Puerto rico and tourism: Puerto Rico 2022: Best Places to Visit

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December 26, 2022
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Puerto Rico 2022: Best Places to Visit

Travel Advice

Best time to visit

Getting around

Local customs

Tips from the pros

Destinations

San Juan, Puerto Rico
Isla Verde, Puerto Rico
Rio Grande, Puerto Rico
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Rincon, Puerto Rico
Dorado, Puerto Rico
Fajardo, Puerto Rico
Guanica, Puerto Rico
Isla de Vieques, Puerto Rico
Culebra, Puerto Rico

More to explore

Essential Puerto Rico

Places to see, ways to wander, and signature experiences that define Puerto Rico.

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Old San Juan
16,554
Historic Sites, Historic Walking Areas
El Yunque National Forest
Forests, Nature & Wildlife Areas
La Placita de Santurce
Neighborhoods, Bars & Clubs
Playa Sucia
Beaches
Museo de Arte de Ponce
Museums, Art Museums
Castillo de San Cristobal
Historic Sites, Military Bases & Facilities
Hacienda Tres Angeles
Farms
Parque de Bombas
Speciality Museums
Toro Verde
Adrenaline & Extreme Tours, Zipline & Aerial Adventure Parks
Casa Bacardi Puerto Rico
Distilleries

A mix of the charming, iconic, and modern.

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DREAMCATCHER by DW
from $121/night
Dorado Beach, A Ritz-Carlton Reserve
from $1,069/night
Hix Island House
from $155/night
Hotel El Convento
from $189/night
The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort, Puerto Rico
from $596/night
Royal Isabela
from $293/night
El Navegante de Culebra
O:live Boutique Hotel
from $250/night
Condado Vanderbilt Hotel
from $279/night
Combate Beach Resort
from $112/night

Quintessential Puerto Rico bistros, bars, and beyond.

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La Casita Blanca
$$ – $$$ • Caribbean, Latin, Spanish
Marmalade Restaurant & Wine Bar
$$$$ • Caribbean, Soups, International
Deaverdura
$$ – $$$ • Puerto Rican, Caribbean, Latin
1919 Restaurant
$$$$ • Contemporary, Vegetarian Friendly, Vegan Options
Casita Miramar
$$ – $$$ • Caribbean, Latin, Puerto Rican
Kiosko El Boricua
Caribbean, Latin, Fast Food
Jose Enrique
$$ – $$$ • Caribbean, Seafood, Puerto Rican
Condal Tapas Restaurant
$$ – $$$ • Latin, European, Spanish
El Negocio de Panchi
$$ – $$$ • Caribbean, Latin, Puerto Rican
Lechonera Los Pinos
$ • Caribbean, Latin, Puerto Rican

Traveler Guides

Puerto Rico Vacation: Our Easy, Kid-Friendly Guide
10 items
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Puerto Rico: Beaches with Bae
10 items
By Grace Tuscano
Rincon, Puerto Rico
10 items
By Carmencita Mulet

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PR After Hurricane Fiona
By paris700215 replies
Tropical Storm FIONA
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Hurricane Fiona
By Kwagstraveler8 replies

Puerto Rico Is Great For

Snorkeling

Culebra Day Trip by Catamaran from Fajardo
from $170 per adult
San Juan Guided Snorkel Tour
from $59 per adult
Icacos Island Catamaran Day Sail from Fajardo
from $132 per adult
From Fajardo: Icacos Deserted Island Catamaran & Picnic Cruise
from $120 per adult
Likely To Sell Out
Culebra Island Kayak & Snorkel with Turtles Adventure – Ferry Tickets Included
from $106 per adult
All Inclusive Beach and Snorkel Boat Tour to Icacos Island
from $150 per adult
Jet Snorkel-Snorkeling with Turtles
from $100 per adult
Likely To Sell Out
Full-Day Culebra and Flamenco Beach Snorkel Tour from San Juan
from $199 per adult
Likely To Sell Out
Culebra Snorkeling Day Trip
from $136 per adult
Snorkel Icacos Island aboard El Innovation
from $114 per adult

