Well I booked a flight to go to PR and look at a few places. I’ll be down there the 16th-18th. It is a short trip because we have a few properties that we’ve narrowed down our search for.
I’ve learned my lesson about flying to PR and do not want to be near San Juan. I can’t stand the drive to the west side of the island. Instead this is the first time I’ll fly into Aguadilla. The flights all arrive at 1am which is somewhat inconvienient but worth avoiding San Juan. I hope to visit, inspect compare and offer in one fell swoop!
Cassie is going to stay behind in order to save money. I’ll be the eyes and ears with lots of pics/videos and blog updates.
Where are you staying? You can stay here if you’d like and are always welcome to come for dinner…katrina
Are you taking Continental?
If so, since Continental and United merged, the flight times into/out of Aguadilla have changed. Your return flight is likely 2:55AM. Continentals new management wanted to be competitive with Jet Blue so they cut lay over time for aircraft pilots/flight attendants so they didn’t stay over in PR, they just returned to the mainland. This saved Continental money (Hotel rooms) but ticked off passengers with inconvenient flight times and overworks pilots and crew. Learned this from a hotel owner in PR.
Good luck on the house search. I may be doing the same thing in the next 6 months! Wil
That is exactly the issue I came to when flying to/from Aguadilla. The flight times are kind of crazy. I still think that it is better than dealing with SanJuan.
I’ll be hanging out at the airport for a while until I can get a rental car. Is the place to rent cars close to the airport?
You can rent IN the airport, I use Hertz, or Avis and they stay OPEN until planes arrive.
Check their website or call them and you can confirm this.
It’s a tiny airport like Key West, or Palm Springs. Easy to get out of and onto main roads.
I’d be interested in how you find the weather there this time of year.
Rainy season?
Yes – Rainy today and for the last few days. Sun and 90 until the afternoon. Lots of solar gathering for the panels but grey and weirdly windy. Breezy which is kind of nice (we are in the hills though). The Aguadilla Airport is SOooo much better. Another nice option is to go to San Juan and then pop over to the Mayaguez airport for 60 bucks each way – even smaller. They have cars waiting there for people but I don’t know how you order them. The Cape Air inside San Juan makes it seem like you aren’t in San Juan. Oh – crazy times at the airport? That is only the beginning of Puerto Rico “crazy” things.
Frank and I always fly into Aguadilla with Continental…HATE that they changed their flights…but shit happens. We use HERTZ and get great deals and yes they are always open when the flights come in…Good Luck and try to enjoy. We will be there in December!
It’s the transition from Summer to Winter in PR, so the rain should be letting up. However there are tropical storms passing through Haiti…
I wanted to take a trip to PR in August, since that is the month of maximum rainfall, just to experience it, before committing to movng there. Never made it down this year.
Wil – It is raining more now than in August, but July- Sept is very very hot (not everyone likes that- you may want to visit then). The pattern now is sun in the morning and rain in the afternoon…big rain. June is wet too.
Cassie and Britton – you can also fly into San Juan and for 60 bucks each way take Cape Air to Mayaguez. They have cars sitting in the parking lot there but I have no idea how you arrange that (but Cape Air would). Cape Air is great and the airport is small and Cape Air is the only “carrier” that flies there. Very pleasant. Jeff does this for all his trips and I did it to St. Croix. A great option. Airport is close to Rincon if that is where you are headed.
Katrina, I am not exactly sure where I am staying yet. I do have a very limited time I’ll be down there.
If you wouldn’t mind I think staying with you guys on Tuesday night would be fun and would work out pretty well.
Sounds good!
Wil,
We went there on our honeymoon in August of 2005. We stayed for 2 weeks and traveled around the whole island. It really wasn’t bad at all. I think we had 2 really rainy days out of the 14 or so. And it was hot, but really only bad if you were somewhere with a lot of concrete and pavement -like the Mayaguez mall when we were waiting in our car before a movie showing. Of course, I like it hot though, so I may be biased. 🙂
Katrina,
Thanks for offering to share your home with Britton. He won’t admit it to you, but he’s a little freaked out to be traveling alone without his muleta (me, his crutch). It’s his first time! I traveled to Mexico for a summer by myself during college, and living with the family there really helped me to be comfortable. So, thanks for being so welcoming 🙂
Rosa,
We look forward to meeting up with you again when we are there! Hopefully Britton finds what we are looking for!
Glad to help – consider the basic needs (shelter, food and companionship) taken care of! Plus we know our way around… It is tough doing such a big thing alone. With the basics taken care of he can focus on the good stuff!
you guys have the same dream like me but in reverse . You guys want a house in PR but i want a house in ASPEN. The only difference is pr is affordable and ASPEN not
LOL, yeah Aspen is totally out of control on prices. Greeley is very affordable, you should come here! Aspen is only a few hours drive away and it is beautiful the whole way.