4-4504-abea-4b86eb3da0ff

There's a few spots in Palmas itself for food like Pescaderia and Chez Daniels that are kino, but nightlife here is dead, it truly is just drinking, eating and swimming all day in a luxury spot from sunrise to sunset. You pay for privacy and higher end people more than anything else.