Summer travels: Puerto Rico

Before I go on another trip, I figure I would write about the last trip I did with my family and Errol to Puerto Rico. We flew Spirit Airlines (Warning: NEVER FLY THIS!), which was quite a debacle trying to make weight with our luggage. But we made it into San Juan and met up with Dad's students. Every other summer, he teachers a coral reef ecology course, and this was his third one. 

San Juan is a beautiful, history city. It still has the cobble stone streets and colorful colonial buildings. We stayed there overnight, and Errol and I joined the students with a night on the town in San Juan. 

After San Juan, it was off to La Parguera where we would spend the majority of the trip. La Parguera is the town where Dad's course is, where my parents had their first start as a married couple, and where I was conceived. It's a small town where everywhere is walkable, making it very convenient. The university is on a small island that you take a boat to, and the place has tons of iguanas! 

We stayed at Villa Parguera, which had very basic rooms but had amazing views from the pool area. My sister and I went to the pool pretty much every day.

View of the ocean from our hotel. 

It was perfect timing when we joined my Dad in Puerto Rico, because the next day was Father's Day! We had delicious seafood at La Casita.

Errol was able to go scuba diving with Dad's class at "The Wall". It's a 100-foot dive with a wall of coral. I describe it as if I did it, but I can only live vicariously through the amazing pictures and videos that Errol took.

Errol got to dive, but my sister and I were able to go snorkeling a few times! A couple of Dad's students took us around and were finding things for us like starfish and sea pearls.

The one thing I would recommend everyone to do while in Puerto Rico is swimming in the Bio Bay. It's a bay that has phosphorescent diatoms, and when you flick the water they illuminate. It's an amazing experience, like swimming in space and touch stardust. We weren't allowed to take pictures on the boat, but you can just imagine it. Again, the timing was perfect because we were able to do this during a new moon!

We also joined Dad's students to an island to spend the day snorkeling again.  Some of his students went spear fishing, and even Errol got to try! We saw sea slugs, star fish, sea cucumbers, baby fish, and even some barracuda!

Another excursion was a trip to Cabo Rojo to show Errol and once again see the majestic cliffs over the ocean. The beach is a cape that makes you feel like it's your own personal paradise.

On the final day, we went to Aguadilla, a town near the airport that Dad's students flew in/out of. One of his students' house is there, and it is truly paradise. It's on a cliff overlooking the ocean, and has beautiful landscape in the front yard as well. We were treated to a delicious last breakfast. 

Puerto Rico is a wonderful place to visit. I would allocate a minimum of a week to explore all it has to offer. The island has mountains, plains, oceans, rain forests, caves, and so much more! AND you don't even need a passport because it is a US territory. I can't wait to visit again; Errol and I are thinking of going again next summer to stay with one of Dad's old students who are getting their PhD's at the university. They live in Rincon, which is one of the places we didn't get to explore. But apparently there are turtles off the beach! Definitely on my bucket list for next time!