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Getting to Bonaire: What to do in San Juan????
Bonaire Talk: Getting to Bonaire: Archives: Archives 1999-2005: Archives - 2002-10-28 to 2003-04-30: What to do in San Juan????
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cynde Lee on Friday, November 15, 2002 - 2:26 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

We (my husband) is wanting to take AA this time instead of AJ, he didn't like the red eye...anyway, i have found a flight from LAX to San Juan, spend the night in San Juan, and the next day, fly to Bon that night...is there anything to do in san juan for a day that would be worth the lay over??? keep in mind, i like the LAX to MB, to Bon, on AJ, but i am trying to explore other options as hubby really really really didn't like the red eye...thanks for any input!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Snorkelguy {Scott} on Friday, November 15, 2002 - 3:26 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Since we’ve been stranded in SJU 3 times in the last 2.5 years by AA and stuck in the same Casino/Hotel I might be a little bias. The short answer is no. The long answer is there are lots of nice things to see in Puerto Rico, but they are not in San Juan (my humble opinion). A drive to the rainforest would be good if you have time, but you may not have enough. As a matter of fact Emi and I are so sick of being stuck in San Juan on AA we’re taking AJ this time with the idea that if we get stuck again at least it will be in a different town!!!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dave Goodwin on Friday, November 15, 2002 - 3:40 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I can't imagine anyone opting for the AA route over AJ, assuming they live in or near an AirJam departure city.

The early departure is out weighed by at least two factors:
1) You arrive on Bonaire in the afternoon rather than in the evening. Allows plenty of time to check in, grab some Brights, and hit the water.
2) The AirJam departure time from Bonaire is in the afternoon, which means you can "legally" dive up through the afternoon of the day before you leave. In essence it gives you one more day of diving....

Plus, AirJam is flying those nice, new Airbus planes. Not to metion you get to have a Cheesburger in Paradise at Montego Bay!!

Just my $0.02 worth..... I never sleep the night before vacation anyway :-)

-dave.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cynde Lee on Friday, November 15, 2002 - 3:47 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

snork, thanks...dave, like I said, I like the AJ route as it is the shortest, and easiest, however, like i said, my husband is willing to do almost anything than have to do the red eye all night again. it took him 3 days just to recover from that one. going another route may be my only option in getting back to bonaire (unless of course, I leave hubby at home, which i would never do...he is my dive buddy:))

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dave Goodwin on Friday, November 15, 2002 - 3:52 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Cynde,

Too bad.... my heart bleeds for you :-(

On a brighter note (at least for me).... two weeks from right now we will be on Bonaire :-)

Lookout Bonaire, the Rincon Athletic Club rides again!

-dave.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Linnea Wijkhof-Wimberly on Friday, November 15, 2002 - 4:50 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Cynde, if you stay in Old San Juan, you can walk to EL Morro and wander around.

My sister and I are staying at the Hotel Milano for several days each way. It looks very nice and has good comments about it on Travelocity. No pool or casino though.

web site: www.hotelmilanopr.com

In checking prices, it is cheaper to fly Continental out of OC Airport (I refuse to call it by that drunken cowboy actor's name) to San Juan and then AA from San Juan to Bonaire.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cynde Lee on Friday, November 15, 2002 - 5:17 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

thanks linnea, i will check it out. is the hotel near the airport, or at least within a reasonalbe distance?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Linnea Wijkhof-Wimberly on Friday, November 15, 2002 - 5:35 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I think it is something like 5-7 miles and it is not in the flight path of the airport either.

On the hotel web site, scroll down and click on
"maps and directions". That shows the area around the hotel and between the hotel and the airport.

Room prices, etc are available thru various step downs.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Anthony Cooper on Friday, November 15, 2002 - 7:19 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Cynde - Thanks to Daylight Savings Time (or Eastern Std Time...glass half empty/full?) our return from Bonaire to Phila. last Friday left Flamingo Apt to 7:00 am, got us to Luis Munoz Apt ot 9:00am. By 10:00am we had cleared customs, rented a car from Charlie's at $41 for the day and drove out the coast road past some wonderful surf thru Louiza. By 11:00 am we were winding our way up El Yanque thru the rain forest, around the mountains, past the Mina Falls, etc., etc. There are dozens of local restaurants and snack bars to lunch/dine at, real interesting wildlife (if you have your walking shoes on) and lots more if you have the time.

We were back at the airport by 4:30pm to (very comfortably) catch our 6:20pm flight. If American does that to us again, there is a great Argentinian restaurant (Uno - and no, not the pizza palace from Chicago) on the Condado the does grilled sweetbreads to die for and a skirt steak that is sinful....all with fascinating salsas, etc. and only about a 15 min drive from the airport. If you know where to look, there are genuinely fascinating places all over PR...including San Juan which, though it suffers the same problems any major urban area does, also has some fascinating places to poke around.

In a word, if PR is not your final destination and you have anywhere from 6 or 7 hrs to a day or day and a half to kill, it can be done most enjoyably. We used to cringe everytime we had a layover in SJ, but ever since we spent some time finding out what Puerto Rico was all about we have actually planned layovers there for dining, touring, etc. And with Bonaire on one side of your stop or the other, how great.

