These photos are just a small representation of what Puerto Rico has to offer. From the food to the landscapes to the sunsets and hidden beaches, Puerto Rico is an extraordinary place to visit!
After spending a full year back in the United States, after a lengthy 3.5 years of non-stop travel, I was really itching to get out of dodge for a while. It had been tough transitioning back into America, and since New York was becoming increasingly colder in the month of December, I couldn’t help but crave the warm sun and the hot sand of some tropical beaches.
On a whim, I bought a ticket to San Juan, Puerto Rico (who knew they were so cheap?), and before long, I had exactly what I was looking for. With my trusty camera in hand, I set out to photograph the best that Puerto Rico has to offer. These are my twenty best photos of Puerto Rico.
Food photo is still my favorite! 🙂
We stayed at Posada San Francisco on OSJ as well! The location was phenomenal and we got to watch an easter show going on in the plaza below. And in Vieques our B&B was kind of behind where you took the picture of of the old boat. Brings back awesome memories! Ah, I could really go for some mofongo now…
Haha sounds like we stayed in some similar places! I’d kill for a mofongo con camarones right now! 😉
En Puerto Rico es habichuelas, no es frijoles. Frijoles es Mexican!!! Por favor educate en la diferencias.
Loved it! and loved all the descriptions. Glad you enjoyed your stay in my paradise. 😀
I loved it, and Culebra is so beautiful!
Beautiful pictures! I now feel like going to Puerto Rico. My best photo would be Windows in Ponce, so stunning!
Thank you, Agness! I love that one too!
Cool photos Jeremy!!! Really nice!
Unas fotografías hermosas de mi Puerto Rico! Gracias!
You’re right, they are 20 killer photos of Puerto Rico. My favorite photo is of the Fresh Mahi Mahi, Arroz con Frijoles y Café Helado.
And it was so good, too!
Great photos, makes me miss my time in PR. I loved Old San Juan, I could sit there for hours just taking photos of all the interesting architecture and beautiful ocean views, I miss it a lot, I should go back soon
You should! 🙂
We haven’t been to Puerto Rico yet. This definitely makes me want to go. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Deb! I hope you can make it there soon! It’s really not so far from Canada, you know 😉
Beautiful photos! I especially love the sunset and the cloudy sky (I have a real weakness for clouds!). Mission accomplished, you’ve made me want to travel to Puerto Rico!
I hope you make it there soon! It’s beautiful!
Wow, some great photos. The green iguana cool looking.
Spanky’s parents are from Puerto Rico but has never been (although we’ve been to the Dominican Republic a bunch of times). Looks beautiful and we’ll have to make it some time.
Frank (bbqboy)
Oh, you must go, then! I took so many photos of that iguana! He was a great model.
The windows in Ponce look stunning, and as for that iguana – it’s amazing!
Suze | LuxuryColumnist
Really gorgeous shots! Those food pics brought back nice memories. I lived in Hell’s Kitchen for a few years and loved the Puerto Rican joints. Isn’t great how important food is to the culture?
Where is your favorite Puerto Rican joint? I’m in NYC now and will try to make it there before I go!
los pinas in Gavate Cayey best la chon in the island
That palm tree on Culebra just does it for me Jeremy! So beautiful and yep it’s paradise indeed. Reminds me of snapshots I took in Savusavu, Fiji. We lived across the street from the bay and I had so many opportunities to photograph the combo of palms, sand, blue skies, mountains and crystal clear, pristine water. Thanks for the trip to paradise!
Ryan
Oh wow! I haven’t been to Fiji, but it sounds like I need to go! I’ve heard incredible things about Savusavu.
Congrats to you and Kelli! Hope you have an amazing honeymoon!
Great pictures Jeremy! After living in PR for 6 years, it’s still one of my favorite places to relax in the world. Just FYI, there’s no such thing as a Puerto Rican Iguana hehe ^_^ They’re called Green Iguanas and they’re exotic species brought in from Central America as pets that have since over bred and are now pests on the island. Not fun…
It looks as if you had the place to yourself! These are just delicious.
Actually there are puertorican iguanas. My grandmother was 95 when she passed away. She was from Ponce and she told us that there has always been iguanas in Puerto Rico, so yes there are puertorican iguanas. She died 15 years ago, when in my teens I went to PR and saw them everywhere. I am 72 now, so I beg to disagree with you, there are puertorican iguanas!
Sigh…missed all that when I was there. Instead I was stuck in the mountains with family. And the goddamn roosters.
OH I remember the roosters…those damn roosters…
The sunsets and the beaches would lure us back to Puerto Rico (and strolling about Old San Juan). But we don’t envy you trekking to that “secret” beach and getting bitten by mosquitoes :-).
It was all worth it! I promise 😉
Just take mosquito repellent.
Hi, Jeremy, this post is amazing, love the pictures of Puerto Rico, I felt in love in them. Congrats mate!
Greetings from Spain
Was the café that you went to in Ponce called Café Café? I believe I recognize the table. My friends and I were there in 2012 and I took a picture of them and their coffees at the table we were sitting at, I believe that one. That place was amazing! The food was delicious, the service was great, the atmosphere was lovely, and the coffee was the bomb. 🙂
Thanks for this post. We’re leaving for Puerto Rico tomorrow. We’ve been there twice now, but this time, we’re going back to Culebra and staying there the entire time for a relaxing beach/snorkeling trip. We’re staying at the Villas on Flamenco beach. I’m very much looking forward to it. Did you get any night time shots on Culebra or Vieques by chance? I’ve seen some amazing pictures online of the Milky Way from Flamenco beach. I intend on attempting some nighttime photography while I’m there. Wish me luck 🙂
Sorry I’m getting back to you so late, but YES, that’s the one! So funny that you recognize it. I hope you had a great trip. Did you get some nice shots?
