In 2023, Puerto Rico hit a record high, generating US$9.8-billion in tourism.OMARK REYES/Supplied
During the 1980s, my dad moved us from Toronto to a very small, very sunny and very sleepy island. It was there he found work during a major economic crisis. While our family benefited from his employment, I was a bratty and miserable tween who had to watch satellite TV with spotty reception from Miami. This was only one symptom of a bigger issue: I never felt at home there. I eventually moved back to Toronto but I’ve still never understood the pull of the Caribbean, a place so many people call paradise.
Puerto Rico, however, possesses an almost tangible buzz, one that even convinced me I could shake off this emotional hangover. There are rainforests to hike, architecturally rich Old San Juan to explore, James Beard-awarded restaurants to enjoy (a major plus, since we’re a family of foodies). One bite of mofongo reveals the island’s cultural history. This trifecta of salt, starch and fat was made with yams in West Africa. In Puerto Rico, enslaved Africans replaced yams with green plantains. We ate it at Rincon Iberico, a Spanish restaurant in Old San Juan, that made a creamy version with yucca root served with braised pork oozing with garlic and paprika.
In 2023, the destination hit a record high, generating US$9.8-billion in tourism. The island also has headlining residents propping up its popularity. Puerto Rican rapper and singer Bad Bunny is the current poster boy. YouTube star and WWE champion Logan Paul moved to Puerto Rico from Los Angeles. (Problematic crypto king Brock Pierce made it his home, too).
Supplied
The Dreamcatcher hotel in Ocean Park.PAOLA QUEVEDO SANTOS/Supplied
We checked into the Dreamcatcher hotel in Ocean Park, a residential area next to the hotel zone in neighbouring Isla Verde (both are part of the city of San Juan). It only took minutes to walk to cafés, restaurants and shops, including a sizeable Walgreens, one of many American perks of the U.S. territory I was grateful for, especially when travelling with a teen daughter.
The 19-room hotel felt more like a hip vacation rental. It is hidden between low-rise homes and giant tropical foliage, the decor is Instagram-friendly and its dining menu is plant-based, which we supplemented with crispy beef empanadas from neighbourhood bakery Kasalta. (Its most famous visitor is Barack Obama.)
The public city beach is one block away and during our short stroll, dogs barked and cats sidled up to us. It felt like we were walking through the streets of South Beach, Miami, without the high-rises or fast and furious crowds. What also stood out were the few homes that remain empty and broken. Hurricane Maria caused an estimated US$90-billion of damage when it hit in 2017, so the island’s tourism boom is a comeback story that’s mostly strategic, but also magical.
Guajataca viewpoint, where cliffs, coastal wind and the Atlantic majestically intersect below.Supplied
There are well-paved roads and highways, some with tolls, in Puerto Rico, likely the result of a four-year highway improvement program. Conveniently, nothing is too far. To visit El Yunque National Forest, the only rainforest in the U.S. National Forest system, the drive is 45 minutes east from San Juan. We took a group tour that ended at a natural waterslide, rope swing and pool set in volcanic rock. The half-hour hike is a challenge that is gloriously muddy, messy and humbling.
On the way, our guide stopped to take photos of us in front of a small waterfall, which he used to shower in and drink fresh water from for months after Hurricane Maria. That was seven years ago, and today, his job is to find thrills in the park where he once had to find refuge.
Frutos del Guacabo is a sustainable farm and co-operative.Supplied
Puerto Rico’s landscape delivers more than adventure, though. We were also here to spoil our taste buds, and next on our to-do list was a farm-to-table tour. For Efrén Robles, and his wife, Angelie Martínez, Frutos del Guacabo, their sustainable farm and co-operative, is both a tour stop and a vision for the future. He calls it his showroom and it acts as a blueprint showing Puerto Rican farmers what can be grown locally. In time, he hopes the island creates a food system that relies less on imports and more on its own land.
The culinary farm, where Robles’s son makes fresh and seasonal meals for visitors, was levelled in the wake of Maria. Today, the grounds grow herbs such as curry leaves and lemongrass, which thrive in this climate, hydroponic-grown microgreens and edible flowers. One – spilanthes lemon drop – shocked our taste buds; it was like popping candy.
Part of Robles’s business model is supplying the island’s hotels and restaurants, and he said the lemon drop is popular among bartenders who use it to dress up cocktails. After all, the island is a great place to toast and celebrate fresh possibilities.
Efrén Robles hopes the island creates a food system that relies less on imports and more on its own land.Supplied
For me, that meant exploring the neighbourhood where the locals go on vacation. Isabela is a sleepy town on the northwest coast, a two-hour drive from San Juan. The ocean is alive there, unlike the calmer waters of the Caribbean Sea etched in my memory. On the way we stopped at Guajataca viewpoint, where cliffs, coastal wind and the Atlantic majestically intersect below.
By this point in our trip, we were ready to take a break from our packed schedule. We checked into a boutique resort called Villa Montana. It’s the kind of carefully curated place where hushed tones and polite company complement a backdrop of boho-chic decor and white-washed walls. My daughter fell in love with the aesthetic.
Villa Montana was designed for its images to be shared online, which I know she did often, but our eyes remained on the ocean view.
My husband and I couldn’t stop watching the surfers. Every day over breakfast we were mesmerized by them riding the morning breaks, which were long, low and hypnotic before they rose with gusto in the afternoon. During these quiet moments, I finally felt at ease and I started to understand, decades after I lived there, how the Caribbean can live up to being a great escape.
If you go
Direct flights run from Toronto and Montreal, beginning this November until next April. From Toronto, book via Air Canada or WestJet and from Montreal, book via Air Canada or Air Transat.
San Juan: For a hip, vegetarian hotel experience, stay at the Dreamcatcher. Book a table at Sur Barra Nikkei where local fish shines thanks to chef Rafael Ubior Serrati. Eat Puerto Rican staples against the old-school backdrop of Casita Miramar (the waiters serve bacalaitos, deep-fried cod fritters, with loads of energy). In old San Juan, the Spoon Experience is a food tour that mixes restaurant tastings with local history.
The Dreamcatcher hotel is a hip vegetarian option for those travelling to Puerto Rico.Supplied
Thrill-seekers should visit Toro Verde Adventure Park with zipline tours, and the second-longest zipline in North America. After trekking El Yunque, kayak at night in one of the island’s three bioluminescent bays, which are home to micro-organisms that glow in the dark when paddles splash the water. Tip: Enjoy both locales with Island Journeys, which provides transportation if you don’t want to drive.
Isabela: Stay at Villa Montana Beach Resort where families can book a one- or two-bedroom villa with kitchenettes or dine on the property at Eclipse. The restaurant serves a must-try ahi tuna tartar topped with coconut, lime and cilantro and boasts accolades from Wine Spectator. Local beach adventures include surfing lessons, horseback riding and snorkeling. Get dressed up and dine at Jota in nearby Royal Isabela, which overlooks the Atlantic Ocean and offers a farm-to-table menu with fine-dining service.
The writer was a guest of Discover Puerto Rico. It did not review or approve the story before publication.