The Mission: To do a long-term workcation in Puerto Rico.
The Participants: The Mister, Me, the Little Man and our Little Dog too.
The When: From January 2021 to March 2021

This is Part Four of a five part series talking about our Puerto Rican workcation: Links to Part One, Part Two, Part Three, and Part Five. The steps we took to prepare to remote work can be found at the following post: Making Margaritas out of Limes Remote Work Checklist. Make sure to check out our Best of Puerto Rico recommendations as well!

Rincon, our home in the East
Sunday, February 21, 2021 to Sunday, February 28, 2021

Rincon is a laidback surfer town. According to the Mister, it was the first time that he really felt like he was on vacation mode. Beautiful beaches. Nice restaurant options. Lots to see and do on this side of the island.

But Rincon was where we ran into our first really big hiccup on the work part of our workcation. On that Wednesday in Rincon, we woke up to a house without electricity. Of course, it was on a day that the Mister desperately needed internet access. Looking outside the house, because it was bright out, it was impossible to tell if it was just our house or the neighborhood. Luckily our phones were still connected so we were able to do some research. I searched for a local internet cafe or hotspot and Andy searched for some information about the nature of the outage.

I was able to find a local coffee shop in downtown Rincon that looked to have internet access. So we headed there to get Andy set up. Just as we were ordering our drinks, the power went out in the cafe. The barista indicated that power typically came back pretty quickly, which to her meant that we could expect to get power back within the next 24 hours.

Eek.

That timing wasn’t going to work for us. Andy discovered a nice coverage map through the local utility that allowed us to get a better sense for the extent of the outage. Based on that map it looked like this was effecting the entire east side of the island. But driving around, we could see that the outages were intermittent as one side of the road might have been effected and the other was not.

So we decided that we would go to one of the bigger cities in the area to find a place that might be able to provide internet access. The question was whether to go north to Aguadilla or south to Mayaguez. Part of the equation was that our car was running on empty and gas stations pumps need electricity to work so we only had enough gas for one direction. To help make our decision, we did make a number of calls to various locations trying to confirm that the electricity was running and that they had internet access. Which brings us to another unique difficulties with Puerto Rico which is that businesses don’t seem to answer their phones. consistently. I even had trouble getting a hold of national chains like CVS or Walmart. While on the island, maybe 25% of my calls ever got answered. The same average applied in this scenario.

Finally, we identified that Chili’s in Aguadilla had power and internet. While we hated the idea of eating at a place that we could visit back home, we also figured going with national chain would be a safer bet with regard to dependability of Wifi. While we were correct that the Wifi was pretty good, a restaurant like Chili’s is not the best place to work especially if you need to be on calls because there is music in the background and they just aren’t set up to accommodate a business traveler. After that didn’t work out, we made the decision to book a room at the Courtyard Aguadilla. The Mister had plenty of rewards points to cover the stay and we figured it would be worthwhile to be able to have a comfortable and private room for him to work in.

Travel Hack: Power outages happen. Places that may have still have power/internet include internet cafes, co-working spaces, coffee shops, restaurants or hotels.

Now back to the cation part of our workcation… Again, we did what we could to maximize our travel day by identifying stops along the way. My initial plan was to drive along the coast and visit the Cabo Rojo National Wildlife reserve which was at the very southwest tip of the island. But we ended up doing that as a day trip from Ponce. So we decided to take the more direct PR-2 route to Ponce.

Along the way we made a few stops. The first was a last minute addition to our itinerary. The Guanica Dry Forest doesn’t get as much press as the other natural wonders of Puerto Rico. But we really enjoyed our fairly brief visit.

Travel Day: Guanica Dry Forest and Mayaguez

🐾 Dog Friendly!

Guanica Dry Forest

The Guanica State Forest is a subtropical dry forest which occurs in climates that are warm year round but have long dry seasons that last several months. When we got out of the car, I could immediately feel my mouth dry. The heat was dry one and the sun was strong. As mentioned, we didn’t plan for this hike so we didn’t have any water or hiking clothes. We slathered on the sunscreen and headed to the ranger’s station to get some advice.

Because we weren’t prepared for a hike, we weren’t interested a long or arduous hike. Although, let’s be honest, considering our level of outdoorsy-ness, we probably wouldn’t have been ready for much more of a hike than what we did regardless of how prepared we were. We had two store bought water bottles that we just happened to have in the car. It wasn’t enough and we basically drank most of it before we even started walking. The environment was so dry that even I was parched and I typically never need to drink water when hiking or doing any other type of physical activity. Luckily, the path we ended up taking was fairly shaded because it would have been tough to spend any prolonged time in the sun due to the dry and hot conditions especially without enough water.

