route hop on hop off bus san juan puerto rico map

Within the plazas a ceremonial ball game called batu was played in which a heavy bouncy ball made from resins, roots and leaves was tossed back and forth. Today visitors can also walk through replicas of dwellings, ancient plazas, and burial grounds. Archaeologists have determined that the pre-Tainos moved to the Valley of Tibes around 300 A.D., and these lands were the center of their civilization.Ī museum documents the history of the pre-Taíno Indians as well as diverse tribes who called the island home at one point or the other in history. What has become the most important archaeological site in the Caribbean was unveiled in 1975, when floodwaters from a tropical storm subsided, unveiling ancient history. Located to the east of Ponce, the Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Center offers a fascinating glimpse into Pre-Ta íno culture and customs. Their predecessors were the Pre-Ta íno Indians. Tibes Indigenous Ceremonial Centerīefore Puerto Rico was overtaken by Spanish conquistadors, the Taíno Indians thrived on the island. On this route you’ll also wind up through the hillside and pass through small villages that showcase rural life on the island and rewarded with valley views.

This route requires you to dip south first before heading west, but the ocean views that await your drive make it worth it. Before you start your drive, stop in at Palmas del Mar beach resort and touch the ocean.įrom Humacao, I recommend you take the scenic route, more specifically highway 53 that leads to highway 3. Many visitors may be based in San Juan, but if you want to do a true drive across the island you need to make it to the east coast first. Granted, our accommodations happened to be based in Humacao so my opinion may be a bit biased, but Humacao is an excellent point from which to start an east to west road trip across Puerto Rico. Visitors with more time to spare may wish to spend a night or two on the west coast, but you’ll be able to see the major highlights in one long day trip.Īre you ready to take a drive? Follow along east to west to discover these eight essential stops on a road trip across Puerto Rico. Thanks to its relatively small size and solid roads (well, compared to those in Costa Rica, that is), you can drive back and forth across Puerto Rico in a day. The island of Puerto Rico is just 90 miles long and 30 miles wide.

Given our family history, it came as no surprise to me that, sandwiched in between snorkeling and kayaking through mangroves, one of my dad’s few requests was that we road trip across Puerto Rico. I had the honor of planning the itinerary for our last-minute trip. Spurred by our mutual wanderlust and the rare opportunity to have a whole week to spend together, my family booked a trip to Puerto Rico just two weeks out.

This summer, my family had a lot to celebrate with my brother graduating from USC and my sister earning her master’s degree and teaching certification. The number is potentially 46, but whether or not we actually drove through Minnesota is something no one has the memory to confirm (rest assured, all other states have been verified). Nestled in the back of our green ford windstar mini van alongside my sister Emma and brother Sean, my dad would man the wheel while my mom used her expert navigational skills to, not only get us from point A to point B, but also make sure we’d see whatever sights, from the iconic to the bizarre, lay in our path (and this in the days before Google maps or even Map Quest).īefore I was the age of 16 I had visited 45 states with my family. Up and down our home state of California we’d drive, or on towards the golden cornfields of Nebraska or the wide blue skies of New Mexico, racking up the miles on childhood summer vacations.

Route hop on hop off bus san juan puerto rico map