10 Must-Know Things About Visiting San Juan Puerto Rico

Last updated on June 26, 2025

San Juan is a hub for most visitors in Puerto Rico. It’s the capital, the largest city, and home to Puerto Rico’s international airport. Its prime location along the northeast coast means it’s also home to gorgeous beaches in addition to the offerings of any big international city – fantastic restaurants, bars, and museums.

Having never been before, I had so many questions about visiting San Juan Puerto Rico from where to stay, how long I should spend there, safety, money, and things to do with my time. It can be overwhelming!

After countless of hours of research and first-hand experience from our trip, I’m sharing 10 things I feel every traveler should know before visiting San Juan Puerto Rico. Hopefully, this information will help you plan your dream Caribbean trip to San Juan Puerto Rico with ease.

➡ Read Next: The Perfect 3 Day Itinerary for San Juan Puerto Rico ⬅

General things to know when visiting San Juan Puerto Rico

Here are some general things to know about visiting San Juan Puerto Rico. One important item is that Puerto Rico is a U.S. Commonwealth and visitors from the United States don’t need a passport to come here.

• 🇵🇷 Classification: It is its own country, but is a U.S. Territory and follows U.S. federal laws.
• 🗣️ Language: Spanish is the official language. However, most people will be fluent in English. We had zero issues talking to people in English there.
• 🛂 Passport: You can travel to Puerto Rico without a passport if you are a US citizen. All other passport holders will need a passport to travel here.
• 💲 Currency: USD. Cards are accepted in most places. Have a travel credit card with no international fees. However, we did use cash for tipping.
• 📱Cell Phone: Most North American cell phone providers will work without issue in Puerto Rico because it is a U.S. Territory. Check with your provider beforehand, but all US carriers should work without roaming or fees.
• 💧 Tap Water: You can drink tap water in San Juan. However, it is recommended it goes through a filter. Our Airbnb had a Brita filter for us and most restaurants and bars will ask if you prefer filtered or tap water.
• ⏰ Time Zone: AST Atlantic Standard Time (one hour ahead of Eastern Standard Time).
• 🔌 Electricity: Same as in the USA, no converter is needed.

The best time to visit San Juan Puerto Rico

There are two main seasons in Puerto Rico, a wet season and a dry season. The dry season lasts from November to mid-April. May and September are the rainiest months and June ushers in hurricane season. Hurricane season officially ends in October making November to April the ideal time for visiting San Juan Puerto Rico.

We visited in early May and we hoped this shoulder season would have fewer crowds and still favorable weather. Unfortunately, it down-poured every afternoon causing our trip to El Yunque to be canceled twice due to flash flooding. If you don’t want it to rain on your parade, visit San Juan between November and April.

Is San Juan safe?

San Juan is a safe city. Petty crimes like minor theft, particularly with parked cars can happen here. But crime is no more of a concern than other popular European cities. There are areas of town, like parts of Santurce and La Perla that you shouldn’t walk around alone at night or with expensive items like camera equipment.

However, we were told by locals not to meander around in these areas. You should ideally be with a local or just take an Uber to your final destination. We had zero issues with safety during our week-long trip, even with a very expensive camera strapped to our hip.

🚑 Don’t forget travel insurance! San Juan is safe to visit, but we always have travel insurance to cover the what-ifs including trip interruptions. Get a free quote from Safety Wing here.

How long should you spend in San Juan?

Most people visiting San Juan Puerto Rico stay for a weekend. Three days is a nice amount of time to escape to the Caribbean and get a feel for the city. If you want more time to explore the nearby areas or do epic day trips you’ll want to stay five to seven days.

We spent a week in the city, which included a day trip to Fajarado and ideally, a day trip to El Yunque. We felt one week was perfect for our travel style. We film our content which takes a long time and we like to move at a slower pace. If relaxing days on the beach or at your hotel are high on your bucket list, more time is better when visiting San Juan Puerto Rico.

➡ Read Next: 7 Epic Day Trips from San Juan Puerto Rico 🏨 ⬅

You can also explore some of the top day trips and activities in the San Juan area below!

Where to stay in San Juan

San Juan is huge. It’s estimated roughly 76% of Puerto Rico’s population lives in San Juan making its borders vast.

Top 3 hotels in San Juan

• Decanter Hotel (Old San Juan) ⭐⭐⭐⭐, 8.4 rating
• Casa Wilson ⭐⭐⭐⭐, 8.4 rating
• San Juan Marriot ⭐⭐⭐⭐, 8.4 rating
  Explore all hotels >

We split our time between Old San Juan and Mirimar, but don’t necessarily recommend you do the same. To see our recommendations for different budgets and your travel styles, read our in-depth post about the neighborhoods of San Juan below.

➡ Read Next: Where to Stay in San Juan Puerto Rico 🏨 ⬅

If you want to plan your stay immediately, check out this interactive map below. It’s positioned in Old San Juan, a top spot for tourists with limited time in the city.

What to pack for San Juan vacation

Being a fairly hot, humid, and tropical destination year-round you want to bring your best resort and beach wear. I wanted a fresh look for Puerto Rico with light summer dresses so I rented clothes from Nuuly. I rented 3 dresses, 1 cover-up, linen pants, and a top for under $70.

