Afro Nation Afro Beats Music Festival : 

Puerto Rico 2022

• Balneario De Carolina, Carolina, Puerto Rico
• 24-26 March 2022
• Afrobeats
• Dancehall
• Hip Hop
• R&B

 Recommendations for Puerto Rico

*=Rental Car Needed ** Uber or Rental Car Uber is available in the San Juan area, everywhere except when leaving the airport (taxis are available), but its available to go to the airport. For rental Car, I recommend checking hotwire or AAA, and depending on the prices, using Hertz bc if you have a AAA card there’s no extra cost for a young driver fee, or Thrifty bc the young driver fee is the chapest at $9.99/day, also if you already own a car you probably already have insurance and as long as you have proof of insurance you don’t have to buy it from the rental car company  

Beaches:  

What most people know as “Isla Verde Beach” is actually 3 beaches: El Alambique, Pine Grove Beach, and Balneario de Carolina. Isla Verde Beach is located east of San Juan in the neighboring town/ municipality of Carolina, just north of Isla Verde Avenue and Route 187, and in the district of Isla Verde. All three beaches give visitors nearly three long miles of sand and water to enjoy. So even on a really busy beach day, it doesn’t feel crowded! The best access to these great beaches is by staying at one of the beachfront hotels and resorts. If you stay at one of the hotels a few blocks back, there are many beach-access walkways from the main street – Avenida Isla Verde.

 Isla Verde: This is the main beach close to where we staying—it is very popular and has a lot of people on it everyday, it also has water sports/activities, a few (cash only) food stands, and bars close to it as well…All of PR’s beaches allow open containers, as long as you clean up after yourself, so I recommend going to CVS, grabbing beer/liquor, a cooler and bringing your dinks to the beach.  

 *Luqillo- Really nice/clean/safe beach, and really close to some of the best food on the island (Los Kioskos de Luqillo)

*Flamenco Beach, Culebra- To get here takes some work bc you have to take the ferry from Ceiba bc its actually a separate island, but its IMO the most beautiful beach on the island! Vieuqes PR which is also a separate island is also nice and is another option to get to via ferry  
 

Adventurous Stuff: San Juan Area Jet Ski/Watersports-

There is a ton spots on the beach in Isla Verde, for Jetskiing I recommend “Wow Surf and Watersports” bc it’s the cheapest, jetskiing is $120/hr and has no limit on the number of occupants…also it’s a little bit (like $15) cheaper if you pay cash vs credit card Old San Juan: This one of the most amazing and historic places on the island and has some incredible places to visit! These include:

1) Castillo San Felipe del Morro- the 16th century defense fort used by the Spanish, which carries a ton of history and takes about 2 hrs to really get a good look at. Costs like $7 to enter and highly recommended!  2) Fortaleza Street—lots of shops in this area and the site of the famous colorful umbrellas which is a great spot to take pictures at. 3) Plaza Las Armas- One of the oldest “plazas” or towne centers in PR, another cool place to take pictures 4) Paseo de La Princesa-Another great place to take pictures 5) Iglesia San Jose- The 2nd oldest church on the continent, beautiful and unique inside! 6) La Fortaleza- The Governor’s residence, close to the umbrellas, and beautiful as well

  
 
 *Toro Verde Adventure Park (http://toroverdepr.com/combos.php)  Orocovis, PR [NOT IN SAN JUAN]- This place is about 1hr and 15 mins away from San Juan, but its awesome! During March they have a 50% off sale on their Monster/8 zipline tour—which is about $65 a person, and so much fun—check the jimmy fallon video on youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-A2Nv9fvaY)
 
 *Cueva Venatana-Arecibo: This hour long adventure is $20 and is a hike where you get to see some bats and an amazing view at the end of the cave!

**Casa Bacardi- THE LARGEST PREMIUM RUM DISTILLERY (https://www3.bacardi.com/casa-bacardi/) I’ve never been and it’s a bit pricey, but if you have a rainy day (hopefully not), check it out, as it’s the factory where Bacardi is made and has some really cool experiences!  Eastern part of the Island

