Travel Advice? Elena has created 2 websites with information about travel in Puerto Rico and Vieques. Have you browsed through them?

Elenas' Puerto Rico Travel and Elenas' Vieques Travel . °

Elena has spent most of her life in Puerto Rico and Vieques. The last 5 years of photo taking, driving around and operating a kayak ecotours company in the biobay in Vieques have given Elena the insight and experience to help you make the best of your vacation. The two websites above offer more than 250 pages of travel information!

Review in 'American Way Magazine' about Elena and the Golden Heron Ecotours kayak trips that she used to do. She now has completely new tours.

Are you still undecided how to spend your vacation time?

STAY AT ELENA'S' NEW PLACE: CASA PICO ESTE

Let me talk about the wonderful things there are to do in Puerto Rico. By far, the way to benefit the most from your stay in Puerto Rico is to rent a car and see some of this beautiful island outside of San Juan. If you prefer not to drive then you may wish to travel with a private tour guide. Puerto Rico is rich in panoramic scenery and cultural experiences, although the latter is harder to find.

With good information you can visit the highlights and skip the boring parts, that every country has. My website elyunque.com offers panoramic touring information. I favor the lodgings that are located around the el Yunque rainforest and in the Central mountains, as alternate days can be spent on the beach and in the mountains, where the 'real' Puerto Rico lies.What I do best is help people plan their trip to their best advantage. They tell me their dates, how many people, what is already on their list of things to do and I , in turn, help them figure out how to go about getting it all in, what to add , what to leave out etc. You would be amazed at some of the totally impractical plans people come up with. Many of the municipalities around the island have developed ( or are developing) walking tours around their plazas that include a few museums. Bayamon, Caguas, Guayama and Ponce are some of the more notable plazas with attractions all around the central plaza. Usual time would be about 2-3 hours ( max). best to combine a plaza with perhaps a light house, beach or mountain adventure.In order of uniqueness to a Puerto Rico vacation the El Yunque rainforest is the most often visited and for good reason, as it is a lovely and gentle rainforest with excellent hiking trails. Secondly, but even more memorable is the bioluminescent bay ( bio bay) experience as it is something that stands out as one of those 'once in a lifetime' experiences - on a good night.

• Elenas' Travel Consulting can help you plan your itinerary in Puerto Rico. Whether you want to drive yourself or be driven, consulting Elena will enhance your Puerto Rico vacation.For the $100. consulting fee Elena will e-mail with you back and forth until you are happy with your trip. She is NOT a travel agent and does not make any of the reservations, you must make your own reservations, but she will provide you with all the information you need to do so.The consulting fee is for the planning and help with everything you need to know, you can even call Elena while you are on the road, for help! Elenas Consulting SERVICE charges a minimal fee: Allthough I try to offer as much free help as possible, I cannot, simply can not answer all questions. MOST ESPECIALLY if you are asking a question that is extensively answered on one of my websites. If you want to pay me to help you plan your trip, my time is yours!

Contact Elena by e-mail: < consultelena@hotmail.com > or by telephone 787-426-0979 Please write " consult" in the e-mail subject line. When e-mailing about consulting please give approximate arrival dates, number of nights, ideas for your trip and how many people are traveling together.

About Ecotourism: I strongly believe in the idea of eco tourism which, in its' true form, means helping local people learn to protect their own environment, instead of exploiting it. Translation: The fishermen are learning to conserve their reefs instead of over fishing them, because they can profit from showing them to tourists. So, therefore, I ONLY use local fishermen for all my boat trips. These guys know these waters so much better. They are 5 th generation fishermen! . . Elena

Time and weather in San Juan

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Review by client:

"Hi Elena, - August 2008

We just returned from our amazing family vacation in PR. I really can't thank you enough for some of your great tips and help. There were so many great experiences it's hard to know where to start:

- We really enjoyed the El Conquistador Resort. It made for a great place to stay. We started off with a room down at the marina but then requested to be up at the main level which we found easier as closer to car. Their island (Palomino) was very nice and I swam over to Palominito which was cool (actually it was very hot!).

- We drove up to the Punta Tuna lighthouse which was a fun outing. It was nice to get to another part of the country. - We went to El Yunque. Your suggestion to go to ____ ___ falls was brilliant. We walked up to the second waterfall where we had the place to ourselves. The sun was out and standing below that 40' waterfall was a moment I will never forget and one that we all felt was a highlight for our trip. We also succeded in getting our kids up to the tower on the MT Britton trail which was fun. It was clear on top and views were great.These were really great suggestions!

- We tried to go to Luquillo beach but I got off at the wrong exit and we ended up winding our way through the town which was packed with cars as it was a friday afternoon. Something to do on our next trip...

- We had great dinners at Calizo's and Passion de la Fogata near the hotel.

- Vieques was great as well. We ended up staying at Hacienda Tamarindo which we really enjoyed.

Highlight of the trip - and one of the most amazing experiences in my life to date - was the biobay tour. Just magical. We all LOVED.

- Kids had fun at Navio beach.
- I was up early and enjoyed driving around and exploring all the beaches on the island.
- I did some pretty good snorkeling by swimming out to Cayo Afuela. I also enjoyed the little "island" off of Blue beach.
- We really enjoyed our meals at El Quenepo and Violetas (now Coqui Fire) - both as per your suggestions.
- The weather was awesome and people were very friendly. We found PR so easy to get to a travel around and will likely return again.

So again, THANK YOU for all of your help. You really helped to make this trip one that we will cherish in our memories for a long long time.

All the best-
Laurence "