💃🏻 I loved everything I chose for the month and could wear it as much as I wanted in 30 days. If you’ve never tried Nuuly, but want something cute for your Puerto Rico trip this link gets you $30 off your order.

My packing list for our week visiting San Juan Puerto Rico:

• 3 sun dresses
• 2 shorts
• 2 tank tops
• 2 bathing suits
• 1 beach cover-up
• 1 linen pant
• 1 skirt
• sun hat
• reef safe sunscreen
• sandals
• sneakers
• socks
• t-shirt
• Long sleeve SPF sun-shirt
• Snorkel and mask
• travel towel
• Deet-free bug spray
• Reusable water bottle (we filled up from a Brita at our Airbnb and in the lobby at our hotel)
• Dry bag (if you want to do El Yunque)

If you plan to do any hiking while you’re there in El Yunque you will need closed-toe shoes you don’t mind getting muddy or dirty. Dennis packed his Altra hiking boots for the adventure. You will also need a towel to dry off after all the water activities, so bring a light packable towel like this.

If you don’t want to use DEET bug spray on outdoor activities like El Yunque or the bioluminescent tour, pack bug spray too. 🦟 We got eaten alive by mosquitos on our tour because we forgot to bring this and didn’t want to use DEET.

➡ Read Next: 9 Unique Things to do in San Juan Puerto Rico ⬅

How much does a San Juan vacation cost?

San Juan Puerto Rico is not a cheap destination. Recent tax laws incentivizing wealthy Americans to move to San Juan after the pandemic on top of inflation runs over the last few years have caused prices to soar.

We tried visiting San Juan Puerto Rico on a budget and felt we did a pretty good job. A good baseline is spending $150 – $200 per person daily on a moderate to low budget. If budget isn’t a huge concern or you prefer a nicer hotel on the beach, that budget will be more like $275 – $350 per day.

Below is a rough cost estimate for things in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

• 🏨 Hotels and accommodations cost anywhere between $150 – $400+
• 🥗 Food costs $10 – $15 per dish in moderate places and can be as high as $25 – $45 per plate in nicer restaurants.
• 🍹Alcoholic drinks, like a cocktail or Puerto Rico’s infamous piña colada, cost $10 to $16.
• ☕️ A nice latte or cup of coffee is around $3. Croissants (common breakfast dish) are $3 – $5.
• 🚗 Uber rides through town cost $5 – $10. From the airport to Old San Juan, it costs $15.
• 🛶 Tours and other experiences will be around $50 – $150 per person per activity.
• 🅿️ Overnight parking (not in a hotel) is around $20 per night.
• 🚙 Car rental is roughly $50+ per day.
• 💵 Tipping is customary and in line with the USA. 10% for tours and activities and 15% – 20% for restaurants.

Should you rent a car when visiting San Juan Puerto Rico?

You don’t need to rent a car if you plan to stay in San Juan for your entire trip. Driving around the city, particularly in old San Juan is hectic. The roads are narrow, nearly every street is one-way, and the police often target tourists who don’t know what they are doing.

Car rentals cost between $50 to $100 daily, and an Uber to most parts of the city costs around $5 to $10. Even if you take 10 trips on your vacation to San Juan, you won’t spend as much as renting a vehicle.

Parking is also expensive, costing $20 or more per 24 hours. Street parking is reserved for locals, and tickets can be hefty at $150 – $200 per infraction. In my opinion, the pros of renting don’t outweigh the cons or costs of just Ubering.

If you want to do a few day trips from San Juan, something we highly recommend, your tour will likely include transportation to and from the destination. However, if you want to visit more off-the-beaten-path destinations, like driving to eat delicious lechon in Guavate, or visit the other side of the island, you’ll want to rent a car.

🚗 Use Uber in San Juan and pick up your rental car when you’re ready to depart the city. Ubers from the airport are very affordable under $10 – $20 depending on where you are going. That way you don’t have to worry about parking or potential traffic tickets.

Getting around San Juan

The easiest way to get around San Juan is with Uber. Taxis are another option but slightly more expensive, and personally, the convenience and peace of mind of knowing the fair is a fixed price I approve of beforehand is worth it compared to taxis.

Walking is another great method but it gets hot in San Juan. We could only walk so much because of the heat!

You can also rent a Bird scooter or bike. There are electric scooters all over the city that you can rent for around $0.15 per minute with a $1.00 start-up fee. Many streets have bike or scooter lanes, and if you’re sticking to a small neighborhood, like Condado for example, this is the cheapest and easiest way to get around.

The scooters will have a QR code to scan to download the app. Once you create an account and add your credit card information you can unlock the scooters quickly.

Things to do in San Juan

San Juan has loads of fun things to do. Being the capital city, it has all the offerings you can expect from a big city. Delicious restaurants, cool bars, great museums, and shopping. Old San Juan is a top area to spend a day or two. Many of the top tourist sites are here.

Outside of that you can explore the beaches of Ocean Park or Condado, relax and swim with sea turtles in Escrabon Beach, or go on a day trip from the city. The blog post below shares the top things to do in San Juan and will help you plan your exact itinerary.

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Hopefully, this guide has given you all the information you need to plan your San Juan vacation. If this information was useful when visiting San Juan Puerto Rico, let me know in the comments below.