Fajardo

Fajardo is a bustling little seaside town notable for its many marinas and plethora of sports and recreation opportunities. It’s also an excellent seaborne transportation hub to Caribbean points east, where you can catch a ferry or sailboat to Vieques [1], Culebra [2], St. Thomas [3], and beyond.

Although it has a town proper with the requisite plaza and church, the heart of Fajardo can be found along the coast, where hundreds of vessels dock and dozens of seafood restaurants vie to serve fresh fish and Puerto Rican fare to the day-trippers and sports enthusiasts who flock here for the superb diving, sailing [4], fishing [5], and golf [6].

Fajardo is also home to one of the island’s bioluminescent lagoons, Laguna Grande, in Reserva Natural Las Cabezas de San Juan [7]. Here you can kayak at night and marvel at the phosphorescent microorganisms that light up the water with a sparkling green glow.

Getting to Fajardo

Although its airport has closed and relocated about 4 miles south to Ceiba, Fajardo is still a gateway to the nearby islands of Vieques and Culebra [8], thanks to daily ferry service and boats operating out of its seven marinas. Nevertheless, all the transportation options in Fajardo point in one direction: to Vieques [1], Culebra [2], or the Virgin Islands [9].

Getting to Fajardo requires a flight into San Juan [10] and either renting a car and driving there or taking a publico, a privately operated van transport service. Padin operates 24-hour transportation service between Fajardo and the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan. Call Mrs. Rivera at 787/644-3091 (day) or 787/889-6202 (after 6 p.m.), or José Padin at 787/644-3091. The drive is about an hour.