Is puerto rico in the caribbean: The Island of Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico – The Heart and Soul of the Caribbean

Skip to content

• View Larger Image

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Puerto Rico is a Caribbean Island measuring 100 miles long by 35 miles wide and contains incredible geographic diversity, ranging from glistening white sandy beaches, lush mountain ranges, tropical rain forests, and luscious green parks. You can cross the Island in a couple of hours.

Some of the popular locations in Puerto Rico include San Juan, Vieques, Culebra, or Carolina Beach.

The Island has 78 municipalities in six regions. Each region has a unique identity through the local cuisine, diverse cultural activities, tourist attractions, adventure tours, and other unique attributes. Traveling around the Island, you will discover delicious food, beautiful off-the-beaten-path beaches, exciting festivals, and more.

With the Atlantic Ocean on the Northern Coast and the Caribbean Sea on the Southern Coast, there is no shortage of stunning locations which can be used as an event backdrop. Whether you host a beach party, a formal dinner, or a casual reception, your attendees will enjoy ocean breezes, incredible sunsets, and turquoise waters.

Climate and Seasons in Puerto Rico

Fear of hurricanes shouldn’t make you reluctant to visit Puerto Rico since highly destructive storms are not common. You should at least be aware that some risk exists if you’re thinking about having a meeting in Puerto Rico in late summer or early fall.

More to Learn and Explore

Some of the things that make Puerto Rico a favorite destination are the ancient history, rich culture, beautiful colonial architecture, perfect weather, fun attractions, delicious food, and warm people.

Golf On the Island

Puerto Rico has 30 golf courses, which include some of the world’s most prestigious golf tournaments. Known among golfers as the “golf capital” of the Caribbean, the year-round warm weather makes the golf season 365 days of tee time.

Outdoor Activities

If you want to experience the outdoors, you’ll find plenty to do in Puerto Rico. There is fun in the sun with fishing, swimming, surfing, scuba diving, sailing, running, hiking, rappelling, canyoning, caving, cliff diving, zip-lining, and hang gliding.

Museums

There is a variety of art waiting to be enjoyed as you move throughout the Island. The art ranges from murals to art galleries. There are history museums where visitors can learn about the 500-year history of the Island.

Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico in San Juan

Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico in San Juan

History Museums – The 500-year history of Puerto Rico blends the different cultures, art styles, military strategy, pirates, sugar plantations, and more to make the Island a perfect getaway for history lovers. Museums across the Island bring to life a variety of historical events.

Places to See

Old San Juan – Spanning 500 years of history, Old San Juan is treasured as one of the most iconic places in Puerto Rico. You can wander the cobblestone streets, enjoy the unique architecture and colorful streets, and find unique local shops and lively restaurants and bars scattered throughout the old city.

El Yunque Rainforest – Located in the Río Grande, the El Yunque Rainforest is the one tropical rainforest part of the U.S. National Forest System. It is home to more than 240 species of trees, unique birds, native species, and gorgeous views. The rainforest spans 28,000 acres of land and includes 25 waterfalls, several rivers, and ancient petroglyphs of Taíno deities.

Piñones – The Afro-Caribbean coastal neighborhood of Piñones is within minutes from San Juan and the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU). It is full of delicious authentic street food. You can also buy cold coconut water, drink it from the coconut itself, or try the crabmeat alcapurrias and bacalaítos (codfish fritters). The weekend is jam-packed if you want to find a bustling local scene. You can swim before you eat, be sure to bring your swimsuit, and dive in at a nearby beach.

Unique Activities

Rum Tasting – As the Rum Capital of the World, Puerto Rico has legendary distilleries. After a busy day, you can take a tasting and tour of Casa BACARDÍ, the world’s largest premium rum distillery. You’ll see how they make the famous spirit. The Castillo Serrallés mansion is a popular spot for parties and networking events. Attendees can admire Spanish revivalist architecture, lush gardens, and lavish guest rooms and enjoy a glass of Don Q Rum in hand. Don Juan Serrallés first brewed the rum in 1865, and its profits helped build the luxurious mansion.