Eat & drink

The Coffee Spot
$ • International, Healthy, Vegetarian Friendly
Tin Box
$$ – $$$ • Caribbean, Bar, Seafood
Las Vistas Café
$$ – $$$ • Caribbean, Latin, Cafe
Meat Market Miami
$$$$ • American, Steakhouse, Gluten Free Options
Buena Vibra Bar & Tapas
$$ – $$$ • Caribbean, Latin, Seafood
Ekelekua
$$ – $$$ • Caribbean, Latin, Spanish
El Negocio de Panchi
$$ – $$$ • Caribbean, Latin, Puerto Rican
Bottles
$$$$ • Vegetarian Friendly, Vegan Options, Gluten Free Options
Positivo
$$$$ • Japanese, Seafood, Sushi

Ziplining

JungleQui Zipline Park at El Yunque National Forest
from $155 per adult
Rainforest Zipline in the El Yunque Foothills from San Juan
from $112 per adult
Full-Day Zipline and Waterfall Rappelling Adventure Near San Juan
from $155 per adult
Full-Day Puerto Rico Tour: Rainforest Zipline, Luquillo Beach & Natural Springs
from $195 per adult
EcoAdventure Ziplining in Puerto Rico
from $149 per adult
El Yunque Rainforest and Zipline Canopy Combo Tour
from $259 per adult
The Monster Zipline at Toro Verde Adventure Park
from $145 per adult
EcoAdventure Sunset Ziplining in Puerto Rico
from $149 per adult
La Bestia Zipline in Toroverde Adventure Park
from $80 per adult
Zipline Adventure Tour
from $120 per adult

After dark

La Casita de Rones
$$ – $$$ • Caribbean, Latin, Spanish
DesHistoria Birra Y Empanadas
$ • Latin, Bar, Puerto Rican
Café Tresbé
$$ – $$$ • Bar, Grill, Caribbean
Antojitos Del Callejon
$ • Caribbean, Latin, Bar
Douglas’ Pub
$ • Pub, Bar
Mistura Bistro Bar
$$ – $$$ • Peruvian, Latin, Bar
La Verguenza Old San Juan
$$ – $$$ • Caribbean, Puerto Rican, Latin
$$ – $$$ • Caribbean, Puerto Rican, Bar
El Batey
$ • Bar
La Cubanita
Bar, Pub

Kayaking Tours

Best Seller
Guided LED Night Kayak Excursion in Condado Lagoon, Puerto Rico
from $65 per adult
Bio Bay Kayak Tour in Puerto Rico
from $51 per adult
Likely To Sell Out
Bioluminescent Bay Kayak Trip from Vieques
from $60 per adult
Likely To Sell Out
Culebra Island Kayak & Snorkel with Turtles Adventure – Ferry Tickets Included
from $106 per adult
El Yunque Rainforest Off the Beaten Path and Bio Bay Kayaking Combo Tour
from $170 per adult
Bio Bay Kayak Tour in Fajardo
from $65 per adult
Likely To Sell Out
Bio Bay Kayak Tour in Fajardo
from $66 per adult
Bioluminescent Bay Night Kayaking Tour 7:30pm | Laguna Grande, Fajardo
from $55 per adult
Overnight Bio Bay Kayak Tour in Vieques Island
from $56 per adult
Bioluminescent Bay Kayak Adventure from San Juan
from $110 per adult

Douglas’ Pub
$ • Pub, Bar
Mistura Bistro Bar
$$ – $$$ • Peruvian, Latin, Bar
La Verguenza Old San Juan
$$ – $$$ • Caribbean, Puerto Rican, Latin
$$ – $$$ • Caribbean, Puerto Rican, Bar
El Batey
$ • Bar
La Cubanita
Bar, Pub

Development and importance of tourism for Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico recorded a total of four million tourists in 2020, ranking 46th in the world in absolute terms.
That smaller countries regularly perform lower in a comparison of the absolute number of guests, is obvious. By putting the tourist numbers in relation to the population of Puerto Rico, the result is much more comparable picture: With 1.2 tourists per resident, Puerto Rico ranked 42nd in the world. In Caribbean, it ranked 16th.
Puerto Rico generated around 2.92 billion US Dollar in the tourism sector alone. This corresponds to 2.8 percent of its the gross domestic product and approximately 36 percent of all international tourism receipts in Caribbean.
A global comparison can be found here › International tourism
Back to overview: Puerto Rico

On average, each of the tourists arriving in 2020 spent about 636 US Dollars.