Has anyone been to Luquillo beach northwest of SanJuan? It’s beautiful as well as El Dorado beach northeast if SanJuan. Beautiful beaches both. Another one is in the South Mar Negro. Awesome sights.
Loving these, especially the beach shots!
A fantastic set of photos and a nice blast of colour after a NYC winter.
Puerto Ricans do not call beans Frijoles. Do not. They call their beans, Abichuelas. Latinos call them frijoles. Puerto Ricans are Hispanics from the Caribbean. frijoles are a foreign terminology to them. please . it’s a geographical thing. try to get it right.
Puerto Ricans are NOT Hispanics. Puerto Ricans are Latinos from the Caribbean. The word Hispanic was introduced and named by the US Gov’t in 1970 for their Census. So many Spanish speaking people from South America and other areas of Europe were coming into the States that the Gov’t needed a name to place them in a culture/origin group. So, commonly Eastern use Hispanic while Western use Latino. Spanish speaking people from the Caribbean have so much Culture that trying to place their origin/race in a group is Priceless! One Love-Peace-Happiness!
+++GOOD JOB+++
Eileen, is habichuelas with an H.
Mexicans call them frijoles, Latinos call them habichuelas. You have it backwards!
En Puerto Rico es habichuelas, no es frijoles. Frijoles es Mexican!!! Por favor educate en la diferencias.
I saw your Photos on Instagram and I like your Blog. I like the Photos ans the way you write. It seems, that you celebrate a great life.
Best regards from Cologne
Joana
Thanks, Joana! I try to 🙂
Beautiful Pics of my Mother Land PUERTO RICO!!!! Did you hear the nighttime sounds of the Coqui (frog)? Priceless! 🙂
I absolutely loved strolling by Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery and Castillo San Felipe del Morro during my brief visit to Puerto Rico years ago. However, I was unaware of La Perla’s existence at the time. How did you manage to get so close to take a photo? Are there walking tours available similar to the Favela tours of Rio de Janerio?
It’s beautiful, eh? La Perla is a small community that is technically open for anyone to walk into, though I probably wouldn’t recommend it. As I’m sure you can imagine, it’s highly protected by the locals. The last thing they want there is tourists. But you can look down onto La Perla from the coastal walk above it.
I miss home…
Hola,
Love, love the photos. I am going back after 15 years this spring, this time with a group of teens from the school where I teach.. My family is from this beautiful enchanted island. I have been there only a few times but loved every minute there.
Will you suggest some great places that both kids and teachers of different ages would love to experience? And if you could also share other places to stay, and to eat; it will be greatly appreciated.
I won’t have time to visit my family and eat their great food, which was a great part of my wonderful memory of my vacations to my Isla del Encanto. I also plan to take some great photos, hopefully as nice as yours, since I would like to paint them.
I am an artist which is another reason I had to respond to your beautiful photos. Thank you so much!!!!
To Eileen: thank you for the clarification to picture #7. Just a small grammar correction if I may, Habichuelas” with letter H will be best.
At Jeremy: Thank you for the lovely pictures. Great feeling seeing your home through others eyes, just one thing love, no pictures from the Central Mountains? You just got to go back and enjoy our rainforest! You’ll love it! There are more to Puerto Rico than its lovely beaches,trust me; and while you are at it, enjoy some “lechon asado” if you can.
Puerto Rico is absolutely amazing! I am fairly well traveled and PR exceeded expectations. Thank you for this! Like you said, the food, scenery and options make it great. However, I love to mention the people as well because they are so warm and welcoming. My husband put it aptly, “Hawaii always professes the spirit of Aloha but in PR, they truly have it.”
The “spirit of ALOHA” is an ancient cultural teaching that the Hawaiians past down from generation to generation and is distinctly unique to them. It goes much deeper than being friendly or kind. Understand before insulting.
WELL, ONE THING FIRST, YES THERE ARE IGUANAS NATIVES OF PUERTO RICO, AS WELL AS IGUANAS INTRODUCED BY PEOPLE AS PETS, BUT DEFINITELY, WE GOT IGUANAS THERE, AND YES THE CAN REACH OVER SIX FEET LONG!!!!
NOW JEREMY, I DO ENCOURAGE YOU TO GO BACK. THIS TIME TRY NOT TO BE A TOURIST, FEEL AS IF YOU WERE ONE PUERTO RICAN IN HIS OWN TERRITORY AND EXPLORE THE WHOLE ISLAND, AND I MEAN THE WHOLE ISLAND, WHICH IT IS ROUGHLY 100 MILES BY 35 MILES (NOT EXACT MEASUREMENTS, BUT THE BEST WAY WE LIKE IT). THIS TIME GO FROM NORTH TO SOUTH, FROM EAST TO WEST, AND DO NOT FORGET THE CENTER. YOU LEFT EL YUNQUE, A BEAUTIFUL PINTORESTIC NATURAL SITE, ACTUALLY, ONE OF THE FEW RAINFOREST LEFT IN THE PLANET AND THE BARRIER THAT KEEPS THE ISLAND SAVE WHEN HURRACAINES COMES!!!! ALSO, THE GREAT CITY OF MAYAGUEZ, KNOW AS THE PLACE WHERE COLOMBUS ENTER WHEN HE INVADED THE ISLAND, ALSO THE WEST COAST OF THE ISLAND WHERE THE ATLANTIC OCEAN AND THE CARIBBEAN SEA MEETS, NEVER THE LESS, IT IS ALSO ONE OF THE ANGLES OF THE BERMUDAS TRIANGLE!!!!! SO MUCH TO SEE AND SO MUCH TO LEARN ABOUT MY LITTLE GIANT PIECE OF HEAVEN!!!!! LOVE AND DIE FOR PUERTO RICO!!!!!!