Boqueron Puerto Rico

After three months in the Dominican Republic, Wanderlust was heading back to our homeland... kind of. We were heading to Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico is a gorgeous Caribbean island situated to the east of the DR, and is a territory of the United States resulting from the Spanish-American war in 1898. However Puerto Rican culture, cuisine and people are a world away from the US midwest where Ben and I grew up. We arrived to the shores of Puerto Rico in early summer, looking forward to a change of pace, and couldn't wait to get to know this beautiful island.

Our first landing in PR was the colorful and vibrant port of Boqueron on the western coast. From there, because we're US citizens, we were able to check in with US customs over the phone istead of visiting an immigration office - pretty sweet - which gave us plenty of time to tour the city.

We'd heard Boqueron was famous for it's weekend bohemian crowd, and college age bargoers, but we really got a good taste of it when we happened to arrive during the Boqueron Pride Parade (of course I forgot my camera!) We were welcomed by loads of partiers wearing colorful rainbow flags, dressed in drag, drinking sangrias and Medallas, pumping loud Caribbean music and celebrating throghout the streets. Although Ben and I were a little exhausted from our long Mona Passage, we still shared a few drinks on our first night in town with the party animals, because it wasn't an event we could miss!

The next day, when the event was over, we headed back for another tour to try to see Boqueron on normal day. We found several cute beach bars and restaurants, and the place reminded us of South Padre Island, Ft. Lauderdale, or any other stateside beach town. The streets were clean, the town was tidy, the beer was cold and prices were high - a sure sign we were back on US territory.

We proceeded to eat our way through Boqueron, stopping first for made-to-order "empanadillas," a fried turnover filled with yummy beef, chicken, or seafood. The lobster empanadillas were our favorite, but chicken and crab were close seconds. Next on the menu were oysters and clams, served fresh streetside with a dash hommade pinapple salsa picante. We made sure to wash it down with a cold sangria and a Medalla beer.

Boqueron's public beach was absolutely fabulous, kept tidy and safe as a public service. It was a huge improvement from the litter covered beaches we saw throghout the DR, where, although beautiful, we often worried of stepping on a glass bottle in the shallows or catching a fishing hook in Ruca's paw. There, we saw styrofoam containers and plastic cups washed ashore more often than sea shells. In Boqueron, we were so happy to see responsible and respectful tourists using the wastebaskets, drinking from cans instead of glass bottles, and even using the recycling bin!

We spent two days enjoying the well kept beaches, packed with local families on summer break and a few leftover partiers from the prior weekend's celebration.

Boqueron had given us an excellent welcome to Puerto Rico, and we were ready to continue our journey towards the southeast, to see what the southern coast had to offer. With our fridge full of Medalla beer and sangria gasolina pouches, Wanderlust set sail towards Ponce, Puerto Rico.

Thanks for Reading,

Ben, Quinn and Ruca

#destinations #PuertoRico