Upon entering the harbor in San Juan, Martin and I were in for a surprise. We spotted a whale, which was an incredible sight for us since we had never seen one before. Although we couldn’t capture it on camera, we saw it breaching and even witnessed the classic tail slapping. It was an unforgettable and thrilling experience that left us in awe.
In San Juan, we found that there was only one main anchorage available, and options were limited in the surrounding area. the anchorage had mud in the bottom and was placed within an excavated channel that was situated between two marinas. Unfortunately, the dinghy dock was located at a not-so-friendly marina, and we were charged 11.5 USD just to moor there for a day. Adding to the challenge, Old San Juan was quite far away from our location. One day, we decided to take a walk there and discovered the beautiful, historic streets with their cobblestones and Art Deco-style terraced houses. We visited two forts, Castilo San Felipe del Morro and Castillo San Cristobal, which offered incredible views of the city and ocean.
We had never visited forts on the Caribbean Islands before, so we thought it would be a great opportunity for the kids to learn about the area’s history and the importance of the many forts located throughout the islands. It was also an educational experience for us, as we learned that Puerto Rico had actually been independent for 40 years before becoming an American territory.
After exploring the city and forts, we walked around to find a good restaurant for dinner. We were fortunate to discover a delicious local eatery with a great atmosphere. The end of the day, we did some grocery-shopping and walked the 3.5 kilometers back to our boat, which was tiring but well worth the effort to see Old San Juan. By the end of the evening, we had taken 27,000 steps according to our pedometer and were all exhausted.
Following our time in San Juan, we spent a single night at anchor further west along the northern coast of Puerto Rico. Here, we picked up a hitchhiker who joined us on our journey to the Dominican Republic.
