Old San Juan and Isla Caja de Muertos

Old San Juan and Isla Caja de Muertos

Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd February, 2025

Our plan for Saturday was to drive to the old section of San Juan, find somewhere to park, walk around and have some lunch.  Things seemed to be going smoothly until we got to the waterfront where it appeared that every passenger had just left the giant Virgin Cruise ship.  Additionally, half the population of the island may have had the same plan as us!  Old San Juan has narrow streets, lined with parked cars and vehicles looking for a parking spot whilst trying to avoid running over the hundreds of pedestrians milling around aimlessly.  To add to the general chaos, almost all streets are one way.  It’s necessary to plan your route carefully so that you don’t wind up driving in circles. Even good planning can’t save you, as that right hand turn you were counting on is unexpectedly barricaded.  As the navigator, I admit that I was having a melt down.  We found a couple of parking garages that were completely full.  In despair, we decided to switch to plan B and go to the Botanical Gardens. With some difficulty, we found a more major road heading away from the old section.  Then, by some miracle, we found a parking space!  We dumped the car and started walking.  The area where we had parked was the government center for Puerto Rico.  We saw the Capitol Building and sculptures of past Presidents.  We carried on walking until we found a nice looking restaurant.  Lunch was served!  Mike ordered Yucca mofongo with Cuban ropa vieja.  I went for Puerto Rican stew with sweet potato.  The food was great and the place had an air of gracious dilapidation.  We resumed walking and got to the large fort that overlooks the harbor entrance.  The large grassy expanse around the fort appeared to be a popular park for picnics and kite flying.  We toured the fort (Castillo San Felipe del Morro). Originally built by the Spanish and subsequently expanded and reinforced, the fort eventually came into the possession of the US. If was further modified and used during WWII to watch for German submarines and warships.  The walk back to the car seemed a bit daunting, so we stopped for a coffee to energize ourselves.  The traffic was quite heavy on the drive back, but we were pleased to arrive at the marina in daylight! 

This morning there were a few jobs to be done. Returning the car keys and remaining payment to the marina office, refilling the water jerries and buying ice.  We were under way shortly after ten am. The wind was quite variable, between 8 and 15 knots.  We flew the genoa and motor-sailing the 15 miles to Isla Caja de Muertos.  We think the name might mean Island of the Coffins.  Our Spanish has not improved much while being in the PR! We anchored on the south west side of the island amid a mix of sail boats and power vessels.  Looking over the side we saw several large fish that we think are tarpon.  After lunch Mike wanted to go to shore so we launched the dinghy and dropped the engine on it.  Once he collected his gear, I was on the side deck to release the painter once the engine was started.  Looking over the side I saw a decent sized shark swim by with tarpon following. Something went badly wrong with the pull cord and the engine could not be started.  Mike tried to work on the outboard in the dinghy but the rock and roll plus the constant sight of the circling shark soon convinced him to bring the engine back onto the big boat.  Mike dis-assembled the pull cord mechanism, and after much messing around the pull cord was retracted into the correct spot and we started the process over again. Mike went to shore and took a walk up the hill where the flag was flying.  He found out that the island was previously a park that was destroyed by an earth quake in 2020.  There are damaged buildings on shore.  We might try to find out more when we have any phone reception!  

Gloria 

17 53.261 N, 66 31.799 W

First things first ... lunch! Yucca mofongo with Cuban ropa vieja,  Puerto Rican stew with sweet potato (iphone selfie)

The Capitol Building

The colorful streets of Old San Juan

Ditto

The mausoleum below the Castillo San Felipe del Morro

Castillo San Felipe del Morro

Castillo San Felipe del Morro - a castle with many layers

Castillo San Felipe del Morro - fantastic views in all directions. We sailed around this point and into San Juan Harbor in 2018 (but never left the boat and kept on going the following morning)

The cafe where we had iced coffee to perk us up for the walk back to the car

Old building - New mural

Looking down on Isla Caja de Muertos from the hill on the south west corner of the island

The beach area at Isla Caja de Muertos