The 11 Best Places in Puerto Rico

A crescent bay on Culebra that keeps its water calm enough to swim without drama, thanks to the curve of the shoreline doing most of the work. The stretch of white sand is wide enough that crowds thin out naturally. A graffiti-covered military tank rusts at one end, which does more for the atmosphere than any beach bar ever could. Getting here takes a ferry or a small plane, which is half the point. It ranks among North America's 50 Best Beaches.

A chequerboard floor, fairy lights, and enough rooms within rooms that finding your way back to the bar counts as an adventure, La Factoría is a cocktail bar spread across Old San Juan like it grew there naturally. Locals and tourists negotiate the same stools, and the drinks lean into Caribbean produce without turning into a tourism brochure. It landed at #26 on North America's 50 Best Bars, which tracks.

The open-air arrival pavilion rises over a moat of water lilies with the Atlantic framed behind it, which tells you exactly what kind of resort this is. Fifty beachfront acres, butler service as standard, a spa spread across five acres with treehouse treatment rooms, and every suite facing the ocean with an outdoor shower. José Andrés has a restaurant here. Forbes Five Star. The coqui frogs perform for free.

No two rooms at this boutique bed-and-breakfast in Ocean Park are decorated alike, and none of them err toward restraint. It sits inside a gated community a short walk from the beach, with surf shops and cafés filling the neighborhood around it. The on-site breakfast spot is vegetarian and sources from local producers, which sounds like a constraint until the food arrives. The Michelin Guide has it among its selected hotels.