Instead of making the trip to Culebra because of the ferry issues, we are going to Isla Verde on Friday August 5th instead. We are staying at the Conrad which is only a 10 minute drive. Where do I park my car and what is the best stop on the beach. Am I able to rent chairs and umbrellas out in this beach. Just wanted some insight on where to park my car and snag the best spot.... One destination mentioned in this post You have a couple options. There is street parking, which can be next to impossible to get. There are also a couple side streets that you could check. Hotels are going to cost you $20. Across from the Intercontinental and El San Juan is a strip mall that has parking. It's not free, but the cost is nominal. As far a renting chairs etc. You can rent those at the hotels. My suggestion though is to just purchase a couple cheap ones at Walgreens and use them for your trip. Have a great trip. You can park across the street from Lupis Restaurant. $ 2 first hour and $ 1 any add.
There is a chair rental on the beach in fdront of the El San Juan Hotel. They rent chairs, umbrellas and canopy. The Hotels do not rent to anybody, they just provide chairs for their Guests.Next to the beach is a little Hotel La Playa, great for lunch ( casual)you can go there with cover up Behind Coral Beach (next to Intercontinental Hotel), they rent beach chairs and umbrellas. -:- Message from TripAdvisor staff -:-This topic has been closed to new posts due to inactivity. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one./pages/forums_posting_guidelines.htmlWe remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason. San Juan to Vieques for Mosquito Bay Getting from San Juan to vieques Help me pick 2 locations ? where to stay with 12 year old daughter a week with teens and 72 yr old mom San Juan for a week? Desperately trying to find a way to move outside SJU
See All Puerto Rico Conversations All Inclusive Resorts-Puerto Rico Zip lines in the rainforest? Where to stay in Puerto Rico Best beach(es) and best place to stay in Puerto Rico Rainy Season Puerto Rico Where to stay Caribbean side Best resort for Adults Living in Puerto RicoI assume most people come on vacation to an island because they want to spend time on a beach. But many tourists that come to Puerto Rico end up staying in the San Juan tourism area (Isla Verde, Ocean Park, Condado), where the beaches are nice, but not great. Some have rough waves and, toward the Condado end, some serious undertow. They can also be windy — a windsurfer’s paradise — so you can get some serious dermal abrasion along with your suntan! But the locals know about a great little calm-water beach and I will let you in on the secret … it’s Playita de Condado. This small, public beach is at the western end of the Condado area, just east of the bridge on Ashford Avenue.
It is protected from most of the strong winds by the hotels (though there is still a nice breeze to help keep you cool). The water is usually calm because there is a coral rock formation to break the waves. The shallow water is warm and clear. The beach is fine, golden sand. There are trees lining the back of the beach, providing lots of shady spots in the morning and early afternoon. There are life guards on duty during the day, outdoor showers for rinsing off, and there are usually vendors selling food and drinks. It is a nice beach for the whole family. We went on a Saturday morning, got a nice spot in the shade and spent some time snorkeling. The snorkeling wasn’t very good — mainly sea grass and silty corals, but there were some fish and some live corals. We saw barracuda, peacock flounder (one was on one of the artificial reefs they put in place to encourage more fish/corals), bluehead wrasse, sergeant majors, and yellow tail snappers. If you happen to have snorkel gear with you, you can go in and see what you find.
But I would not rent snorkel gear just to snorkel here. Playita de Condado is actually the beach the used by guests staying at the Condado Plaza Hilton, so their staff helps keep this beach clean. They also will rent lounge chairs to anyone for $5/day and umbrellas for $11/day. They have a Water Sports facility where you can rent snorkel gear or kayaks. I found the beach "guard" and the chair steward to be helpful in answering my questions. I am almost sure they would let you use the hotel bathrooms if you needed (and I bet a few bucks tip wouldn’t hurt either!). It sounds almost perfect, right? OK … it does have some flaws. First, the beach is small, so it could get really crowded (especially on summer weekends). But, if you go mid-day during the week, it would be less crowded. The beach is on the street (Ashford Avenue), so there is a lot of traffic going by. Also, in my opinion, the road, bridge and construction being done in the area are ugly. But if you sit away from the road and look only out to the ocean, it is beautiful.
You just have to work around the flaws and you can really have a nice time. There is supposed to be a life guard there (and I have seen one on other occasions), just not the Saturday in August when we went. SO swim/snorkel are your own risk. The beach is "open" during daylight hours. If you’re driving there, you can park in the Condado Plaza Hilton parking deck for just a couple bucks/hour. The entrance to the parking deck is near the pedestrian bridge that crosses Ashford Avenue by the hotel. Playita del Condado is located on Ashford Avenue, between the Condado Plaza Hilton and the Ashford Avenue bridge. It’s an easy taxi ride from Old San Juan and Isla Verde. If you’re on a cruise ship in port for the day, grab a taxi and ask him to drop you off at the Condado Plaza hotel. Use this map to locate places mentioned in this article. You can click on a placemark to view the GPS coordinates for that place. assumes no responsibility regarding your safety when participating in the