Travel to Puerto Rico

Flying to Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico has no national airline. Most airlines originate from the US mainland and major carriers with daily flights to Puerto Rico include American Airlines (www.aa.com), Delta (www.delta.com) and JetBlue (www.jetblue.com). Norwegian (www.norwegian.com) flies direct from the UK.

Most international arrivals to Puerto Rico originate from the mainland USA and land at San Juan's Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport (SJU). Airports in Aguadilla (on the northwestern coast), Ponce (on the southern coast), and Mayaguez (on the western coast) also handle incoming international flights, but the volume and frequency are significantly lower. Departures to Puerto Rico from other countries are typically seasonal; air service is not year-round.

The cheapest times to fly to Puerto Rico are late spring to early summer. Fares are typically more expensive during winter, particularly around Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year.

The major airport is: San Juan Luis Munoz Marin International Airport.

Notes

Note that unlike many major airports, SJU is in metropolitan San Juan and is a short taxi ride away from major hotels and tourist attractions.

Airport Guides

Flight times

From London - 9 hours 15 minutes; New York - 4 hours.

Air passes

Star Alliance North America Airpass: allows travel to over 300 destinations in 20 countries including Puerto Rico. Participating airlines include Air Canada and United. You can buy between three and 10 flight coupons and the price varies according to the number of coupons and your point of origin. Full details are available from www.staralliance.com.

Departure tax

None.

Travelling to Puerto Rico by Rail

Driving to Puerto Rico

Getting to Puerto Rico by boat

Main ports: San Juan, Ponce and Mayaguez. The Port of San Juan is currently the island's largest port, receiving both cargo and cruise ships. Ponce and Mayaguez, the island's second and third largest cities, respectively, also have major ports. Ponce's port, Port of the Americas, is the Caribbean's deepest port. Port of the Americas is currently undergoing an extensive expansion, and authorities aspire for the port to become an international shipping hub on the scale of Singapore or Rotterdam.

Cruise ships

The port of San Juan is the primary cruise hub in Puerto Rico. Most major US cruise lines have San Juan as one of their Caribbean ports of call. Cruise passengers have easy access to Old San Juan, where many of the ships dock, as well as the popular Condado neighbourhood (also called ‘New San Juan’). If docking at the Pan-American pier, you will probably need to take a taxi to visit nearby Old San Juan or Condado.

Ferry operators

America Cruise Ferries (tel: +1 787 832 4800; www.acferries.com) operates ferries from the neighbouring Dominican Republic (journey time - approximately 13 hours). While popular among Dominicans who live in Puerto Rico, the ferry is increasingly being used by tourists who want to visit both islands.

River Routes

There are no river routes to Puerto Rico, and river travel is not a common or popular form of transit within the country either.