Coffee Tours – Since the 1700s, coffee has been part of Puerto Rico’s culture. The volcanic soil combined with the high altitude brings out the best of the coffee bean, which results in a rich chocolate brew that pairs perfectly with local sweets. It’s easy to arrange a group excursion to a locally run plantation. As you tour the wooden buildings where the coffee beans are stored and roasted, you’ll feel like you’ve gone back to the 1800s, when coffee was one of the Island’s top exports.

Salsa Lessons – A visit to Puerto Rico is not complete without at least one night of salsa dancing. Host a teambuilding dance lesson from the Island’s most talented instructors. After learning how to master the dance’s signature forward-backward step, the attendees can strut their stuff as a live band plays classic hits

Reggaeton Rhythms – Reggaetón, a music style that combines the best of rap, reggae, and hip-hop, was born in Puerto Rico in the early 1990s.  The music spread from the dance halls of San Juan to the radio stations around the world and is still played all over the Island.

Why Is Puerto Rico Appealing for a Meeting?

Puerto Rico’s international airport, Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport (SJU), offers an average of 110 daily flights, including direct service to major cities throughout the U.S. and abroad. Since Puerto Rico is an American Territory, there is no passport required for U.S. citizens. English is used throughout the Island, and the dollar is the Island’s currency.

The Puerto Rico Convention Center in San Juan has over 600,000 square feet of meeting space options. It is in the heart of San Juan’s blossoming Convention District, which is also home to many hotels, restaurants, a casino, and other entertainment options. Spaces are abundant for groups of all sizes, along with high-speed T1 Broadband and top-of-the-line audio-visual capabilities.

If less conventional is your idea for a meeting location, there are several unique options, such as the historic forts of San Cristobal and El Morro, Casa Bacardí (the world’s largest premium rum distillery), Antiguo Casino, and Vivo Beach Club.

Some things to consider when planning your meeting in Puerto Rico:

What is the objective? Some examples:

• Many company retreats are designed to improve productivity and to “refocus” the efforts of their employees. Puerto Rico provides an ideal destination to break away from the confines of an office and allow employees to socialize with people beyond their department and relax. This can be very helpful for meetings where fresh ideas, new perspectives, or/and networking is essential for high-priority initiatives.
• Executive retreats are also popular in Puerto Rico as this destination offers exclusive luxury where leaders can recharge as well as connect with each other.
• Incentive travel combined with meetings can be valuable for companies, key stakeholders, and top performers.  Puerto Rico provides unique, memorable experiences and an outstanding destination for exchanging information that improves growth, solves problems and engages change-makers.

Puerto Rico offers stunning beauty, unique venues, exciting music, and memorable cuisines. It also provides plenty of opportunities to inspire innovation, networking, and communication outside of office environments.

Do you need help planning a corporate meeting or incentive travel reward to Puerto Rico? Contact Gavel International for more information.

• Author
• Recent Posts

Eloisa Mendez

With over 25 years of experience in the meetings and event industry, Eloisa has worked closely with a variety of clients on events ranging from small incentive trips to large corporate meetings. While growing her career at Gavel International, Eloisa has managed all aspects of the event lifecycle, including site selection, creative materials, attendee registration, rooming list and transportation management, entertainment bookings, as well as website development. Eloisa was progressively promoted in recognition of her meeting management expertise, professionalism, and genuine passion for driving improvements within overall event operations. She was recognized as the 2000 Employee of the Year and is currently the General Manager for Gavel International.

Latest posts by Eloisa Mendez (see all)

Search for:

Topics

• *TIME SENSITIVE (4)
• DESTINATIONS (127)
• EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT (11)
• FOR MEETING PLANNERS (6)
• GAVEL UPDATES (12)
• LEADERS & TEAMS (15)
• MARKETING & SALES (9)
• MEETINGS & EVENTS (1)
• TECHNOLOGY (9)
• Uncategorized (222)

Recent Articles

• Meetings in Chicago-The Windy City
• The Top 5 Trends Happening in Meeting Planning
• 2022 Marks the 75th Anniversary of Toys for Tots Program
• Making Meetings More Productive with Brainstorming
• ‘Tis the Season of Giving: St. Joseph’s Food Pantry

Page load link

Go to Top

Puerto Rico: The Gibraltar of the Caribbean and Launchpad for Empire

The archipelago of Puerto Rico is the oldest continuous colony in the world.

