IN SHORT
Puerto Rico's nickname is the "Island of Enchantment" and I've also heard it described as "Latin America for beginners". I think both are true, and great reasons for visiting. You can get a feel for Latin America--the colorful art, welcoming culture, upbeat music, tasty food--without having to be fluent in Spanish, think about currency conversions, get a passport, or worry about avoiding drinking the water or flushing the toilet paper! And for being such a small island (almost all the other cities on the island are a two hour drive or less from San Juan), there are so many awesome things--forts from the golden age of piracy, Spanish colonial architecture, El Yunque rainforest, art museums, the world's largest radio telescope, coral reefs and beaches, caves full of pre-Columbian Taino carvings, bioluminescent bays... I could go on, but basically it really is the la Isla del Encanto.
Puerto Rico's nickname is the "Island of Enchantment" and I've also heard it described as "Latin America for beginners". I think both are true, and great reasons for visiting. You can get a feel for Latin America--the colorful art, welcoming culture, upbeat music, tasty food--without having to be fluent in Spanish, think about currency conversions, get a passport, or worry about avoiding drinking the water or flushing the toilet paper! And for being such a small island (almost all the other cities on the island are a two hour drive or less from San Juan), there are so many awesome things--forts from the golden age of piracy, Spanish colonial architecture, El Yunque rainforest, art museums, the world's largest radio telescope, coral reefs and beaches, caves full of pre-Columbian Taino carvings, bioluminescent bays... I could go on, but basically it really is the la Isla del Encanto.