DSAO,
Tony Cooper

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cynde Lee on Friday, November 15, 2002 - 7:33 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Tony, thanks. Question, you still have to go through customs to leave the airport and get back in? if we decide to go this route, i may email you with some more specific questions about the places you have been that you liked. Michael will be happy to hear some positive feedback!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Linnea Wijkhof-Wimberly on Friday, November 15, 2002 - 10:03 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

You shouldn't have to clear Customs coming down from the states. You will go thru Customs in PR on the way back, but from what I have read in other posts, it is not a big deal, much quicker than Miami or any other stateside airports.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Anthony Cooper on Saturday, November 16, 2002 - 6:42 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Cynde - I thought I posted a response to your question last night...must have sent it off into cyberspace. As Linnea said, going down, you can leave the airport without clearing customs since you are still "in the States". You even get your car before you exit the "clean zone". To get back in it is necessary to clear security but, again, no big deal. Both my wife and I do a fair amount of air traveling - business and leisure - and San Juan has been real good recently. We'd be happy to offer any help we can, so feel free to drop a line.

Regards,

Tony Cooper

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cynde Lee on Saturday, November 16, 2002 - 12:41 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

linnea and tony, thanks for the info. i am going to do a little research and most likely will shoot an email tony when i firm things up. linnea, when are you and your sister going to be in sj on your way down? i think we are looking at heading down on june 3 or 4.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Linnea Wijkhof-Wimberly on Sunday, November 17, 2002 - 11:27 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

We are leaving May 28 for SJU and then to BON on May 31. Back to SJU on June 14 and back to SNA on June 16. Two whole weeks on Bonaire. I go to Bonaire on odd numbered years and go different places on even numbered years.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Martin de Weger on Sunday, November 17, 2002 - 11:30 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

We'll be there May 28 untill June 16.... I guess we'll meet finally...

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cynde Lee on Sunday, November 17, 2002 - 2:28 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

ok, linnea and martin, 2 weeks, and 3 weeks on bonaire, not fair! argh...linnea, if we do stop over in sj on our way to bon, we will miss each other. i need to do a LOT of research to plan our day in sj if we do go that way. i would of course rather spend those extra 2 days on bon...have to do a little more thinking about how i can convince michael that the red eye is better!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Susan Taft on Monday, November 18, 2002 - 2:02 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Cynde Lee -- we do the AA thing thru SJ for both Grenada and Bonaire as we are not close to an AJ city. Many years ago the layover times were short and I was glad as even an hour in the SJ airport was more than I wanted. But now with longer layovers we have actually enjoyed our days in SJ. On the way to Bonaire we usually get a cab to take us to Isla Verde where you can find many beach restaurants and chair rentals so we usually eat and nap on the beach. On the way home we are usually pretty bummed at having to leave Bonaire so use the time to walk around Old San Juan and have a meal. however, if you are there early on a Sunday I would not suggest Old San Juan as it is pretty and findign a place to eat can be a problem. One time we took a tour of the fort which was quite enjoyable. I am always envious of the folks who can do Air Jamaica and have better arrivals/departures in Bonaire but have learned to enjoy and make the most of my San Juan layovers. How long is the LAX flight to SJ??? We will be flying into LAX at Christmas time and can only imagine the crowds!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Linnea Wijkhof-Wimberly on Monday, November 18, 2002 - 5:35 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Ah, but I will be on Bonaire while you and a bunch of BT's are there. I also plan on going to Martini's wedding. I think I will get some kind of humgeous gift for to fill up their luggage with. (That's a bit of Pennsylvania deutsch). No really, what would you two like that is small and easily transportable? No, I won't buy you round trip airplane tickets to/from Bonaire. When the time gets closer, I will check with Jake and Linda for pot-luck items.

Susan, I think the flight out of Orange County takes about 11-12 hours each way for San Juan. We picked a flight that costs a little more than the cheapest, but it has only one connection in Newark. We get into San Juan about 10 pm Wednesday and our flight to Bonaire leaves mid-afternoon on Saturday, so that gives us several days to explore PR.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Martin de Weger on Monday, November 18, 2002 - 5:59 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Linnea, We like to be suprised, so we'll leave it up to your fantasy.

If you really don't have a clue, you can allways ask Jake...

(Jake, remember the maintanance dive??? :) )

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Linnea Wijkhof-Wimberly on Wednesday, November 20, 2002 - 8:49 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Cynde, if you fly AA out of Bonaire, we will be on the same flight to San Juan. We will just beat you to Bonaire by a week. I only have two weeks vacation and a couple of floating days off a year. I have been booking a couple of extra days vacation since last March so I can spend some time checking out PR. It takes so long getting there from the left coast that as a rule I prefer to lose 2 days out of 14, instead of 2 out of 7. This is the first time I have scheduled any deliberate stops on the way to or from Bonaire. I have had a few unscheduled overnights due to airline foulups, fortunately it's always been on the airline 's tab.

 


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