Ever since Columbus set foot on what’s believed to have been the northwest coastline of Borikén in November 1493, Puerto Rico has belonged to some colonial power. The Spanish called the archipelago “la llave de las Antillas,” the key to the Antilles, because of its geostrategic location. Spain set up “Fort” Puerto Rico as their first line of defense to protect their vast American dominions and fend off European competitors with the construction of two massive forts at Castillo San Felipe del Morro and Castillo San Cristobal. They also used the island as a commercial pit stop for galleons before crossing the Atlantic with their loot.

Puerto Rico transferred hands from Spain to Britain back to Spain, and since 1898, the island has been a colony of the United States. Since entering the global imperial system, Puerto Rico has been leveraged as a strategic enclave against Puerto Rican sovereignty, land, and livelihood.

Puerto Rico as War Booty

Spanish rule in Puerto Rico lasted for 405 years. The United States intervened in the brutal Cuban war for independence in 1898 on the side of the rebels and, in the end, subverted Cuban independence and claimed Spain’s territorial possessions in America and the Pacific in what is known as the Spanish-American War. By December 1898, the Treaty of Paris ceded the territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines, and the Mariana Islands to the United States as war booty.

The colonial experiment continued under new management. Almost immediately, the Americans occupied abandoned Spanish military garrisons throughout the Island, including the enormous fortress El Morro. An army of administrators, teachers, scientists, engineers, religious clerics, businessmen, land speculators, and agriculture corporate representatives followed to re-engineer Puerto Rican society, economy, and the landscape, and to exploit its resources. Through this system, the Americans installed a new colonial order on the Island and instilled a new colonial subject.

Many of the same strategies used to subjugate American Natives were applied to Puerto Ricans. “Kill the Indian and save the man” became “civilize” the Puerto Rican “brute.” American teachers were systemically deployed to Puerto Rico to restructure the existing education system to prioritize American values and the English language, and missionaries sought to convert Puerto Ricans from Catholicism to American Protestantism. Just as they recruited Apache natives to fight rebel Apache bands, the U.S. Army set up an all-Puerto Rican Provisional Battalion to serve as auxiliaries to the U.S. military and help with population control. As more battalions were created, this grew into the 65th Infantry Regiment, nicknamed the “Borinqueneers,” who fully integrated into the U.S. Army and later served with distinction in the Korean War.

FOB Puerto Rico

As westward expansion and subjugation of native peoples solidified U. S. control in continental North America, American capitalists and policymakers continued the march for dominance southward and across the Pacific.  Puerto Rico continued to serve as a strategic enclave— a Forward Operating Base providing a bridge to the wider region as the “Gibraltar of the Caribbean” and a choke point of control.  With Puerto Rico as a garrison colony, Americans were able to project power across the Caribbean Basin and ward off potentially hostile European powers. Puerto Rico became the headquarters of the Department of Defense of the Antilles for the US Army, and the Naval Base Roosevelt Roads became the largest overseas U.S. naval installation in the world with the longest airstrip in Latin America. This military center, along with the American naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was also tasked to defend, until the handover in 1999, the colonial enclave of the Panama Canal Zone.

U.S. citizenship was imposed upon Puerto Ricans in 1917 under the Jones Act. That same year the United States entered the Great War in Europe, and some 236,000 Puerto Ricans were served draft notice, with 20,000 deployed. Since then, Puerto Ricans have participated in every U.S. war and military conflict.

Militarization in Puerto Rico continues to be multipurpose. In addition to projecting US power in the Caribbean Basin, Puerto Rico has served as a training ground for the U.S. military to influence and train foreign troops for wars and conflicts. It served as a transit point for resources and supplies sent to Africa and Europe during the Second World War. It was a lab to experiment in modern warfare with modern weapons, such as napalm, Agent Orange, and depleted uranium. And it was a stage to rehearse large-scale combined arms military exercises later applied in major theaters of war such as the D-Day invasion of Normandy, the invasion of Panama, the bombings of Yugoslavia, and the invasion of Iraq.