 *Hiking in El Yunque Raiforest: Awesome hiking trails, waterfalls, and a huge stone tower *Airbnb Experience: Rainforest Waterslide Tour (https://www.airbnb.com/experiences/171194? h

ttp://www.carabalirainforestpark.com  They have a ton of different activities which very in price—from ATVs and Horseback rides, to Go-Kart Racing and Hayrides…plus a delicious restaurant on-site
 *Snorkeling/boat trip: https://www.snorkelandbeachtour.com  This company is pretty good at what they do and they have a variety of trips, but the one I’ve been on is the one to Culebra, food and drinks are included and the trip typically goes from 9am-3pm.   *Bioluminescent Bay: This is a nighttime activity where you go in a paddle boat and on the water there are these microorganisms that light up at night…it’s a pretty cool and inexpensive experience  
 Restaurants/Foods and Drinks you have to try: Please don’t eat American food while in PR lol
 Mofongo, Arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas) and Arroz Con Habichulas (like chipotle pinto beans),Empanadillas, Pernil (roast pork),Platanos (plaintains) amaillos=yellow=sweet or verdes=green= salty, Rellenos de papa, stuffed mashed potatoe, Alcapurria, MOJITOS- especially passion fruit!, Beers: Medalla and Magna (a lil stronger lol)

Isla Verde Los Gorditos: Right on the main street (Isla Verde Ave), it’s a fast food kind of place that’s pretty cheap and has really good food! Try the “canoa” which is a sweet plaintain with beef and cheese! Las Canarias Bakery: A great place for inexpensive breakfast, also very close to where you’re staying Ceviche House: Pretty good place for ceviche which is a seafood dish typically made from fresh raw fish cured in citrus juices, such as lemon or lime, and spiced with ají, chili peppers or other seasonings including chopped onions, salt, and cilantro

Old San Juan 

Raices: A delicious restaurant famous for the old-style dress of the workers, and amazing food and drinks. I recommend the mofongo which is a dish of deep-fried green plantains mashed together with other ingredients such as pork or seafood (or w/o meat) it tastes kind of like mash potatoes, but better…I also like the trifongo which is like mofongo but a little bit sweeter…I recommend trying this with  Vaca Brava: A really great restaurant for authentic Puerto Rican cuisine, known for the meats! Barrachina: Known as the site where the original piña-colada was invented, this place is pretty neat inside and has amazing piña-coladas El Jibarito: Another great place for authentic food  
 

**Santurce (Close to San Juan and best to go between like 7pm-12am, best on Thurs/Fri/Sat Night): La Alcapurria Quema – Solid spot for fried appiteizers and cheap beers/drinks (try the PR Beer “medulla”, there pretty good and usually only like $1 or 2.) “Jose Enrique” Puerto Rican Restaurant: This place is really good and the food is prepared by an internationally renowned chef! I recommend making reservations so that way you don’t have to wait. Also its BYOB so feel free to bring wine or beer and enjoy with dinner  
 

 Luquillo This is my FAVORITE place for food on the island! Los Kiosos are a sort of plaza of restaunts and little shops that have both really cheap, and fancier/expensive restaurants…some of my favorites are    Wepa Area- little fried corn pancake things that can be filled with meats/veggies/cheeses of your choice and are delicious. Personally I like cocnut arepas bc there sweet and can be eaten by themselves Ceviche Hut-Like Ceviche House, but better Revolution Pizza Shop—Ok ok this is the only non PR restaurant you should try La Parilla- This one is kind of pricy but has some of the best seafood dishes on the island!    
 Honestly all the Kioskos are pretty good and this is a good spot to go to day or night (not on Monday bc a lot of places are closed) and is awesome bc its literally a 2 min drive from the beach and has amazing food, and great bars as well, also its very safe !

Los Piñones (Pinones, Loiza, PR-187, Carolina, Loíza 00983, Puerto Rico) 

This spot is great to go to during the day (not recommended at night), for great food, drinks, and gift shops! One of my favorite places for food and drinks is “El K'Rajo Beach Bar” which was actually featured on the show “bar rescue”. Really really good food and drinks!  
          If you go to Toro Verde, Try: La Cobacha Criolla, in Orocovis, about 5 mins from the park
 Nightlife:

  La Placita Santurce- A pretty cool and spot on Thursday-Saturday night for cheap beers, barhopping and often live music.
 The Intercontinental Hotel: Live and Salsa Music on Friday Nights
 

 Club Brava: Inside of the El San Juan Hotel (and free if you’re staying there)- its $15 if you’re not staying there, the dress code is minimum jeans and a nice tee or button up. The drinks are like $7 and the music is a mix of English rap/top 40/ and Spanish/Caribbean…it’s a really nice club with lights and stuff!   
  
 PR IS AMAZING, and I hope you have a great time…just a few extra recommendations though, try not to go anywhere alone…especially at night. Carry only limited cash as most places take cards, and if you rent a car make sure you hide/put stuff in the trunk so that no aux cord/chargers are in sight. ENJOY!