Living in Southern California has alot of advantages; the weather, the beaches, but the longer I live there the more I see how the traffic and high costs of living take the joy from what could be paradise. My ,wife Cyndi has lived in Cancun and the Bermuda and wanted to get back to the Caribbean and we have looked into moving to Hawaii (too expensive) and Mexico and Central America (too risky).
So in February 2009 we planned a weeklong trip with the $400 roundtrip ticket probably the biggest deciding factor in choosing Puerto Rico. Of course the fact that Puerto Rico is part of the US and the currency is the same and there aren't any problems with purchasing real estate made us want to see if we could be happy there. We didn't really know what to expect and things got off to a bad start when our flight was cancelled out of LAX. We almost decided then and there not to go, thankfully we didn't.
The first night we stayed in San Juan at a small, B&B type of place that was cheap, but somewhat depressing. We ate dinner at a restaurant specializing in Puerto Rican food and I had my firs taste of Mofungo, the natonal dish that is mashed up plantains and garlic and it was ok, but the whole experience of the first day was underwhelming, I was looking forward to getting out of San Juan and seeing the rest of the island.
The next morning we drove to Ponce, on the southern side of the island. The road was a nice wide toll highway (get quarters before you leave San Juan) and it took us about 40 minutes, but we decided to keep driving and get to our next destination which was a place called Combate Beach, also on the southern side of the island, but west from Ponce.
Finding the Combate Beach Hotel was a little difficult, but the proprietor gave us great directions and fed us a fantastic meal. He was very nice and the room was much better than the previous night in San Juan. The beach was beautiful, perfect for swimming and a 2 minute walk from the hotel. The water was warm and the surf was nonexistent, great for families and older folks, but not what we were looking for.
So the next morning we set out north for Isabella, with a short stop in a town called Rincon. The drive was beautiful, small two-lane roads, but amazing scenery and the turnoff to Rincon was a road with a canopy of Mango trees. When we stopped at a small bakery called EC Bakery to get some coffee, I wasn't sure if we had reached Rincon or not. Looking around the flyers we saw one for an inn in Rincon called The Lazy Parrot (http://www.lazyparrot.com/). Little did we know it at the time, but this was one of those moments that would change our lives forever. We decided to check out the Lazy Parrot's rates and after a phone call and another beautiful drive along palm studded coastline and into the hills overlooking the beach, we found ourselves at this "mini resort" with reasonable rates and a pool and bar that we couldn't resist.
We spent the next 2 days in Rincon, discovering the surf town we've always wished we could own a home in, but could never afford. The beaches had it all, beautiful waves, sand, palms, sunsets and warm water. There were trees everywhere and winding roads through hills that gave way to incredible ocean vistas and a large North American population that seemed to blend well with the locals.
After 2 days we decided to head to Isabella and the beaches and surf that we had heard so much about, just north of Rincon. We stayed at the Parador Villas Del Mar Hau, a bunch of bungalows spread along a beautiful bay with a swimming beach and surfing nearby. They also have horse riding and a beachfront restaurant. Any other time, we would have been happy there, but we had just come from our destiny and we knew it. We spent 2 nights in Isabella and drove back down to Rincon to finish our vacation and possibly look at some property.
So in February 2009 we planned a weeklong trip with the $400 roundtrip ticket probably the biggest deciding factor in choosing Puerto Rico. Of course the fact that Puerto Rico is part of the US and the currency is the same and there aren't any problems with purchasing real estate made us want to see if we could be happy there. We didn't really know what to expect and things got off to a bad start when our flight was cancelled out of LAX. We almost decided then and there not to go, thankfully we didn't.
The first night we stayed in San Juan at a small, B&B type of place that was cheap, but somewhat depressing. We ate dinner at a restaurant specializing in Puerto Rican food and I had my firs taste of Mofungo, the natonal dish that is mashed up plantains and garlic and it was ok, but the whole experience of the first day was underwhelming, I was looking forward to getting out of San Juan and seeing the rest of the island.
The next morning we drove to Ponce, on the southern side of the island. The road was a nice wide toll highway (get quarters before you leave San Juan) and it took us about 40 minutes, but we decided to keep driving and get to our next destination which was a place called Combate Beach, also on the southern side of the island, but west from Ponce.
Finding the Combate Beach Hotel was a little difficult, but the proprietor gave us great directions and fed us a fantastic meal. He was very nice and the room was much better than the previous night in San Juan. The beach was beautiful, perfect for swimming and a 2 minute walk from the hotel. The water was warm and the surf was nonexistent, great for families and older folks, but not what we were looking for.
So the next morning we set out north for Isabella, with a short stop in a town called Rincon. The drive was beautiful, small two-lane roads, but amazing scenery and the turnoff to Rincon was a road with a canopy of Mango trees. When we stopped at a small bakery called EC Bakery to get some coffee, I wasn't sure if we had reached Rincon or not. Looking around the flyers we saw one for an inn in Rincon called The Lazy Parrot (http://www.lazyparrot.com/). Little did we know it at the time, but this was one of those moments that would change our lives forever. We decided to check out the Lazy Parrot's rates and after a phone call and another beautiful drive along palm studded coastline and into the hills overlooking the beach, we found ourselves at this "mini resort" with reasonable rates and a pool and bar that we couldn't resist.
We spent the next 2 days in Rincon, discovering the surf town we've always wished we could own a home in, but could never afford. The beaches had it all, beautiful waves, sand, palms, sunsets and warm water. There were trees everywhere and winding roads through hills that gave way to incredible ocean vistas and a large North American population that seemed to blend well with the locals.
After 2 days we decided to head to Isabella and the beaches and surf that we had heard so much about, just north of Rincon. We stayed at the Parador Villas Del Mar Hau, a bunch of bungalows spread along a beautiful bay with a swimming beach and surfing nearby. They also have horse riding and a beachfront restaurant. Any other time, we would have been happy there, but we had just come from our destiny and we knew it. We spent 2 nights in Isabella and drove back down to Rincon to finish our vacation and possibly look at some property.
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