Puerto Rico - November (1 Viewer)

[tbcash80]

All

I shall be dragging my wife around the birding areas of noth east and south west PR later this year.

To keep me (or get me !) in her good books I need some 'nice' accommodation.

Does anyone have any recommendations for comfortable, (if not 'luxurious') hotels or guest houses with good food near to those birding areas ?

Many thanks - Mark

 

[GMK]

All

I shall be dragging my wife around the birding areas of noth east and south west PR later this year.

To keep me (or get me !) in her good books I need some 'nice' accommodation.

Does anyone have any recommendations for comfortable, (if not 'luxurious') hotels or guest houses with good food near to those birding areas ?

Many thanks - Mark

In a completely shameless plug, lots of accommodation recommendations (including suitable places to take a non-birding partner, at least in terms of them not being 'dives') can be found in the recent Gtr Antilles site guide (link below).

 

[Bob Thompson]

Sorry I can't give you any hints for accommodation, I stayed in the old city in San Juan and had a great time. You must take a trip to Guánica Dry Forest, I only spent 4 hours there but got a lot of shots. Please checkout my collection and there are some general shots in another set.

Bob

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jingbar/sets/72157623100414911/

 

[tbcash80]

In a completely shameless plug, lots of accommodation recommendations (including suitable places to take a non-birding partner, at least in terms of them not being 'dives') can be found in the recent Gtr Antilles site guide (link below).

Thanks Guy - no plug needed for this reader - had been holding my breath for your book and acquired one a couple of months ago pretty much on publication I think. Any Puerto Rican secrets not in the book (if any) appreciated ?!

Regards - Mark

 

[njlarsen]

I think most of my Puerto Rico knowledge is included in the report I uploaded a while back (see vacation forum here in BF)

Niels

 

[JSO]

Mark,

If you're interested in keeping in her good books, consider adding in a side trip to Vieques or Culebra, two smaller islands off the main island of Puerto Rico. Very laid back with beautiful beaches. They can be reached via puddle jumper or ferry. And, on the plus side, both islands have land set aside as a National Wildlife Refuge.

Enjoy your trip.

JSO

 

[BoonHogganbeck]

Rincon (located in the NW) is about an hour or so drive from Cabo Rojo / Cartagena Lagoon / Maricao respectively, (unless you hit the awful PR rush-hour gridlock).

Rincon has a number of great guest houses, hotels, beaches, good food, etc. Plus the casinos in Mayaguez are close by. The town itself is built around the sport-fishing/surfing industry and has a small population of US ex-pats. Of all the places on the PR's west coast, I think it's probably the best to place to stay. The fields/horse trails near the Rincon lighthouse (though small) are also a very decent place to bird, and much of my PR bird list can be attributed to this area.

If you interested in the elfin woods warbler, I have been able to find them in Maricao. I have never been to the east coast of PR (even though I have been to PR a few dozen times). But I have heard that Elfins are much easier find in Maricao than in the rain forests. The trail down the mountain at Maricao is quite steep, but a good number of PRs endemics can be found here--Cuckoo, Tanger, Vireo, Woodpecker, Tody, Mango, etc.

Cartagena Lagoon is a great place for West Indian Whistling Ducks and Purple Gallinule. I found the gallinule shy, but if you duck into the provided bird blind and sit tight for a while, quite a few of them will emerge from the nearby reeds.

 

[tbcash80]

Thanks Guy - no plug needed for this reader - had been holding my breath for your book and acquired one a couple of months ago pretty much on publication I think. Any Puerto Rican secrets not in the book (if any) appreciated ?!

Regards - Mark

Dear all

After all my web investigation, it seems that with only 3 or 4 days available, concentrating on the west side seems to be the thing to do - Maricao/Guanica/La Parguera. I have seen some fairly terrible reports on Hacienda Juanita near Maricao, but like the look of Casa Grande near Utuado (or possibly Parador Villa Parguera.)

Would be really helpful if anyone had stayed at any of these and could give any thoughts on convenience of location to main west side birding locations.

Many thanks - Mark

 

[njlarsen]

I do agree that for my money, most of the good birding is in the west end.

We did stay at Hacienda Juanita, but a while back; at that time I enjoyed the stay. We switched accommodation for the lowland and the Maricao birding, the km are not a lot but the roads are narrow and windy and you always risk meeting a local in the wrong side of the road in a curve, so you cannot go very fast. I have not stayed in Parador Villa Parguera; it certainly seemed to have a nice location, but there are several hotels in that area and some resort type places along the coast by Guanica, of which we stayed in one. It is easy to go from Guanica to Parguera, but I would spend most of my lowland time in the Guanica reserve.

Niels