<strong>Welcome to Puerto Rico:</strong> Puerto Rico is slowly recovering from one of the most destructive and deadly storms in the island's history. For a dozen ways to discover Puerto Rico, click through this gallery of photos taken before Hurricane Maria.
Welcome to Puerto Rico: Puerto Rico is slowly recovering from one of the most destructive and deadly storms in the island's history. For a dozen ways to discover Puerto Rico, click through this gallery of photos taken before Hurricane Maria.
Courtesy Carlos Rivera Anaya, See Puerto Rico
<strong>Stroll 500-year-old streets: </strong>A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Old San Juan was founded by the Spanish in 1521 as one of the first European-style settlements in the New World. Its warren of narrow streets, paved with distinctive blue cobblestones made from iron ship ballast, are lined with historic palaces and churches, as well as hip hotels, restaurants and bars.
Stroll 500-year-old streets: A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Old San Juan was founded by the Spanish in 1521 as one of the first European-style settlements in the New World. Its warren of narrow streets, paved with distinctive blue cobblestones made from iron ship ballast, are lined with historic palaces and churches, as well as hip hotels, restaurants and bars.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
<strong>Clamber over forts:</strong> Two of the largest fortifications ever built in the Western Hemisphere, El Morro and San Cristobal citadels protected San Juan from attack by sea and land until the Spanish-American War of 1898, when the stout limestone walls proved no match for modern naval weapons. Today the forts are a national historic site.
Clamber over forts: Two of the largest fortifications ever built in the Western Hemisphere, El Morro and San Cristobal citadels protected San Juan from attack by sea and land until the Spanish-American War of 1898, when the stout limestone walls proved no match for modern naval weapons. Today the forts are a national historic site.
Courtesy See Puerto Rico
<strong>Dance to "Despacito":</strong> The video to the record-smashing song "Despacito" was filmed in barrio la Perla, founded in the early 1800s when San Juan's city fathers moved the municipal cemetery and slaughterhouse out of the old town for health reasons. The one-time shantytown — with its coat of many colors — is now a dynamic hub for Puerto Rican art and music.
Dance to "Despacito": The video to the record-smashing song "Despacito" was filmed in barrio la Perla, founded in the early 1800s when San Juan's city fathers moved the municipal cemetery and slaughterhouse out of the old town for health reasons. The one-time shantytown — with its coat of many colors — is now a dynamic hub for Puerto Rican art and music.
Ricardo Arduengo/AFP/Getty Images
<strong>Bungle through the jungle:</strong> The only tropical rainforest managed by the US Forest Service, El Yunque is a wonderland of Caribbean flora and fauna just an hour's drive from San Juan. Despite severe damage from the 2017 hurricanes, lower parts of the park are open again to visitors. Trails lead to secluded waterfalls, through jungle valleys and mountaintops with views all the way to the coast. El Yunque also shelters 16 species of coqui frog and the rare Puerto Rican Amazon parrot.
Bungle through the jungle: The only tropical rainforest managed by the US Forest Service, El Yunque is a wonderland of Caribbean flora and fauna just an hour's drive from San Juan. Despite severe damage from the 2017 hurricanes, lower parts of the park are open again to visitors. Trails lead to secluded waterfalls, through jungle valleys and mountaintops with views all the way to the coast. El Yunque also shelters 16 species of coqui frog and the rare Puerto Rican Amazon parrot.
Courtesy See Puerto Rico
<strong>Scuba or kayak the Spanish Virgins:</strong> The small isles floating off Puerto Rico's east coast are collectively called the Spanish Virgin Islands. For years Vieques and Culebra islands were military bases largely off limits to the public. But with the Navy gone, it's now possible to explore their pristine beaches, bioluminescent bays and coral reefs. Ferry service from mainland Puerto Rico and between the two islands was suspended after the hurricanes but is now fully operational.
Scuba or kayak the Spanish Virgins: The small isles floating off Puerto Rico's east coast are collectively called the Spanish Virgin Islands. For years Vieques and Culebra islands were military bases largely off limits to the public. But with the Navy gone, it's now possible to explore their pristine beaches, bioluminescent bays and coral reefs. Ferry service from mainland Puerto Rico and between the two islands was suspended after the hurricanes but is now fully operational.
Courtesy See Puerto Rico
<strong>Admire unexpected art and architecture:</strong> Ponce, metropolis of the south coast, is renowned for art and architecture. The city's cultural district is splashed with colorful Ponce Creole-style mansions, churches and public buildings. With the best collection of European art in Latin America, the Museo de Arte de Ponce is a national treasure. And that doesn't even get into the tropical-flavored concoctions at King's Cream Helados on the main plaza. <br />
Admire unexpected art and architecture: Ponce, metropolis of the south coast, is renowned for art and architecture. The city's cultural district is splashed with colorful Ponce Creole-style mansions, churches and public buildings. With the best collection of European art in Latin America, the Museo de Arte de Ponce is a national treasure. And that doesn't even get into the tropical-flavored concoctions at King's Cream Helados on the main plaza.
