Fajardo wouldn’t have been as enjoyable if we hadn’t stayed at El Conquistador Resort! The place is massive, spotlessly clean, and packed with activities. I think it’s worth every penny, even if you skip the extra tours.
While the resort itself doesn’t have a beach for swimming, it boasts its own island, “Palomino Island”. It’s just a quick 15-minute boat ride away, with free rides every half-hour from 9 am to 5 pm daily. On Palomino, you’ll find a hotel restaurant and they provide complimentary beach chairs and towels.
The resort itself is packed with restaurants, coffee bars, a fun park, golf course, and numerous other amenities. It’s super easy to just call an Uber and go wherever you want (we had to wait a bit longer than when we were in Condado).
Our room is right in front of the ocean, as we upgraded by paying an extra $65 for a 4-hour early check-in. They told us our original room wasn’t ready.
To get to our room, we got help from a bellboy who carried our bags and also worked as a tour guide for the resort!
To reach our room, we had to take the elevator to the ground floor, then take the cable car down to the bottom of the hill. Our room was 1402, and it was huge!
We couldn’t help but laugh at the bathroom here compared to the one in Vieques (where we paid more for less)!
Our room also located next to the ferry boarding area, we wasted no time after settling into our room, heading straight to the island for lunch.
Although the lunch was just okay, we discovered we could order food and enjoy it right on the beach.
The water was crystal clear, as expected in the Caribbean. We spent the afternoon swimming and relaxing until our planned kayak tour got rained out.
Surprisingly, I was relieved since we were exhausted, and the cancellation meant a full refund!
However, our disappointment mounted when our next day’s tour, a Mini boat and snorkeling trip, also got canceled. We attempted to reschedule but had no luck, ending up booking a Culebra Beach Day tour instead. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a MISTAKE as it wasn’t a snorkeling trip as we had hoped.
Despite realizing our error too late to get a refund, we had to pay $190 per person for the tour (read more)
Back at the resort, we discovered a local park and restaurants nearby through the back gate. We had breakfast and dinner there once, though I found short and curly hair in my food the first time, and the second meal wasn’t particularly enjoyable.
From there, we could see a tiny island reachable during low tide, which we explored one morning, wading through knee-deep water – quite a fun adventure!
A short walk from the resort led us to Seven Seas Beach, perfect for swimming. We also stopped by a local shop for water and soda, where the owner treated me to the most delicious mango, I’ve had in Puerto Rico during our eight-night trip!
The road was under construction, accessing the beach wasn’t too challenging.
The best dinner restaurant we had during our trip (and it was on our anniversary) was La Estacion. I had Mofongo with swordfish (though I think I prefer mofongo with shrimp!), and my husband had a really big lobster, which was delicious. We paid market price for the lobster, which was $65, and $35 for my swordfish mofongo.
This restaurant can get very busy, so calling ahead for reservations is a good idea!
There were other dinner options on my list that we didn’t get a chance to try, like El Cayo (about a 10-15 minute ride from the resort) and La Parrilla (more than 20 minutes away).
On the way back to San Juan Airport, we saw a big bakery called “Montebrisas” ,which may be about 20 minutes away from the resort.
We stayed here for 3 nights, and I think we liked it. So if I were to replan my trip to Puerto Rico, I would only stay in Condado and Fajardo!
And if we stay in Fajardo, we will definitely rent a car!
It’s about a 45-minute Uber ride to San Juan Airport, and we paid about $60.
Read through and learn from our mistakes!
>> Trip Itinerary : Cost Break Down : Pros/Cons
– Condado Beach
– Old San Juan
– Pinones Beach
– Vieques Island
– FULL DAY IN VIEQUES ISLAND
– Fajardo at El Conquistador Resort * You are here
– Culebra Beach Day Tour by Catamaran from Fajardo
