luquillo-beach-fajardo-guide-puerto-rico

The surf beach town of Luquillo was our first experience of surf culture, and I can now attest to the draw it holds for so many adventure seekers! While neither of us surfs, it was easy to sit back and watch ourselves getting drawn into that laidback surfer lifestyle.. We'd make the morning walk through the town square to the local cafe (killer crepes too!) or to Boardriders for a relaxed breakfast by the ocean where we'd see surfers of all kinds- local pros still wet in their suits taking a quick break, surfer dads fueling their kids for a day on the waves, tourists from near and far renting boards at the surf shop, all while The Beach Boys played in the background. Luquillo has several different beaches, of which Playa La Pared is popular amongst surfers, and the weekend we were there, the beach happened to be hosting a state level surfing competition, so we got to witness so many amazing surfers take on some massive waves! But it got so crowded with the press being there and everything, that we quickly made our way to the much calmer Luquillo Beach. Well, that was one reason, but the real reason for going there- the famed Luquillo Kiosks! Three words- Street Food Heaven, you guys.. Puerto Ricans take their street food seriously! After serious research on the 60 kiosks, we sampled a few different things, but we both agreed that our favorites were the Alcapurrias (stuffed dough rolls), 'tacos' (deep-fried stuffed and sealed taco shells) and Piononos (plaintain wrapped fillings). Necessary hydration breaks involved freshly made pina-coladas served in pineapples.. so fun! After snacking through the day, we ate dinner at one of the few sit-down restaurants, La Parilla, which turned out to be one of the best meals we had through the entire week.

Point Penny Wise: Not only were the Luquillo Kiosks a fun taste of local cuisine, our meals there were super easy on the pocket! I recommend investing time into researching the kiosks, because there are a LOT of them, and not all are inexpensive and good, but overall, a must do if in Luquillo!

As we quickly learned, when in a surf town, casual is the law of the land! Since there was little to be done except beach bumming and eating, I wore this easy coverup combo of a graphic tee and denim cutoffs, accessorized only with a beach-hair-friendly headband handmade by my girl Kaitlyn at Neverland Beachwear. The tee seemed apropos for a day as dreamy as this.. far from our PhD-crazed lives back at home and armed with palm leaf roses (random stranger, thank you!), it did indeed seem like we were chasing dreams. :)