Exploring Aquadilla, Puerto Rico

I enjoyed Aquadilla because it is a more traditional Puerto Rican town than Rincon. 

On my last night I stayed at the Marriott Courtyard near the airport.  I planned to eat in the hotel, but decided at the last  minute that it was just too sterile; I can eat at a Marriott anytime.  Instead I headed into town.  I found a plaza on the beach with a DJ playing traditional music and people dancing.  The plaza was lined with small open air bars that served light food – perfect!  I planted my self at one and enjoyed a cold beer and an empanada de carne (beef empanada – a deep fried pastry filled with ground beef).

Around Rincon and Aquadilla the hills come right up to the coast.  As a result, roads down to the beaches are steep and winding.  At every one there’s a sign entering and exiting the Tsunami danger zone.  The idea is to run like hell to get above the sign when there’s a Tsunami alert!

I spent the afternoon driving around checking out the beaches around Aquadilla.  For the most part they are rocky with patches of sand, empty, and beautiful!  Here are some photos:



Crashboat Beach













Wilderness Beach













Surfers Beach (5 minutes from Aquadilla Airport and near the Surf Zone surf shop)

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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Rincon Surf School (Rincon Surf & Board)

The folks at Rincon Surf School (also known as Rincon Surf & Board) were my tutors and guides for my first two days of surfing.  Their focus is on safety, fun, and learning.  It was the best money I could have spent!  Not only did they help me improve my surfing, they took care of transportation to and from the beach, the surfboard, and the selection of the best beach for each day.  Beach selection, it turns out, is critical because there are dozens of surf breaks around Rincon.

Me after two great days of lessons at Rincon Surf School.  

By the end of the second day I was able to consistently stand on the board and ride the face of a breaking wave to the beach.  I'm still having trouble with turning and catching larger waves.  Not bad after a 30+ year interruption in my surfing!



This week the swell at most of the best known places was anywhere from 6 to 20 feet!  That’s great if you are a professional surfer or a spectator, but completely unsafe for anyone else to be in the water.

Brian runs the place with the assistance of Alexandra.  In additional to Brian, two other instructors James and Edna took care of my group of 10 to 12 students.  The students ranged from a family of five with no surfing experience to a few people with a bit of experience.

A random surfer on Maria Beach, Rincon

Sunset Over Rincon

Sunset at one of my favorite spots in Rincon. Palm trees, waves, and painted sky.

The View from the Treehouse

I've only slept in a treehouse once before (cat rescue story - ask me about that another time). It was nothing like this!

This will be an experience to remember.


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Staying at Beside the Point

I spent three nights at Beside the Point, the hotel attached to the Tamboo Bar & Grill.  I was a little concerned that noise from the bar would keep me awake, but it really was not a problem.  They had a band one night that finished about 9:00 PM then had music until very late (way past my bed time!).  My room was on the front side of the building and I could barely hear the music. The air conditioner probably helped because it offered some background white noise.
My room (#3) is the door to the left of the white car.  As you can see I was only about 50 steps from the bar, and 60 steps from the beach.
The room was no frills but clean and comfortable.  it had a TV (never turned it on), a small refrigerator, private bath with shower, air conditioner, and a full size bed.  It also had plenty of electrical outlets for charging personal electronics. 

My only criticisms are the lack of coin operated washer and dryer for guests, and the early morning visits by various delivery trucks and garbage pickup.  Each morning at about 7:00 AM the recycling truck would arrive, bringing with it the crashing sounds of barrels of glass bottles being dumped into the truck.  A few minutes later the normal garbage truck would stop by, and after that delivery trucks for the bar and restaurant.  I was up most days before 7:00 AM, but on the last day I tried to sleep.  That was a futile exercise because of the noise.

The view from the Tamboo was great.  It was relaxing just to sit on the deck sipping a beer and watching the waves, the palm trees blowing in the breeze, and the surfers.

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.

Amazing Contrast

I am simply amazed that a person (in this case me) can wake up in New York, walk out the door into a freezing rain, and have lunch on the deck of a tiki bar in the caribbean while watching surfers tackle 6 foot perfectly curling emerald colored waves, with the late, great Bob Marley singing in the background.

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