The U.S. military’s footprint on the Puerto Rican landscape is vast and inescapable. The US military not only took over Spanish military posts but built four additional main military installations and many more auxiliary camps and installations, a series of connecting roads and railroads, antenna stations for telecommunication, and airstrips for cross-island movement of supplies and persons. Over 30 municipalities have had a military installation at one time or another. An island that is a little over 100 miles long and 36 miles wide has given up tens of thousands of acres of land to military installations with thousands of acres directly expropriated from small farmers. Vieques, an island municipality adjacent to the main island, had 27,000 out of 31,000 total acres of land appropriated for military use. Its people were forced to emigrate or relocate to what remained of the island. A similar fate befell Culebra, another island municipality, which together with Vieques would serve for decades as the largest range for combined arms military exercises that included large-scale bombings from naval ships, amphibious assaults, and air-to-surface target practice for fighter jets and bombers.

The militarization of Puerto Rico has had devastating ecological impacts. To expand the Spanish naval base in San Juan Bay, swamps and mangles were destroyed and filled with lumber, dirt, and minerals from a nearby quarry. Six miles south in Guaynabo, 1,515 acres were expropriated to establish Army Garrison Fort Buchanan, built with materials taken from the same quarry and forest, and which later grew to as large as 4,500 acres. To the east in Ceiba, a large swath of land from El Yunque was deforested for lumber to build Roosevelt Roads Naval Station. In Cayey, lumber from the Carite Forest built Fort Henry Barracks, the headquarters and training center for the 65th Infantry Regiment. Along the northern coast in Aguadilla, 3,796 acres of agricultural land was taken from small farmers to construct army base Camp Borinquen, which later became Remy Air Force Base and part of the Strategic Air Command, one of three major commands of the U.S. Air Force. These are just a few of the many military installations that have littered Puerto Rico throughout 124 years of colonization by the U.S.

Military Occupation with a Familiar Face

These military bases and installations have wreaked widespread damage in Puerto Rico in order to advance U. S. geostrategic interests in a variety of ways.

They have been vital to projecting power abroad and also to squashing rebellions at home, such as the uprisings of 1950 that championed independence from the United States. Not to mention, they leave behind huge contaminants and unexploded ordinance.  Such is the case in Vieques where the promised clean-up after the closing of the range has not manifested.  With technological advancement, many of these military facilities have since become obsolete and repurposed. The land and facilities were eventually turned over to the local government for their use and development, or to house other American federal agencies like the Coast Guard, Customs and Border Patrol, FBI, and DEA.

Today, the remaining facilities are home to roughly 100,000 U.S. military personnel and affiliates from the Puerto Rican National Guard, the Air National Guard, the Reserves of various components of the Armed Forces, some active duty service members, ROTC, Veterans Affairs, DoD civilians, and veterans, retired or otherwise – almost all being Puerto Ricans.   Although overt Anglo military presence on the island has diminished, its destructive and subjugating legacy remains, and a more subtle military occupation persists.

Puerto Rico saw its peak in overt American militarization during the Second World War up until the Vietnam War.  Most of these bases and facilities have been turned over to the local government for civilian use, like the Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport in San Juan   But some bases remain military facilities. At Camp Santiago, a large training center in Salinas, on the southern coast of Puerto Rico, National Guard troops train and do their drills. It’s also a place where officers and soldiers from throughout Latin America and the Caribbean receive training from U.S. military personnel. Fort Buchanan was temporarily the headquarters of the U.S. Southern Command when it transitioned from Panama to Doral, Florida.

The Puerto Rican National Guard, when activated, automatically integrates into the US Army and Air Force. They were activated in the recent so-called “War on Terror” and the invasion of Iraq.  The Reserves are already part of the U.S. Armed Forces. With a population of 3.2 million and another four million in the diaspora, Puerto Ricans already make up a very large demographic in the regular armed forces. This dual consciousness, of being Puerto Rican and an American soldier, also serves to solidify American colonialism in Puerto Rico.

