Puerto Rico with Kids

Transportation to island A+ Transportation around island B+ Family Resorts A- Family Restaurants A- Friendly atmosphere A Activities for kids B+ Weather A- New cultures for kids to experience A Safety B+

Puerto Rico is an easy destination for families. It’s a short airplane ride, just 2-1/2 hours from Miami and under four hours from New York. As a commonwealth of the US, travel here is easy and hassle free. No money to be exchanged. No immigration lines to endure.

And yet Puerto Rico has a culture as vast and exotic as those found anywhere in the Caribbean. The island can give young travelers a chance to try out their Spanish phrases. Or it can provide an opportunity to sample some Old World dishes spiced with a New World flavor. And best of all, this island offers a full menu of attractions to please every member of the family with fun that ranges from shopping to snorkeling, from historic forts to heady rainforests.

Your visit to Puerto Rico will likely begin in the capital city of San Juan. Pulsating with a big city atmosphere, San Juan is one of the most modern cities in the Caribbean and a Caribbean hub for American Airlines.

The city is divided into several districts. Tourists typically visit Condado, Isla Verde, and Old San Juan, the historical heart of the city. Here you’ll find buildings so old and quaint they look more like part of a movie set than part of a modern downtown district.

But beyond the boundaries of San Juan, the sounds change to the slap of waves on the honey-colored shore or the peek of the tiny coqui (co-kee), a frog that’s a national symbol of Puerto Rico. (It’s said that the coqui can survive only on the island, so to be as Puerto Rican as a coqui is a declaration of national pride.) Here over 200 miles of coastline welcomes families with a hearty “Buenos dias.”