The Ranger did not speak English, but we were able to communicate with a little help from my app. The Ranger asked what we were looking for in a hike and I requested a hike with a great view. He recommended that we take the hike to El Vigia which was about an hour’s walk from the Ranger’s station. If you look at the map, you can find the Ranger’s station and parking marked as a pentagon on the far left bottom corner of the trails that make up the red loop. That was our starting point. We took the Lluveras trail and got confused because the map shows that the Lluveras trail makes a hard left at some point before joining up with the Granados trail. When we got to the intersection of the two trails (Granados and Lluveras), we thought we just reached the first turn and ended up turning left rather than right. After walking almost the entire way back, we realized that we had made a wrong turn. At that point, I was pretty torn about whether we would go back. While the hike was very pretty and a very uniquely different ecosystem than we had seen in Puerto Rico to date, it was hot and I wasn’t sure if there would be much more to see going on the path. But I was glad that we went back because the view was pretty amazing from El Vigia.

To get to the view, you had to go left and walk down some elevation to the side of a cliff. As someone who is a bit scared of heights, I was a little leery of getting too close. I was also getting nervous about how close our Little Man was getting to the edge. But it was a breathtaking view. The only disappointment about this hike was that I would have enjoyed getting to see more of cactus that appeared to grow in this region.

Mayaguez

After getting back from the hike, we continued to drive towards Rincon. Along the way, we stopped in Mayaguez to grab some lunch. We would highly recommend Plaza Platos y Copas for a delicious Sunday brunch. A waterfront restaurant with lovely ambience and live music on the Sunday we were there. The food was amazing, including what our Little Man declared to be one of the best meals EVER. Better yet, it was 🐾dog friendly!

After brunch, we took a quick drive to Mayaguez Plaza Colon. It was a gorgeous square. One of the most notable aspects was that the each of the lanterns that lined the square appeared to be a unique sculpture representing different townspeople.

Beach Bumming Day
Steps Beach (Reserva Marina Tres Palmas), Domes Beach and Crashboat Beach

🐾 Dog Friendly!

Rincon is all about beaches. So we spent a day beach hopping.

Steps Beach

Our first stop was the Reserva Marina Tres Palmas, also known as Steps Beach for its distinctive steps to nowhere. As a marine reserve, there is apparently some very good snorkeling just off the beach. But seasons matter when it comes to the ocean and the winter in Rincon is surf season due to the massive waves in the region and not conducive to snorkeling which is better when the ocean is calmer. For snorkeling, summer is the right time to visit. So we just did a quick walk down the beach and headed to the next location.

Domes Beach

Our next stop was Domes beach, which is one of the most famous surfing spots on the island. It gets its name from the inactive nuclear power plant just next door. Apparently, this dome was commissioned in the ’60s but never put into use and now opens by appointment as a technology museum.

This is definitely the beach to come for surfing whether you want to surf yourself or simply watch. We sat for a bit enjoying the surf show and then headed to our next beach.

Crashboat Beach

The final beach of the day was Crashboat Beach. This was definitely the beach to go to if you are looking for a day at the beach. Crashboat Beach is the most developed out of the three beaches with food and drink vendors and lots of people watching. Again, there is supposed to be some nice snorkeling available around the piers, but be careful because the ocean here can be deceptively rough.

Surfing Lessons

The next day, the Little Man and I took surf lessons with Robert, one of the coaches and judges for the Puerto Rican Surfing Federation. We met him at the Rincon Lighthouse, which is close to the Domes Beach where all of the experienced surfers were catching waves. From there, I was glad that Robert directed us to Maria Beach which still had a lot of surfers, but was a beach with much more manageable waves.

We spent about 30 minutes learning the basics and then about 2 hours in the water taking turns trying to get up on the board. Our little 11 year old didn’t get up on the board but he did get to ride the waves a few time on his board. I got up, maybe once or twice. But it was a really fun time and an opportunity to try something different.

Downtown Rincon

Robert told us that we should visit downtown Rincon on Thursday night for the Rincon Art Walk. That evening, the town square has live music and an outdoor market where you can buy art, artisans goods and edible delicacies.

After visiting the vendors, we got dinner at Taqueria Vatos Locos. Good drinks, great food and a fun vibrant decor. I especially liked their Carnitas al Plato – I’m not usually a mole fan, but their guava mole is amazing.

Another Beach Day

🐾 Dog Friendly

We spent another full day exploring the beaches. This time we visited the beaches in the northeast heading first to Guajataca in Guebradillas and then making our way back.

Along the way, we happened upon an abandoned airplane art installation. It is just along the side of the road in an empty lot. There is a box for donations so visitors are welcome. You can climb into the plane at your own risk and take a look from within. The Little Man was definitely impressed.

