I visited Puerto Rico five years ago with my best friend and absolutely loved it. We stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel right on Isle Verde beach and enjoyed the sun and sand there. We toured El Yunque Rain Forest, Castillo San Felipe del Morro, kayaked to the bioluminescent bay, walked the streets of Old San Juan and visited the art museum.

At the time, I said I’d visit Puerto Rico often, but things didn’t work out that way and I took lots of other trips around the world before returning to the beautiful island this year. Like most people who travel often and missed it, it was difficult for me to make the decision to travel during the pandemic. But, when my significant other planned our trip there in September, I was ecstatic and eager to get back to Puerto Rico for a much-needed vacation with him.

In September, due to a drop in COVID-19 cases and deaths on the island, Puerto Rico’s governor reopened beaches, casinos, gyms and movie theaters. Face masks and social distancing remained mandatory and a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew was in place. We were also pleased with the requirement for tourists to upload proof of a negative COVID test result onto their Health Department’s online portal before being permitted to travel freely around the island. We had to do this within 72 hours of traveling and also decided to take the test again upon returning home. We got round-trip tickets through Spirit for $167 (get the exit row seats if you can, thank me later). I know lots of people have lots of bad things to say about Spirit Airlines, but we had a great experience. We had nice, smooth flights that got us there and home quicker than anticipated.

Although many of the places we wanted to visit were closed, we had a great time, laying out and relaxing on several beaches, self-touring El Yunque Rain Forest, visiting Old San Juan and eating good food.

We loved the shrimp mofongo, fish tacos and pina coladas at Raíces. The house rice and strawberry pina coladas at Triana Tapas and Flamenco were superb, and the ribs at Vaca Brava were delicious.

We stayed at an AirBnB with amazing views of Isle Verde beach which was steps away from our apartment. We rented a jeep and beach hopped to Luquillo, Seven Seas, and Condado beaches. All had a different vibe, highlights and lowlights. Some weren’t suitable for laying out on the beach, but were beautiful. The next time we visit, we plan to go to more beaches on the west coast of the island. I also want to finally get to the Bacardi Factory, Crash Boat beach, zip line and ride ATVs during my next visit.

I will also eat all the mofongo and fish tacos I can eat!