Rincon PR Trip Report / Picture Tour

[surfnh]

I’ve avoided the forums for about the past 6 months, but with a STJ trip coming up started checking things out again to get back into the STJ groove. I can’t remember if we’ve done a STJ trip report before, but after reading the incredible recent trip reports from liamsaunt on the STJ forum, it got me thinking to do something up for a recent vacation we took in Rincon, PR. This was our first long vacation without kids, and was just delightful. This is more like a picture tour, to give a feel for the location. PS….no food porn in the report, we’ll have to think about that next time!

Generalized comparison to STJ:
Rincon = surfing, sleepy Spanish town, nice beaches for long walks, ex-pat retirement destination, cheaper
STJ = snorkeling, incredible beauty, hiking, ruins, cove style beaches, expensive

Getting There:
We always fly into San Juan, rent a car and drive the 2.5 hrs to Rincon, located in the northwest tip of PR. It’s also possible to fly into Aguadilla which is 30 min from Rincon, but the variety of flights is less and it’s more expensive for sure. Every major car rental agency is at SJU, we paid $750 for 2 weeks with a large SUV. We typically hit a Costco in San Juan on the way out to stock up on the daily goods. The drive to Rincon is easy, about half on a highway and half on a 4-lane divided road with lights. You drive along the northern coast, and to the south are just huge mountains that look totally tropical.

Rincon is a smaller town, no traffic lights. There are larger towns nearby with Walgreens, Walmart, fast food, etc…..but Rincon pretty much lacks this aspect of civilization.

Surfing:
Rincon became famous in the late 1960’s when a major surfing competition was held there, and it’s been known ever since as a premier surf destination. This is the main reason we first visited, and now after our 4th visit we love it more and more. It’s got a sleepy Spanish style ambiance that makes it attractive. The main surf spots are located to the north of the center of Rincon, they include Maria’s and Domes on the west facing coast, and Pools and Sandy Beach on the north facing coast.

The past two years the waves were just ridiculously big, and we had to search for locations where we could handle the surf….ended up in Aguadilla where it breaks smaller, perfect for us. This year was all Rincon, mostly at Maria’s Beach.

Entering the water here is an acquired expertise. The surf beaches typically have rock, coral, and urchins where you jump in. It helps to have a local tell you how to do it, but once you figure out the tricks its easy. Either way, we always bring an urchin removal kit with us!
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But, once you get in, the fun begins! 80F water in late January, few people to compete with for waves, looking down at the various corals, and tropical fish and sea turtles swimming under your board while you’re hanging out. The water is very clear, unless there’s been high surf or a lot of rain.
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That’s Desecheo Island in the background….
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Domes Beach, late in the afternoon… a little crowded, but fun spot!
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Sunsets:
One of the most spectacular aspects of Rincon are the sunsets. Its west facing, most of the year the sun sets directly on the water, sometimes (like in April) behind Desecheo Island. The best place to view the sunsets is the lighthouse park (El Farro) up towards Domes Beach. It sits up on top of a cliff, and from there you can look down on surfers and out at the sunset at the same time.
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Sunset from Rincon beach near village center
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Flora:
The island is very tropical and there are fruit trees all over. We had a papaya tree in the yard at our rental this year, this kind of stuff is normal. There are lizards and iguanas around, but not nearly so much as in STJ. Also, the bugs seem to be a lot less prevalent compared to STJ, we could eat out every evening without getting bitten. All of these flower pics were taken in the yard of our rental!
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Sights in Rincon:
Rincon light house
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Look closely, the moon is out above the light house
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Inside Rincon light house park
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Crazy surf vehicle at Sandy Beach
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This dog is trained to wait in the car while his master is surfing!
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Surfer sign at Maria’s Beach
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Downtown Rincon
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Aaaaa…..the surfer is running in the wrong direction!
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Well known local hotel…..wires and color, along famous Rt. 413 (known as the surfers road to happiness!)
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Rough translation: Think of the beach as your mom, take care of her, keep it clean!
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The main local supermarket, Econo Market
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Awesome local coffee bar, PR produces a lot of coffee, and it’s quite good. We always bring some home!
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Downtown Rincon central park
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We have some dogs who belong here!
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Surf shop with a great guard dog at the front!
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Snorkeling:
There’s actually an underwater reserve in Rincon called Tres Palmas. When the waves are low you can snorkel at Steps Beach. It’s not bad, but if you’re used to STJ it really doesn’t compare. This year we brought the snorkel gear to check it out, went twice and had a lot of fun.
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This year we actually had turtles coming up for air within feet of us while sitting on our boards, many more turtles compared to previous years, not sure why but can’t argue with this.
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Steps Beach is filled with Elk Horn coral all over
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Damsel fish, love these
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Porkfish
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The Beaches:
North of Rincon center the coast is sandy, but the water entrance is very rocky, with ledge exposed. You can walk the beach continuously along this section of coast but watch out for large rocks or pieces of coral in the sand. This is where everyone surfs, so it’s fun to watch while you walk. South of Rincon center is one long continuous beach that goes pretty much non-stop to Mayaguez which is the next large city to the south. This section of beach is protected from the northern swells, blue water, sandy bottom, ….perfect for walking, hanging, and swimming. The sand isn’t the white of STJ, but still very beautiful.
The southern beach, Corcega area:
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The northern beach, more rock where the waves break
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The view from Domes Beach looking at the lighthouse
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At the lighthouse looking down at Domes Beach
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House along Corcega Beach
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Banana tree along the beach
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Oh yeah, there’s a lot of beach to walk on here, we surfed every morning, then walked an hour every afternoon.
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Another house along Corcega beach
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One day during our walk, we came upon this woman standing on her roof hanging out clothes. The clothesline extended from her house to the closest utility pole, amongst the wires. Look closely, you can see this, absolutely crazy!
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There’s a very fancy hotel on the beach called the Horned Dorset, we’re told it has a great restaurant also!
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Where’s the Corona?
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Animals:
No donkeys roaming wild here, but there is a big dog issue with many abandoned puppies throughout the island. In fact, we’ve ended up adopting two pups over the past two years.
Nope, this isn’t a dog
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Little Blue Heron
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Cute pup at Domes Beach
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At Tres Palmas the field comes right down to the sandy beach, this cow has a nice view to enjoy!
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The hills beyond the beach in Rincon
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Accommodations:
We stayed for the 3rd time in a house called Bello Horizonte, located up the hill overlooking the west coast. It’s a lovely Spanish style house, 3 bdrm 2 bath, nice yard, small pool, perfect for a surfers hang out. Generally speaking, you can stay in Rincon for significantly less than you can in STJ….it’s a different animal, more populated, bigger island. There appear to be a ton of retirees living there, we kept meeting them walking on the beach…..some staying full time, others spending the winters there. There are an abundance of condo’s located around Rincon and within walking distance to the beaches. Here’re some pics of what we rented:
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No food porn, sorry! But how about a guava rum martini?
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Or how about a Rum spritzer, made with the local Barrilito rum?
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Or how about a pina colada martini (very light, no coco lopez)
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Other Rincon activities while you’re there….things we’ve done in previous years:
Old San Juan….El Morro, fantastic place, everyone should make an effort to see this:
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Cabo Rojo lighthouse….this is located about 90 min south of Rincon, on the southwest tip of PR…
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The lighthouse sits on a large cliff….we saw manatees swimming in the distance!
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Looking down from the cliff, there’s a bay with a beautiful beach, reminded us of Salt Pond….surely we had to take a dip!
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Close to the lighthouse there was a resort with restaurant, we stopped for lunch….
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Waterfall near San Sebastian….about 35 min from Rincon. Well this one didn’t work out like we planned. We had heard about the great waterfalls in PR…..so we had a cloudy day (it had rained the night before) and decided to check out this waterfall. The pictures on the internet make it look like you’re entering paradise, perfect blue water, swimming in the pool under the waterfall. We knew we were in trouble after we parked the van, a steady rain began to fall, got about 10’ into the trail down and saw some random broken flip flops stuck in the mud! It was total mud all the way down the hill, very steep, about a 20 minute walk, slipping and sliding the entire way. I fell a few times, had mud all over me. But we were determined to find this freaking place….and we did. But, when we got there, the water was all muddy, like duhhhh! So this is the problem….if its beautiful out, we want to surf and hang on the beach…..if it’s a lousy cloudy or wet day, that’s the time to see a waterfall….but they will be muddy then. Oh well, at least we have decisions to make, beats staying at home!
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The trail was so muddy, our flip flops would get stuck in the mud!
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Feet cleaning time!
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Hope you enjoyed it! Now we’re in a Rincon/STJ rut every year….but it’s a good rut to be in and a great way to escape the winter in New England!

