Puerto Rico by Wheelchair: San Juan and El Yunque
After the holidays and the start of the New Year, it’s always nice to escape the cold for a little while before dealing with it for a couple more months until spring. This year, we packed everything and traveled to Puerto Rico with a plan to visit what are traditionally some of the least accessible places to go with a wheelchair–beaches, a rainforest, and cobblestone streets.
The Flight: TSA Cares
Our trip through security and boarding went as usual for us this time, but at both the Chicago and Puerto Rico airports the TSA agents told us about TSA Cares. They explained to us that we can make reservations in the future and have agents meet and escort us through the steps of the security screening. I assume this also means moving straight through the waiting lines. At Chicago O’Hare, our experiences have been reasonably good. They usually have a family screening line and even within that line we are almost always shown through so we have more time to load up all the extra things we bring and have them scanned. But after years of flying, this was the first time TSA Cares was mentioned to us, so I wanted to pass it along–especially for use at the San Juan airport. There were no separate waiting lines for people who needed mobility assistance and it was very crowded.
Resting on the long flight.
From San Juan, we rented a car and stayed in a rented condo on the beach about 30 minutes east in the Rio Grandé area. The first beach we went to was Luquillo Beach. I had read on other blogs that Luquillo was built to be accessible, so it was on our list of places to visit. I’m not entirely sure what makes it accessible, however. It does have its own parking lot, but that area is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. My guess is that there is disability parking and paths to the edge of the beach. But as experience has taught us, unless there are dedicated walkways to get through the sand to the water, there will be no choice but to chuff the wheelchair through the sand.
On the plus side, the distance from the edge of the sand to the edge of the water is not far. Most times, we actually stuck to the farther edge of the beach for the friendly shade of trees. There were also a lot of beach chair and umbrella rentals available, so you could get some shade wherever you chose to sit.
Since the main parking lot was closed, we drove around and found a gravel parking area nearby. We didn’t have to pay anything, and since we were there well before noon, it was easy to find space. Overall the beaches didn’t seem to start getting busy until early afternoon, so morning visitors get their pick of spots.
Taking in some beachside dining.
Another positive was the nearby restaurants. They refer to them as kiosks, and it resembles a common retail strip. There were plenty of places to roll into and get a meal.
Later in the trip, we tried to go to Carolina Beach, which is closer to San Juan and also has a large parking lot and paths, but for some reason, the parking area was closed when we tried to go. It was the time of the Christmas holiday and we had to chalk it up to that. We were able to drive around and find disability parking on the street for Isla Verde Beach West.
Drying off after playing in the waves.
The issues here were the same at most beaches–we had to do some dragging through the sand. They had chairs and umbrellas for rent here as well, so we could have dragged a shorter distance but we wanted free palm tree shade. There were some restaurants nearby as well.
Smiling while also rejecting the sunglasses.
Old San Juan
The sites we wanted to visit in the city were mostly in Old San Juan. The area is a mixture of cobblestone streets with narrow sidewalks, and modern side roads.
The sidewalks in Puerto Rico do not have curb cuts/ramps at every single intersection. They are common and painted blue, but they were not universal in every area we visited. For the most part, though, we were able to plan our way around.
The main National Park attractions in Old San Juan are Castillo San Felipe del Morro and Castillo San Cristobal.
Preparing to visit the fort.
Because both of these forts are part of the National Park Service, families with anyone who has a permanent disability get in free with the Access Pass.
We had a blast.
Getting around the forts is about what you’d expect from a historical landmark. Most of it was accessible, but the ramps for getting up to the highest levels were made for rolling cannons, not wheelchairs. They are very steep, without handholds, and bare stone/concrete. Getting up with help and patience is possible, but there’s plenty to see within easier reach.
Checking out the pigeons at Parque de las Palomas.
The other exciting stops we enjoyed during out time walking around the street of Old San Juan were visiting the bird feeding area at the Parque de las Palomas and touring La Fortaleza, the grounds of the Governor’s mansion. Both are near each other by Calle de la Fortaleza–which is worth seeing in its own right. It is a short street before the Mansion that has decorations spanning the street across the buildings, which change throughout the year.
Those with wheelchairs like us were allowed to go on the grounds to watch the holiday projection display before touring the grounds with everyone else.
Enjoying front row seats to the show.
Overall, we had a very nice time in Old San Juan. It’s a historic part of an old city, so expect cobblestones and narrow sidewalks, but overall very pleasant to get around
Tickle time after dinner.
El Yunque National Forest
The only tropical forest in the US National Forest System, El Yunque is a large rainforest park in the mountains. There are trails and attractions within the forest that are free to get into at any time, there is a Visitor’s Center that you can visit any time for a fee, and there is a recreation area that requires a small fee and a reservation in advance. A special note here–El Yunque is part of the National Forest Service, not a National Park, so the Access Pass won’t get you in for free. We did get a discount at the Visitor Center, however.
As far as accessible hiking, there is really only one trail that I would reliably describe as accessible. It is the “Explore and Discover” trail at the Visitor Center. This trail has both a fully-paved ADA-compliant path and a gravel path that branches off to go farther. The gravel path can get very steep and has exposed tree roots, so anyone nervous should stick to the concrete.
La Mina Recreation Area
By and far, the greatest advantage to getting tickets to the La Mina recreation area is its easy access to amazing sights. You can drive right up to an incredible waterfall, visit an observation area with a tower that has views clear to the ocean without even going up, and continue on to the top of the mountain.
The kids posing in front of La Coca Falls.
On this trip, however, we did not stick to the road entirely. We decided to try to take our son on some of the trails using the Freeloader accessible carrier.
Loaded up and ready to go.
A couple of things about this. Our son needed more lateral support than what the basic carrier had (we ordered the support strap but it didn’t come in time). That’s why we tied a hammock around both my wife and our son, so he stayed in place. The other issue I have is that I’m not sure this is a perfect solution for us–mostly because our son doesn’t entirely understand that he should keep himself centered, use the foot stirrups, and maybe not dance around as we’re trying to scale a staircase of wet rocks.
Walking down the Angelito Trail.
Our son won’t stay still on command. And considering the fact that he is over 50 lbs, I didn’t want to take the chance of injuring myself, but my wife wanted to give it a try.
Ready for a short trek.
Having said that, moving with a child on her back was a two-person job in areas with steep steps and wet stones. Balance is easy to lose, and as I said, if our son got too excited he could throw his balance all over. But for short treks, it did allow him to see some cool things that he may not have seen with us otherwise.
Surprise–it can rain a lot in a rainforest.
Relaxing in the rain.
To be fair, a muddy rainforest in the mountains may not be the ideal place to test the advantages of using a carrier for our son, at least compared to more forgiving hikes. There was definitely a time limit to both his and my wife’s tolerance of the situation.
Hoofing it uphill.
In the end, if you want to explore the rainforest while in Puerto Rico, the La Mina recreation area will let you drive and see many sights easily and accessibly. For the more ambitious, the Angelito Trail is worth checking out. You may not choose to travel all the way down to the river, but you can enjoy a short hike under the dense canopy using its gravel path.
Our trip to Puerto Rico was a fun one for everyone in the family and I would definitely recommend it as a place to visit with many of the typical accessible amenities we’re used to expecting on the US mainland.
It’s true. We did.