Yacht Charter Puerto Rico | Catamaran rental in the Caribbean

StCharter Yachting

Puerto Rico

• Basic information
• About the region
• Locations
• Yachts

You can also order from us:

• Antigua yacht charter
• Yacht charter in Guadeloupe
• Yacht charter in Cuba

• Yacht charter Saint Martin
• Yacht charter Saint Vincent
• BVI yacht charter

• Yacht charter in Thailand
• Yacht charter in the Canary Islands
• Yacht charter in the Seychelles

Region: Free Associated State of Puerto Rico.

Under US control

Water area
Caribbean

Season
All year round. High season from November to April

Weather
The climate of Puerto Rico is tropical trade winds, which creates ideal conditions for sailing. The average annual air temperature is around +26°C …+28°C. The rainy season is from June to November.

Vessel types
Puerto Rico has a huge selection of yachts! Both with a team and on an independent charter, you can take sailing yachts and catamarans, motor yachts. Lovers of luxury will always find a luxury yacht!

Visa
Since Puerto Rico is under US control, Russian citizens need to obtain a visa from the US Embassy in Moscow.

Flights
From Moscow via Europe and the USA. Or from Moscow via the USA.

Note
The currency of the island is the US dollar.

Yacht charters and visits in Puerto Rico

The capital of Puerto Rico is the city of San Juan. Today it is a typical modern capital with attributes inherent in each capital: an economic, political center and a commercial center. Immediately behind the beach line is a wall of high-rise buildings: offices, hotels and other infrastructure. The modern center is adjacent to the historic Old Town, founded in 1521 and the second oldest city in America. But despite this age, you will not find old and dilapidated buildings here. Everything here is being refurbished! nine0003

In the vicinity of San Juan is the famous rum distillery – Bacardi! The distillery is also the largest rum producer in the world! Anyone who comes to rest in Puerto Rico simply cannot pass by this attraction, where you can see the process of creating this great drink, as well as visit the Bacardi Family Museum. Of course, a visit to such a place will not do without tastings and buying product samples.

City of Ponce is the second largest city on the island. The city was founded in 1692 by Spanish settlers and from the end of the 17th century it was considered a major port on the southern coast of the country. The main attractions of the city are the Cathedral of Cateral da La Guadalupe, built in 1660 and subsequently rebuilt three more times; Ponce Historical Museum; Ponce Art Museum containing over 1,000 paintings, 500 prints, and 800 sculptures.

Since you are traveling around Puerto Rico on a yacht, the sights not only on the land of the island, but also the nearby islands are of course of interest. Of particular interest are three islands: Mona and the Spanish Virgin Islands – Vieques and Culebra. nine0003

Mona Island is a wild island and a special permit is required to visit it. But trust me, it’s worth it! This island is often referred to as the Galapagos in the Caribbean. Here you can see giant lizards, and sea turtles lay their eggs on the beaches, many plants and bird species are vivid representatives of the time when there were no people in the Caribbean yet. No one lives on the island and it is under the protection of the National Natural Resources Fund. When you find yourself on the island, you get the impression that you are in the era of dinosaurs! The water in these places has exceptional transparency – the average visibility under water is 50 meters! This is an ideal place for diving, considering the fact that there are more than 270 species of fish in the coral reefs here! nine0003

Culebra Island is located 35 kilometers east of Puerto Rico. The size of the island is small, only 11 by 6 kilometers. It is surrounded by 24 small islands like a necklace. On the island you will not find any trendy bars or clubs or the most beautiful cities, but here you will find Flamenco Beach – a white sand beach, kilometers of uninhabited shores and a lot of reefs that surround the island and are well known to divers and fishermen.

