Tag: Living in Puerto Rico

Sail Away to Cayo Icacos, Puerto Rico

Cayo Icacos is a small, uninhabited island approximately 1 mile wide and over 1 mile long located 3 miles off the northeast coast of Puerto Rico. There are no restaurants, no shopping centers or vendors, no electricity, and no facilities of any kind.  The little island is just lush green foliage and perfect white sand beaches.

Day Sail to the Pristine White Sand Beaches of Cayo Icacos

The best option to visit this tropical paradise is by boat.  There is a water taxi service that departs just north of the El Conquistador resort in Las Croabas neighborhood of Fajardo, providing drop off and pick up service to Icacos as the least expensive option.  A slightly more expensive option is the powered Catamaran sailboats that provide transportation, snorkel gear, shade, food & drinks, and (darn important) onboard bathrooms.

For us, the decision was easy – comfort and leisure on a Catamaran!

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St Regis Bahia Beach Resort, Puerto Rico Review

The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort is the only Five Diamond resort property on the island of Puerto Rico. And that is exactly what I had in mind for a luxury getaway break.

I have been to the St. Regis Bahia resort Spa several times, but this was our first overnight stay at the property.  I booked a 4 day, 3 night reservation over Thanksgiving weekend, which also happens to be our Anniversary.  November is still considered off-peak for tourist season, which officially kicks off mid-December through April.

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How Growing up in Phoenix Prepared Me for Living in Puerto Rico

We recently moved to the beautiful island of Puerto Rico.  I was a little nervous about the culture shock of leaving our hot, dry desert city and adjusting to small town, island life.  It sounds weird, but it turns out growing up in Phoenix has actually prepared me for living in Puerto Rico.  GrowingupPHX

Here are 10 ways growing up in Phoenix, Arizona prepared me for living in Puerto Rico:

Close connection to foreign countries. 

It is faster to drive to Mexico from Phoenix than any state in the US, Mexico is Arizona’s neighbor to the South.  Likewise, Puerto Rico’s closest neighbors are definitely not the US mainland (Hello Dominican Republic and British Virgin Islands)

Everyone is (a little) Bilingual

Anyone who grew up in Arizona speaks at least a little Spanish. I even attended a bilingual elementary school for English as Second Language (ESL program).  Everyone speaks a little English in Puerto Rico.  Many people are fully bilingual in both Arizona and Puerto Rico.   Admittedly, Arizona Spanglish is a different dialect that the Puerto Rican Spanish, but it is a good foundation to build upon.  Plus I was always really good at charades, so I can act out many difficult phrases.

There are more Snowbirds than Local Residents half the year

Winters in Phoenix are overrun by people from the Mid-west desperately trying to escape the cold and warm up.  Since arriving in January, we have seen the population dwindle as the snowbirds leave the island for summer.  I just cannot escape snowbirds!

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Living in Puerto Rico 3 month check

After extensive preparation to move to Puerto Rico (read about it here), we are LOVING the island life!

Here is a recap, as we pass the three-month milestone of living in Puerto Rico.Living in Puerto Rico

Long Term Rental on a House

Working with the realtor before arrival really paid off!  The first house we looked at was everything we wanted, in our price range, and it was almost perfect!  We viewed several other properties and decided to make an offer on the first house.  We provided current credit scores and reports with our application.  Security deposit, plus first month and last month rent were paid with a local check (opening PR checking accounts were part of our six month preparation steps). Our house was partially furnished, so we could move in right away, but there would be extra expenses to purchase more furniture. Continue reading “Living in Puerto Rico 3 month check”

Living in Puerto Rico; Preparation for the Big Move Timeline

We are coming up on Living in Puerto Rico for three months (that story will come next), here is all the preparation that we needed to get here!

First sunset in Puerto Rico
First sunset in Puerto Rico
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