Balneario El Escambrón — Attraction in San Juan

We walked over from the Hilton to check out the snorkeling. I was a nice alternative to just swimming by our hotel. We liked side the faces towards the city, more than the side that faces by our hotel. Even though it’s more popular, the water is clearer and you can see pretty well. The other side, by the abandoned hotel, is getting pretty overtaken by Sargasm.

We didn’t see any turtles, but plenty of fish that weren’t scared of humans. A large school of large blue fish swam all around without running off. Saw a giant starfish, and my first huge sea slug! Some areas were more calm and great for kids, and some areas got wavy enough I wish I brought Dramamine for my stomach that was extra sensitive that day.

Overall if you have goggles, are a good swimmer, and can hold your breath it’s worth a visit. I’ve definitely paid for snorkeling excursions that were worse quality. For free it was...

Nice beach close to town. I guess our favorite in the San Juan area of PR.

We were here on an August Friday, and it was not very busy.

Good shade from coconut palms, as long as one doesn't fall on your head. Not bad though if you are fried from multiple beach days. Always seems to be a good tradewind breeze on the North coast of PR, under the palms coming off the ocean it almost seemed cool in August.

This is a BYO chairs, lunch and beverages beach, no concessions available. $5 for parking.

The water is not as clear as the VI, and I didn't see much of interest snorkeling but also didn't explore it as much as I could have.

There is a little fort about 1/4 mile to the east that is part of the same park this beach is in, you can walk over and...

Surfing, snorkeling, nice sand, transparent water, coconut trees that give a nice shade, bathrooms, parking (most of the time), and all of that in a very centric location. One of my favorite beaches in the area, specially if you won’t be in Puerto Rico for too long, because of how close it is to everything.

The parking can get quite busy on the weekends, so it’s always advices to arrive early.

The only negative is that every day there are many guys claiming to be from this organization that helps rehab people and want to get your money. They are very insistent and sadly the police does nothing to keep them from bothering both locals and tourists. But this is something you will find in every beach near San Juan, so it is nothing particular...