Joe Yogerst for CNN
<strong>Munch mofongo and amarillos:</strong> Long overshadowed by other Caribbean food cultures, Puerto Rican food is finally gaining the recognition it deserves as a distinctive, delicious national cuisine. Restaurants like Mario Pagan and Cocina Abierta in San Juan have elevated local food to new heights. Traditionalists still head for the hills -- barbecue joints like Lechonera Los Pinos in Guavate -- where the pork comes a dozen different ways with mofongo and amarillos.
Munch mofongo and amarillos: Long overshadowed by other Caribbean food cultures, Puerto Rican food is finally gaining the recognition it deserves as a distinctive, delicious national cuisine. Restaurants like Mario Pagan and Cocina Abierta in San Juan have elevated local food to new heights. Traditionalists still head for the hills -- barbecue joints like Lechonera Los Pinos in Guavate -- where the pork comes a dozen different ways with mofongo and amarillos.
Joe Yogerst for CNN
<strong>Relish the endless summer:</strong> With as many as 1,200 beaches scattered along 311 miles of coastline, sun seekers could visit a different Puerto Rican beach every day for three years and still not see them all. From the vibrant South Beach vibe of Condado Beach to the secluded sands of Cabo Rojo, the island's beaches offer enough variety to meet just about every surf, sun and sand fantasy.
Relish the endless summer: With as many as 1,200 beaches scattered along 311 miles of coastline, sun seekers could visit a different Puerto Rican beach every day for three years and still not see them all. From the vibrant South Beach vibe of Condado Beach to the secluded sands of Cabo Rojo, the island's beaches offer enough variety to meet just about every surf, sun and sand fantasy.
Courtesy See Puerto Rico
<strong>Go surfing:</strong> Iconic surf breaks are scattered around the island, especially on the north shore and west end, where monster waves roll in from the open Atlantic. The Corona Pro Surf Circuit, which plays out each year at various spots around the island, is the Caribbean's premier surfing series. Plenty of local surf shops rent boards and offer surfing lessons.
Go surfing: Iconic surf breaks are scattered around the island, especially on the north shore and west end, where monster waves roll in from the open Atlantic. The Corona Pro Surf Circuit, which plays out each year at various spots around the island, is the Caribbean's premier surfing series. Plenty of local surf shops rent boards and offer surfing lessons.
Courtesy Rafael Buxeda Diaz/See Puerto Rico
<strong>Grip it and rip it:</strong> Tee off at some of the best golf courses in the Caribbean, the fairways lined with coconut palms and greens that sprawl beside the deep blue sea. The island's 26 links range from the Rio Bayamon Golf Course in metro San Juan (where you can play a round of 18 for as little as $30) to the double championship courses (Ocean and River) at the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar.
Grip it and rip it: Tee off at some of the best golf courses in the Caribbean, the fairways lined with coconut palms and greens that sprawl beside the deep blue sea. The island's 26 links range from the Rio Bayamon Golf Course in metro San Juan (where you can play a round of 18 for as little as $30) to the double championship courses (Ocean and River) at the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar.
Courtesy Victor Elias/Wyndham Hotels & Resorts
<strong>Try to make contact:</strong> It took several months to recover from the storms, but visitors are welcome again five days a week at a mountaintop observatory that uses the Arecibo Radio Telescope -- the world's second largest single-aperture telescope for radio astronomy, atmospheric studies and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence project.
Try to make contact: It took several months to recover from the storms, but visitors are welcome again five days a week at a mountaintop observatory that uses the Arecibo Radio Telescope -- the world's second largest single-aperture telescope for radio astronomy, atmospheric studies and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence project.
Courtesy NAIC/Arecibo Observatory
<strong>Sip coladas and other cocktails:</strong> One of Puerto Rico's longest and hottest debates is who invented the piña colada, a cocktail that combines rum, coconut cream and pineapple juice. Both the Beachcomber Bar at the Caribe Hilton (scheduled to reopen this summer) and Barrachina Restaurant in Old San Juan claim ownership of the fruity libation. The island even has a National Piña Colada Day (July 10). Puerto Rico's other homegrown cocktail is "El Borincano" (rum, amaretto, cointreau and pineapple)
Sip coladas and other cocktails: One of Puerto Rico's longest and hottest debates is who invented the piña colada, a cocktail that combines rum, coconut cream and pineapple juice. Both the Beachcomber Bar at the Caribe Hilton (scheduled to reopen this summer) and Barrachina Restaurant in Old San Juan claim ownership of the fruity libation. The island even has a National Piña Colada Day (July 10). Puerto Rico's other homegrown cocktail is "El Borincano" (rum, amaretto, cointreau and pineapple)
Courtesy See Puerto Rico