Jaunted

Getting There:
Via SJU:

Approximately 10 million tourists arrive at San Juan's Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport each year. Direct flights from the states can be had via Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dulles, Miami, Newark and Philadelphia. San Juan is 3.5 hours by air from Boston.

When you arrive at SJU, expect a large rather slow moving taxi line. If you can't stand such things after a long flight, make alternate arrangements in advance--you have been warned.

Via PSE:
Since 2005, you can also hop a flight from JFK to Ponce via JetBlue. Located in the South, Ponce is Puerto Rico's second city, though it has recently been building a bit of travel buzz thanks to the New York Times, et al. We thought about a day trip to Ponce, however it is almost two hours of driving, straight through the mountainous middle of the island, so we passed.

Lay of the Land:
Puerto Rico is bigger than you think at 110 miles by 35 miles. The island does have a fairly up-to-date highway system, so if you want to tour the north, west, south and east portions of the island you will need to rent a car. Charlie Car Rental will hook you up with a decent car--we bagged a newish Toyota Corolla--for about $25 a day. Charlie has a couple outposts in San Juan. Without a car you will be sequestered to your resort or hotel and the immediate surrounding area and/or the tour options your hotel or resort offers.

The Status Of Puerto Rico:
You know what is odd? No one here seems to know for sure. The basics are simple enough: Puerto Rico is not a state, but it is not simply a territory either.

Puerto Rico is an unincorporated organized territory of the United States, granted commonwealth status in 1952. Oh and get this, somehow Massachusetts governs Puerto Rico. What does that mean? Who knows?!

But we know for instance, that as laws are passed in Boston, they trickle down to Puerto Rico for debate and ratification. For instance, today the Puerto Rican government was debating Proposition 99, which is similar to the same-sex marriage, er, civil unions law, in Massachusetts.

This commonwealth status allows PR self-government, sort of. It was allowed to establish a Constitution for its internal administration and to handle matters of purely local concern, but "matters of currency, defense, external relations, interstate commerce" are within the jurisdiction of the U.S. federal government.

So while this is all incredibly confusing, three things are clear:

1) No passport is needed for U.S. citizens to travel to Puerto Rico and there are plenty of direct flights from the East coast.

2) USPS is everywhere, so you can mail a letter with US postage on the island.

3) Puerto Rico is a part of Red Sox nation, and somehow somewhat mysteriously tied to Massachusetts local government. While we couldn't get a straight answer on this, we know that the bulk of folks here are huge Sox fans.

Related Stories:
· Puerto Rico Travel Guide Map [Jaunted]

[Ponce Photo: Oquendo]

Tags: Getting There / Puerto-Rico-Travel-Guide-Map / Island Travel / Jaunted Field Trips

by markj