New Years Eve in Rincon

It was a fun night that started off with me accidentally crashing a wedding party at the Rock Bottom Casa Verde bar.  I didn't realize it was a private party; the security guard assumed I was part of the wedding party and let me walk right in.  When I tried to pay for my beer at the bar the bartender looked at me kind of funny and said, “It’s an open bar!”  He explained it was a wedding party and said, “Hey man, enjoy!”.

I stayed only long enough to finished my beer.  For years the bride and groom will be wondering who that guy was in the backgound of several group photos! I have to say – WHAT A GREAT PLACE FOR A WEDDING PARTY!


Since I hadn’t been able to eat at the RBVC, I decided to grab some sushi at the Pool Bar.  It was still early so the place was pretty empty.  I had a chance to chat with the owner, a gringo who had moved to Rincon and bought the bar years ago.  It’s a family business with his wife and daughter who all help out in the bar, restaurant, and the Inn with a few rooms right across the street from Pools Beach, a well-known surfer beach.   The sushi is superb!

The movie screen behind the stage plays '50's and '60's retro surfing movies 24/7, and they make great fresh mohitos! They also have a grill and do kabobs and steaks.  The guy next to at the bar was wolfing down a steak kabob and was raving about it.  He had just arrived with a one-way ticket on the afternoon JetBlue flight into Aquadilla.  He had no idea how long he was going to stay.  He was a commercial painter and surfer and planned to stay as long as his money lasted, picking up odd jobs to extend his funds.


After dinner I headed back to the RBCV (the wedding party was over at 9:00 PM).  The place was busy, but not quite the place to ring in the New Year (no live music or dancing).  I met two ladies (former college room mates), Pam from PA and Amanda from NY who had also just arrived in Roncon.  Amanda works for JetBlue and is a frequent Rincon visitor.  She said “The Spot” on the beach by the marina was supposed to be good.  They were without a car so I offered a ride if they would show me the way.


The Spot was great!  It is right on the beach with an indoor section, a covered open air section, and a patio.  There was a punk rock surfer band playing and they got carried away and played through the stroke of midnight!  No one seemed to care (time is pretty much irrelevant in Rincon) that they did the countdown at 2 minutes past the hour.

I ran into James and Inda, two of my surfing instructors, and Shannon, James’ fiancée, and I rang in the New year with them. After midnight I wanted to check out the Tamboo because several local people I’d met told me that was the place to be, so I left the girls from PA and NY and the surfers and headed to Tamboo.



Tamboo was definitely rocking!  A Puerto Rican band was playing and they had roasted a pig (a PR tradition).  Everyone was eating, drinking, and dancing.

The contrast between “The Spot” and “Tamboo” was what my vacation was all about: the Puerto Rican version of traditional Latin America, and the hard core surfing culture.  They happily coexist and compliment one another in Rincon.




Back to the Bamboo Treehouse.  Morning comes early when you’re sleeping in the trees – the birds don’t seem to care that it’s a new year and a new decade.

It was a New Year’s Eve to remember!

Monday Notes

Up at 0630 ready to surf!

Drove up the hill to La Punta Bakery. Waited in line with the locals to order my "sandwich de huevos, queso, y hamon" with a large "cafe". Ate the fantastic egg sandwich on lightly grilled cuban bread with a steaming hot Puerto Rican coffee. The cost: $3.75. I got another large coffee to go and that set me back another $0.75.

At Rincon Surf & Board I was greeted by Alexandra and Brian who run the place. There were about 10 of us for lessons and after loading the boards on top of a minivan and SUV we headed up to Aquadilla. They chose that location because the surf was too big in Rincon (12 to 15 feet).

I'll add more about surfing later.

Back to Rincon in the afternoon. Teamed up with Annette from Houston (another student) for a couple of hours and drove around to all the Rincon surfers beaches (there are about a dozen) to watch the pros tackle the huge waves.

Dinner on the deck at Tamboo. Annette headed back to Aquadilla where she was staying. I took a nap and later checked out the night life at the Calypso Bar, and La Casa Verde.

There was live music at the Calypso. La Casa Verde is a surfer and turista hangout. I had some fun and interesting conversations with a few locals who seemed appreciative that I was making the effort the speak Spanish. They told me jobs for locals are few and they survive on the money that surfing and tourism brings into the community.


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