Vieques Island is located 12 kilometers east of Puerto Rico and slightly south of Culebra Island. But the island of Vieques, like Culebra, you will not find the infrastructure of a vibrant nightlife, although there is still one five-star hotel here. The main attractions of the island are five kilometers of the creamy beach of Sun Bay, Media Luna with almond thickets, Navio Bay with its turquoise waters and Mosquito Bay with “glowing waters”. This bay is as famous as Phosphorescent Bay.
nine0003

You can also order from us:

• Rent a yacht in Antigua
• Yacht charter in Guadeloupe
• Yacht charter in Cuba

• Yacht Charter Saint Martin
• Yacht charter Saint Vincent
• BVI yacht charter

• Yacht charter in Thailand
• Yacht charter in the Canary Islands
• Yacht charter in the Seychelles

Region: Free Associated State of Puerto Rico. Under US control

Water area
Caribbean

Season
All year round. High season from November to April

Weather
The climate of Puerto Rico is tropical trade winds, which creates ideal conditions for sailing. The average annual air temperature is around +26°C …+28°C. The rainy season is from June to November.

Vessel types
Puerto Rico has a huge selection of yachts! Both with a team and on an independent charter, you can take sailing yachts and catamarans, motor yachts. Lovers of luxury will always find a luxury yacht! nine0003

Visa
Since Puerto Rico is under US control, Russian citizens need to obtain a visa from the US Embassy in Moscow.

Flights
From Moscow via Europe and the USA. Or from Moscow via the USA.

Note
The currency of the island is the US dollar.

Unfortunately, yachts are not available online in this region. Please send us a request and we will try to find the right option for you. nine0003

Change search

SELECT A COUNTRY
Select countryBritish Virgin IslandsGreeceSpainItalyCaribbeanColombiaCubaMaldivesMaltaNorwayPortugalRussiaSeychellesSloveniaThailandTurkeyPhilippinesFranceCroatiaMontenegroSwedenEstonia

Regions for selected country

Departure date

Rental period

1 week2 weeks3 weeks4 weeks5 weeks6 weeks7 weeks8 weeks9 weeks1 day2 days3 days4 days5 days6 days

Yacht type

AnyCatamaranGuletMotorboatMotor yachtSailing yachtTrimaran

cabins

12345

nine0000 Hurricane Maria left 10 casualties in the Caribbean, plunged Puerto Rico into darkness and spilled over to the Dominican Republic

Reuters

ALL PHOTOS

Hurricane Maria raging in the Atlantic, reaching its maximum destructive force on the night of September 18, has already claimed the lives of 10 people in the Caribbean islands. The elements left Puerto Rico completely without light. Then the storm, somewhat weakened, spread to the Dominican Republic. nine0003

“Maria” affected only the eastern and northern coasts of the Dominican Republic, causing heavy downpours with storm winds. The storm reached the Dominican Republic at about 5 am local time on Thursday, about 110 km north of the popular resort of Punta Cana, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC).

By that time, the hurricane had weakened to a category three on the Saffir-Simpson five-point scale with maximum winds up to 185 km per hour, Reuters reported, citing NHC data. In Punta Cana, wind gusts reached 93 km/h According to the forecast, storm waves can exceed the normal level, reaching up to 1.83 meters.

The storm is expected to gain strength as it heads towards the British Overseas Territory of Turks and Caicos and the southeastern Bahamas. Storm waves there can reach a level of 3.66 meters.

At the same time, on the eve of “Maria” swept Puerto Rico, becoming the most powerful storm in the history of this territory dependent on the United States in almost 90 years. Then the power of the hurricane reached the fourth category on a five-point scale with winds up to 250 km / h. The storm destroyed houses, tore power lines, plunging the island into darkness, turning roads into mud streams with debris. nine0003

Most of Puerto Rico will receive 50 to 77 cm of rain by Friday, according to the NHC. In this regard, the entire population of the island (3.4 million people) was warned on Thursday morning about the threat of flooding.

Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello reported one hurricane casualty – a man was killed by a piece of log thrown at him by a gust of strong wind. “This is nothing but a serious catastrophe,” the head of the island territory admitted. According to him, it could take months for the island to fully restore the supply of electricity, reports CNN . In connection with the rampant elements, the governor introduced a curfew.

The streets of the Puerto Rican capital of San Juan in the historic part of the city are strewn with broken balconies, air conditioners, fallen lampposts, downed power lines and dead birds.