Also along the way we passed the Cara del Indios, which is a huge rock sculpture of the Cacique (chief) Mabodamaca carved into the cliffside close to the town of Isabela.

Guajataca Tunnel Beach

Our first beach of the day was Guajataca Tunnel in Isabela. Access to the beach is through a tunnel that once supported a railroad connecting the towns of Isabela and Quebradilla. The tunnel opens to a beautiful rocky canyon along the side of the ocean and then to a forested area and finally to the beach. The beach is rocky and the waves from the Atlantic are rough, so this is not a swimming beach. And if you walk further along the beach you will find the blue bow of a wrecked sailing boat poking out sand. This is a beautiful spot with lots of scenic photo opportunities including numerous bright and vibrant murals surrounding the tunnel.

Our next beach was Jobos Beach. To get there, we drove through Isabela which gave us the chance to see the beautiful Isabela Church.

Along the way we also found this Coco Frio vendor selling fresh cold coconuts on the side of the road.

Jobos Beach

Jobos Beach was the next stop. This beach was right off the road and had a number of restaurants and bars surrounding it. It wasn’t anything super unique or distinctive about this beach as compared to the other beaches that we visited other than the Well of Jacinto, which is the first picture showing the gapping hole in the limestone cliff dropping down to the ocean below.

According to the local legend, this natural feature is named after a farmer by the name of Jacinto. It is said that Jacinto had a favorite cow that he always had tied to him while walking the rest of his herd. One day the cow walked too close to the hole and fell, dragging Jacinto along, where they both died.

The legend says that whenever someone gets close and yells “Jacinto, dame la vaca!” (Jacinto, give me the cow), a big burst of water will shoot up from the hole, angry, as it to say “you are not taking my cow.”

Shacks Beach

The next stop was Shacks Beach. This beach is very secluded and there were only a few other beach dwellers when we arrived. This area was unique because it was tucked away amongst a more residential area. As you can see on the map, you actually park in the field on the right of the turn onto the residential street that leads you to the beach.

Off this beach, there were a few windsurfers enjoying the ocean breeze. And while the waters were rough, there was an area of the ocean just off the beach that appeared to be insulated from the full power of the waves where someone was snorkeling. If I were to go back, I would make sure that we brought our snorkeling gear because I understand that this beach has some really easily accessible and interesting snorkeling right in that area.

But after all of the beaches that we saw on the east side of the island, at the end of the day, we choose to return to Crashboat Beach. There is just something about that beach that is lively, fun and worth returning to.

After an afternoon of frolicking on the Crashboat Beach, we headed home and saw the sunset as we were driving back to Rincon just as we were passing these color homes on the hillside. It was a beautiful way to end our last day on the west side of the island.

The Journey back to the North side of the Island

Our next destination was back to Vega Baja. But these attractions would also be great stops if you are heading on to San Juan as well.

Cascada Gozalandia

Our first stop was to our most favorite waterfalls on the island – Cascada Gozalandia. Looking at the pictures, I’m sure you can see why. It was just beautiful. And the owners have done a real nice job of developing this site by adding paths that lead from the parking lot to the two waterfalls in the area.

The path quickly leads you to a overlook with an amazing view of the main waterfall. The photos really do not do it justice, but it’s just so beautiful to look down at this gorgeous view. And looking down is right because you are quite high up.

From there, the path splits into three.

The center path takes you zig zagging down stairs in order to get to the base of the main waterfall.

The path to your right takes you to the second waterfall. It is a quick and easy paved walk along the water with lots of beautiful sights along the way. The waterfall is tucked into a crescent shaped ridge. And there is the rope swing that you can use to swing into the center of the pool.

The path to your left is another way to access the main waterfall. Because the center path is mostly stairs and provides the best views, I would recommend taking that path down. And then once you are ready to return, you can walk downstream and you can’t miss the path leading back up on your left.

One word of warning is that on the drive in, there is a huge incline that might be a bit difficult for your car to traverse. So you should build up some speed in order to make it up the hill.

El Pirata, La Sirena y El Barco Pirata

The next location is a bit of a hidden attraction. There isn’t much information about it and it is tucked away in the mountains. It was nice enough to see, but there just wasn’t much to it. I was expecting that there would be more to see in the area surrounding it (i.e., they created this attraction to bring people into town to spend money on the local restaurants or bars). But it was basically the hillside with the carvings and then an open field on the other side of the road. Not sure if I would recommend coming out this way especially because the driving was very challenging due to the roads narrowing to one lane at certain points, but this would be a fine option if you are in the mood for a scenic drive through the hills.