Development of the tourism sector in Puerto Rico from 1995 to 2020

The following chart shows the number of tourist arrivals registered in Puerto Rico each year. Anyone who spends at least one night in the country but does not live there for more than 12 months is considered a tourist. Insofar as the survey included the purpose of the trip, business trips and other non-tourism travel purposes have already been excluded. The number of people passing through within the same day, and e.g. crew members of ships or flights are also not considered as tourists in most countries. If the same person travels in and out more than once within the same year, each visit counts again.
Data in the chart are given in millions of tourists. The red line represents the average of all 21 countries in Caribbean.

Revenues in tourism

In 1995, tourism revenues amounted to 1.83 billion USD, or about 4.3 percent of the gross national product. This corresponded to about 4.09 million tourists at that time and roughly 447 USD per person. Within 25 years, the country’s dependence on tourism has decreased noticeably. Before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, sales took up $3.61 billion billion, 3.4 percent of gross national product. Thus, each visitor spent an average of $733 on their vacation in Puerto Rico.
In 2020, tourist receipts plummeted due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Of the $3.61 billion billion (2019), only $2.92 billion billion remained. This is a 19 percent decrease in Puerto Rico.

All data for Puerto Rico in detail

Year	Number of tourists	Receipts	% of GNP	Receipts per tourist
2020	3.88 m	2.92 bn $	2.8 %	752 $
2019	4.93 m	3.61 bn $	3.4 %	733 $
2018	4.26 m	3.30 bn $	3.3 %	775 $
2017	4.93 m	3.87 bn $	3.7 %	785 $
2016	5.00 m	3.97 bn $	3.8 %	794 $
2015	5.05 m	3.83 bn $	3.7 %	757 $
2014	4.46 m	3.44 bn $	3.4 %	772 $
2013	4.21 m	3. 31 bn $	3.2 %	786 $
2012	4.20 m	3.19 bn $	3.1 %	761 $
2011	4.21 m	3.14 bn $	3.1 %	746 $
2010	4.38 m	3.21 bn $	3.3 %	733 $
2009	4.42 m	3.18 bn $	3.3 %	719 $
2008	5.21 m	3.54 bn $	3.8 %	678 $
2007	5.06 m	3.41 bn $	3.8 %	674 $
2006	5.02 m	3.37 bn $	3.9 %	671 $
2005	5.07 m	3.24 bn $	3.9 %	638 $
2004	4.89 m	3.02 bn $	3.8 %	619 $
2003	4.40 m	2.68 bn $	3.6 %	608 $
2002	4.36 m	2.49 bn $	3.5 %	570 $
2001	4.91 m	2.73 bn $	3. 9 %	556 $
2000	4.57 m	2.39 bn $	3.9 %	523 $
1999	4.22 m	2.14 bn $	3.7 %	507 $
1998	4.67 m	2.23 bn $	4.1 %	478 $
1997	4.35 m	2.05 bn $	4.2 %	470 $
1996	4.11 m	1.90 bn $	4.2 %	462 $
1995	4.09 m	1.83 bn $	4.3 %	447 $

Our data on tourist numbers, revenues and expenditures are based on information from the World Tourism Organization. However, to ensure international comparability, the data for some years or countries were manually researched and corrected if they obviously included visitors without overnight stays. In these cases, the data were taken from the official communications of the respective national tourism authorities.
The WTO additionally points out that in some countries the number of tourists is only counted at airports, in others also at border crossings or even hotels. A comprehensive and reliable indication is therefore hardly possible in any country.

from eternal fiesta to “fast” tourism

February 15, 2012 20:50 Society

And the beaches in Puerto Rico are magnificent. / Photo: Evgenia Piletsky

In 1959, American businessmen rushed to the Havana airport, taking with them not only suitcases, but also capital. Meanwhile, to the east of the quarreling neighbors – Cuba and the United States – poor Puerto Ricans lived.