[linne]

Thank you for all these fantastic pictures of flowers,the sea, waterfall etc.- and not to forget sunsets, really beautiful. And it was funny to see the Spanish names, Rincon, San Sebastian, El Faro, names I meet in Spain too. And the funny sign "Piensas que la Playa es tu Mama" .

Linne

[AquaGirl]

Thanks for the report and pictures. I totally enjoyed reading about a different place. That surfing looks like fun, but the entry and exit...not so much.

[PA Girl]

Thanks for sharing. I recently met a family in my hometown that lives between SJU and Ricon 6 months out of the year, they love it.

We spent 3 nights in Old San Juan on our way to STJ two weeks ago. Puerto Rico surprised me, in a good way, and I expect we will be back again.

[liamsaunt]

Great report and lovely pictures! That looks like a very nice place to relax for a while.

[lark22]

Cool! Thanks so much for the report. My husband surfs but we've never gone on a surfing vacation. Rincon will be at the top of our list!

[GraysonDave]

Yes, nice report. Enjoyed the pics and your descriptions. Thanks!

[Kealani]

Thanks for the report - it always nice to read about new places

[surfnh]

Thanks for the feedback. Our youngest son started college in the fall, so we made plans to get the heck out of New England for 2 weeks in late January without the kids for the first time, thinking we'd be avoiding the worst part of winter up here. Of course the winter has been like a cold spring so far, but whatever.

We love our kids, but it was just so nice not having to argue about what break to surf on every morning, what beach to lie on every afternoon, what to do for dinner, clean up your clothes and who's on dish duty tonight! Seems like vacation is great for kids but a huge effort for parents. Anyhow, this was a lot of fun to just be by ourselves, can't beat it!

Now our kids had their noses bent out of joint since they didn't get a winter surf vacation this year!.....only going to STJ. Give me a break, when I was a kid we went to the Jersey shore for vacation, never to Caribbean! Amazing what they take for granted....especially when it's on their parents dime!

Well, now we're thinking we'll do a 2 week vacation alone again in Rincon next Jan, and we might skip STJ (heaven forbid!) next year to do a 2nd time in Rincon with the kids. We haven't skipped STJ in at least 10 years, but if you surf Rincon is just a blast. Tough decision....but at least we have a decision like this to make, we're very thankful!

In the meantime, we leave for STJ on Friday and everyone is psyched!

[mindehankins]

Enjoyed this completely! And I love vacationing sans (young adult) kids as well.

[CBama]

enjoyed...thanks for sharing

[Exit Zero]

That was just a great report and looks to be an excellent place to check out - so close it's an easy trip from the VI - and some new sand and surf to explore!!
Thanks for taking the time to post it.