1 Week in Puerto Rico!

Tell us what dates you are going to be in the island and what sort of life you want to live. The one thing I will tell you is that you will not learn to appreciate the island until you relax and start taking life easier.

Prior post of yours were concerned with activities for kids, so I imagine you have kids. There are many towns in PR and each has its own flavor, a lot depends on what you want to live like and if you will be working in the island or just retiring.

The more you know about what you want and let us know the more we can direct you to those areas that will fit the bill.

Read up on Fun thing to do on a budget, many activities are in different towns of the island.

If you have a car you can see most / or a significant amount of the island.   See the rain forest El Yunque national forest  and beaches in the east, then go to the west coast  and see Aguadilla and area beaches.   if time permits go south to the semi-arid region, you will enjoy the trip.

ReyP you have a good memory!  We have 2 kids (7 and 10) and they are staying with our parents while we visit.  Since we will have more time on our hands (without the kiddos) and a rental car we want to make the most of our time in PR. 
 
Are the beaches similar on the island?  We are looking to stay a night or two in different locations to maximize our time there.  I would love to hear opinions on the best beaches.  I would also like to visit Rincon. 

This is more of a time for us to explore the island vs finding a place to settle down.

see crash boat and jobos beaches in the northwest area

There are some similarities, but there are a lot of differences to. Some beaches have very fine almost powdery sand, some are a mix of stone and pieces of shells, some are just a rocky place, each is different in a way. Some are best used for surfing, waves too high, some in between, some you have dead calm waters with a ripple in the last few inches. Some are straight cut across, while others are like a half moon. Oh lets not forget that some have wave breakers a few yards away from shore and the breakers create a nice dead calm pool where a lot of people have little kids play. Last year and probably still happening a lot of beaches had a large growth of sea weed, this was carried by the waves and deposited on some of the beaches, were they would rot and stink up the place. It happens from time to time. Unfortunately there is nobody picking it up so it just sit there and stink.

I like the beaches along the Condado area, Isla Verde and Loiza which has several of those kid pools I talked about.

I also like going to Luquillo which has a very large 1/2 moon like beach and very swimmable. The Ceiba beach Los Machos (inside the old Roosevelt Road Base grounds) looked real good and looked swimmable but it had a lot of the sea weed so it stunk and we did not get in the water, it has also a lot of parking and is free to park.

While in the condado area / San Juan check out "El Escambron" beach I used to go to that beach for maybe 20 years and loved it, not sure if still open to the public, one of the hotels may be keeping people out. Nice shallow, very little waves and it gets deeper and deeper to about 30 feet, there was a fishing pier across the deep area but I think that has fallen apart, around the pier there are a lot of marine life to see so bring a mask.

The 2 days here and there is the best choice, and do take the offers to show you around that some of the people have offered you.

It totally skipped my mind, take the ferry to Both Vieques and Culebra if you have the time, those small islands (belong to PR) both have some of the best beaches in PR.

You are going to need a lot more than a week, start planning your next trip.

We visited the first time for 15days. Definitely wasn't enough time.  If you have children you definitely have to decide if you are willing to dish out the huge amount of money for private education or if you are home schooling.  95% of private schools are religion based.  We are religious and refuse to let our child get education in a religious environment.  We have found a wonderful school on the west coast semillas in aguada. On the boarder of Rincon.  The teaching style is waldolf.  Kids of every age go there and all the kids of every age love this school . I have found it to be very expensive if you don't volunteer.  We have a 6 yr old who lives with us. We have 6 older kids in the states and have volunteer in their schools. So to say the least we are burnt out on the volunteering in schools as well as all the sports etc from our other children.   You also need to decide if you want an English only school .Spanish only school or bilingual school.
So when you have children you will need to stay definitely east or definitely west.  Any where else you will have Spanish schools only.and please don't waste your time with public schools it is absolutely horrible.
Next how will you provide yourself with income here.  All these things need to be used to determine the best places
I highly recommend Rincon.  I know some who prefer the east .But I think the west is best if you have children .It's definitely slower paced then the east
Please feel free to contact me through private message if you want more information .I can also provide you with my text/ phone #
We do homeschooling and are very happy that we do

My family and I are in a similar situation. We are looking to move to a good area based on the kids school  - we have a 6 and 8 year old. I have been trying to research tuition costs for the schools in this area but have been pretty unsuccessful. We have considered homeschooling as a last resort, but I was hoping to get some information from you on the area and your experience. We will be in PR in July to look around. I would love to link up with you if possible for some information! We are planning to move next summer.

Before you can get an idea on tuition .You need to decide what part of the island and what kind of school . We aren't religious. So a religious school doesn't work for our family.  Different areas in pr have different tuition cost. Like dorados private schools are through the roof .Entrance fees are close to $4000 plus monthly cost.    You have more choices on the north west side but can be very costly as well.
We live in Rincon and we have several private schools .One is semillas in aguada on the boarder of rincon which is k-8 and they are bilingual and teaches waldolf style with no religion but that school is $6388 yr and will reduce the rate according to your volunteering
We have mom Mel's which is pre k to 2nd grade here tuition also is flexible with the time you volunteer.   We have school without walls which is a non denormable  which is about $200 a month pre k to 12 grade . Also we have a Christian school named something ( spanish word)house of  king . Off of Carr 115.  This is a new school and it's k _12 and its under $300 a month . 
Anasco is another town on the other end of Rincon and they have a school called masis which is a little bit more then $300 a month
Aguadilla has several private schools as well
So the average on this side of the island will be $200 to $400 . Not including entrance fees, books and uniforms .We currently home school and overall love it. There are several homeschooling groups on the island as well that do biweekly or monthly events
If interested on schools on this side of the island you can private message me. And I can give you my texting #

Allison04

How was the trip?
Last I heard you were heading to the island at the end of March. Tell us all about it!!!!!

Hi ReyP!
  Our trip was great!  We were able to stay in Isabella, Rincon, and Fajardo.  The beaches were amazing and we really enjoyed our time on the island.  Our biggest concern about moving to PR are the schools.  Private schools are too expensive and I feel like our only option would be to home school.  We are still considering that as an option though.

Sorry to hear finances may not work due to school cost. Not everyone can do home schooling, it is a big change.
Either way hope things get better in the future.

I really appreciate all of the advice everyone had to offer!  It was a huge help on our trip!!

If you don't care about religion being taught in schools it could cost you $200 per month per child .Some schools will do a discount for more then one child.  But we personally love the whole homeschooling life . If you need more information on schools in Rincon / aguada,/ anasco / aguadilla.  Me pm and I can give you my phone number and I can text you some links

I would urge you to contact "Acadamy without walls", which is a ministry of the Church Without Walls, here in Rincon... If they do have room, it is very competitive. You can find them on facebook, if you have not already.

Best of Luck!

If you need further assistance, on this, I can arrange contact via one of the instructors; Jack or Damaris.