Involved in imported slavery and “peppered” by the local Indians, the people did look at the Americans – in anticipation of at least some dividends from friendship with them.

The story goes: Puerto Rico, having become an important strategic point after the discovery of the Caribbean Islands by Columbus, successfully fought off England, France, Holland for four centuries, until powerful Spain, under the flag of which the island was located, did not leave strength and luck. At the end of the 19th century, modern American ships, approaching the old fort of Castillo San Felipe del Morro, burst into a rolling cannonade. Puerto Ricans bravely fought for two whole hours (in short, in history there was only a war between Zanzibar and England). And they gave up. Since then, the island has plunged into an eternal fiesta.

The Cuban Revolution unexpectedly gave the island investors and tight wallets of American tourists who lost their unexpectedly beloved white beaches of Cuba.

Soon 5-star hotels appeared in Puerto Rico, the world’s largest radio telescope, and American seekers of unearthly pleasures poured into the country of the breadfruit tree. There were so many people that even a tiny, once deserted island in the east of the country – Culebra – covered the military base and rooted out bombs.

Fashionable Americans and glamorous stars of the 60s and 70s of the last century flew here to empty their wallets on a grand scale, and the most-very Hilton hotel of those years in San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, regularly appeared in social scandals. It is not surprising that it was in this hotel that, according to legend, a strong rum-based cocktail was born – Pina Colada, served in coconut.

Who came up with the idea to build a nuclear power plant here is not known for certain, but in 1963 scientists in white coats, a huge building in the form of an inflatable balloon and a reactor appeared on the Caribbean coast. In the event of an accident, the infernal machine, according to the plan, was supposed to be cooled by the same Atlantic waters that at the beginning of the 20th century demolished the neighboring lighthouse 50 meters from the nuclear power plant. The scientists, however, soon came to their senses and the station was closed, filling the reactor with concrete. Now the object is guarded by Carlos. Cursing the island for being unable to find another job, he is forced to sit out in the hot sun for 10 hours a day in a button-down uniform. Carlos is 33 years old, he has two children (11 and 7 years old), and he has not forgotten how to dream. All his sweet thoughts are directed to the dreams of a bygone youth: Carlos wanted to be a bandit, recklessly cut through, like his friends, the roads of a dusty island in search of adventure. He would still go into bandits, but it’s too risky for a family man.

For a healthy guy like Carlos, almost the only way to earn money is to serve in the US military. The blood of brave caballeros boils in the veins of local strong men, and for the sake of 40 thousand dollars a year they are ready, risking their lives, to fight in Afghanistan or Iraq, defending American democracy. Therefore, a true American, when meeting with such a soldier or officer, will shake his hand: “Thank you for serving the American people!” But intelligence…

— Look at them! says a frustrated Steve, a 74-year-old ex-military. Which of them are officers? Even after five years of training, they cannot make a decision on their own.

And for me, a guy who can sit by an abandoned horror toy for 10 hours at a temperature of 45 degrees for 100 pennies is already a hero.

Who says all heroes have to have high IQs? The island has long been not particularly strategically important for America.

Despite this, every year the US proposes that Puerto Rico become the 51st state or withdraw from its “special arrangement”.

Puerto Rico, however, wisely chooses the third option: leave everything as it is: “You give us money, we work for you.”

And America continues to pay Puerto Rico’s bills.

Only now the island is fed up with the fickle bohemia in tastes, and the tourist is “opops”. The famous cocktail, even in the Hilton, has long been poured into plastic cups, garbage flies through the streets. Beaches are increasingly deserted, star hotels are falling apart: there is no money for repairs. Puerto Rico is slipping into “fast” tourism – for undemanding travelers. The population sluggishly roasts mofongo (a dish of flattened bananas) and multiplies rapidly.

The decline of an empire begins in remote areas. It is they who are the first to get poorer – those who live on subsidies. Yes, the roads of Puerto Rico are regularly repaired, the army is working, bananas and pineapples are exported without fail. As long as America pays for it all. I wonder what will happen next.

Tourism

Puerto Rico – Number of foreign tourists | 2008-2022 Data

Summary