Friday Notes (Last Day in PR)

Red dots indicate beaches I visited.

Woke up late in the treehouse. Made coffee and showered. Nothing like a cold outdoor shower in the jungle to chase the New Years Eve grogginess away! Relaxed and enjoyed my coffee and the view of Rincon from the treehouse.

Packed up and headed out. Visited:
• Domes Beach & the BONUS reactor site.
• Marias Beach and the surf shop for some t-shirts

Said goodbye to Rincon and drove 45 mins to Aquadilla. Checked in at the Marriott Courtyard then went exploring various beaches (all were stunningly beautiful and virtually empty):
• Surfers Beach
• Isabella
• Crashboat
• Wilderness

Back to the hotel for a nap, then headed into Aquadilla. Found a plaza filled with people dancing to a DJ playing traditional music. Ate an empanada and drank cold beer at a cafe/bar on the plaza. It was a great last night in Puerto Rico!

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Thursday Notes (New Years Eve)

Woke up early in the trees to the sounds of birds, frogs, and other unknown critters.

Cold shower (damn solar hot water heater). Percolated a pot of coffee on the gas burner and drank it upstairs.

Ate a quick breakfast and headed into town. The waves looked good at Marias beach so I rented a board for 1/2 a day. Paddling out through the breakers was very hard - once out there I had to rest for 15 minutes before attempting my first wave. The waves were still pretty big; well over my head. A couple of times I got slammed by an early breaker.

Picked up some sea urchin splines and a coral cut on my way back in about 1:00. Cleaned up and changed, then went back to la Tropical for the lunch special: culeta frita con frijoles, arroz, y platanos maduros (2 fried pork chops, red beans & rice, and plantains) for $5.25. I could hardly eat it all!

Back the tree house for a siesta, then to Surf's Up Coffee shop for afternoon coffee, internet, and a chance the charge up my camera and laptop batteries. Met the owner Joe Souza from CT. He's been here 12 years and has been investing in property and various small businesses. He would be a great resource for vacation rentals in the future.

Watched sunset from the tree house, then headed into town for New Years Eve. Details about the evening are on another post.

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Wednesday Notes

Packed up at Beside the Point and headed out to explore Rincon. Visited the Lighthouse and the nuclear reactor dome.

Stopped at Marias Beach and watched big waves and surfers.

Explored downtown. Had lunch at El Tropical, a locals place. Had my first taste of mofongo relleno con camarones. Delicious! The lady waiting on me complimented my spanish!

Had coffee at the Surf's Up Coffee Shop (free wifi) then checked in at the Bamboo Treehouse. Had a nice chat with Joe who built his home and the two guest houses. Very friendly and interesting guy.

Later headed into town for more wave watching, then drinks at The Calypso bar on Marias Beach. Dinner (sushi) at Pools Bar with music by Fernando Ferrer. Need to look up his CD - very good! Ran into surf instructor James and his fiancée Shannon, both from Sarasotta Fl. They have been here for 6 months working for the surf school.

Stopped by the Tamboo to see what was happening. Stopped to talk to Frank the hand painted sign guy. Would buy one but too big for carry on luggage.

Called it a night and headed back to the tree house. Flashlight mandatory for the walk through the woods! Discovered something ate half of an apple I left out on the counter. Probably a fruit bat.

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Tuesday Notes

Another breakfast at La Punta Bakery.

Surfing lessons day 2 - back to Aquadilla.

Lunch at a hole in the wall cafe in downtown Aquadilla: yellow rice with peas and stewed "pulpa" or octopus. It was delicious!

After surfing I took a shower and a short nap, then headed up the hill to take some sunset photos.

Dinner at the Shipwreck Bar & Grill in Rincon for some excellent fish kabobs and draft beer.

Back at Tamboo for a beer and some blogging on the deck (where I am writing this). The warm moist breeze feels amazing! I don't want to go inside!

Giant waves are crashing on the beach - almost sounds like the roar of thunder. The waxing moon is bright in the sky. The full moon is coming on New Years Eve - a "blue moon" because it's the second full moon of the month.

This is my last night at Beside the Point. Tomorrow I go to the Bamboo Tree house where I'll stay for the next two nights (including New Years Eve).


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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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Beside the Point & “The Tamboo”

For the first three nights I am staying at “Beside the Point".  It is a small hotel / Inn associated with the Tamboo bar and  restaurant.   I ate lunch there when I arrived and the shrimp wrap was excellent!  This evening they had a traditional Puerto Rican band playing until about 9:00 PM. 



The Tamboo is an open air bar with a large deck that overhangs the beach.  It’s a surfer’s beach and the waves today were between 3’ and 6’.  It was inspiring to sit on the deck and watch the surfers catching the waves.  Later I spoke to someone at a local surf shop down the road and he said they are expecting VERY BIG surf for the next few days.



Tomorrow my surfing lessons begin with Rincon Surf School. This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time and I’m really excited to finally be getting the chance.