What It Is Like To Drive Around Puerto Rico

When Taylor and I decided to visit Puerto Rico, I knew we would need to rent a car to explore the island. We would be flying into San Juan and driving would also allow us to explore the rest of Puerto Rico, including its mountainous jungle of the Utuado Area. ​

Read more about our entire road trip to Utuado, Puerto Rico in this outlined "Puerto Rico Road Trip" blog post, HERE!

Taylor arranged our rental through Enterprise Rent-A-Car. She booked us for an SUV, but it was a little unfortunate that we couldn’t select exactly which car we wanted. It also was crazy how much more expensive off road and 4WD drive vehicle got!

​The rental we got was well worth the price, though,  and our experience with Enterprise could not have been better. Our Nissan Rogue proved a comfortable ride with decent acceleration and better than expected handling.

The only shot I have our Rouge! Outside Cafe Gran Batey in Utuado.

See more of what it was like to drive around, watch our YouTube video below!

The first drive in the Rogue was from Old San Juan to La Plaza del Mercado de Santurce. The city streets were narrow, but not confusing or difficult to navigate.

Driving up to La Plaza del Mercado de Santurce.

After the market we truly started our road trip, and drove all the way to Arecibo. 50 miles down Highway 22. The roads were smooth and filled with travelers. It was a breeze.

From Aricebo, we headed south into the mountains of Puerto Rico, towards Utuado and our Airbnb on Lake Caonillas.

Our Lago Caonillas Airbnb had a private hot tub and amazing views!

Check out where all we stayed in San Juan and Utuado in our "Where to Stay In Puerto Rico" blog post, HERE!

Driving up to Utuado from Arecibo.

Highway 10 cuts through the dramatically steep and lush landscape with the occasional convenience store and fruit stand. The speed limit on Highway 10 is 50 miles per hour, and local law enforcement stopped me doing 60 before we reached Utuado.  ​​

​John and I also got pulled over on our road trips to Utah's National Parks AND in Iceland! Read about both of them here!

This is apparently a regular scene for us...

Once we got through Utuado the roads got narrow and started winding with a consistent, steep grade.

While driving through the mountains we learned it is common to hear horns honking to notify anyone around the curve that a car is coming. It’s also common to turn a curve to find a relaxing dog in the middle of the road or a group of people gathered near the roadside!

The view entering Utuado.

The views of Puerto Rico’s mountain ranges are stunning, but I couldn’t afford to take my eyes off the road for any amount of time. 

For two days, Taylor and I explored the mountain roads on either side of Utuado. It was exhilarating to drive up and down these steep and lush roadways. When researching routes around the Utuado Area, I had read that some mountain roads in Puerto Rico are impassable and that GPS directions are not to be trusted. 

Read more about all of the planning we did before arriving in Puerto Rico, please read our detailed post - coming soon!

I ordered a map of Puerto Rico from Great Journeys, Inc. and compared the map and satellite images to determine which roads and routes were viable. ​​

Even though I had gone as far as drawing certain intersections and sections of road map in my notebook, Taylor and I forgot the warnings about GPS.

The roads started to get rough right past Canon Blanco.

After leaving Cañon Blanco, Google Maps directed us to take PR-606. We found out the hard way that PR-606 doesn’t exist anymore. The road turns into a grassy trail then disappears into the jungle.

Go another route - this road no longer exists and you do not want the same fate we had!

We accidentally hit this trail pretty hard, and to make matters worse, something in the grass punctured our passenger’s side front tire.  

After a speedy tire change, the Rouge sported an emergency spare as Taylor and I limped it back to a tire shop.

​Luckily, we had purchased Enterprise’s damage insurance, and the new tire didn’t cost us a dime. We did have to drive to the Pep Boys in Aricebo, but the spare tire performed well and gave us no issue.

​Once we’d had the tire repaired, it was time for Taylor and I to hit the highway back to San Juan.

Our stop at Pep Boys was so easy and our tire was fixed pretty quick.

No matter what day or time we were on the highway, traffic never seemed to slow. Commercial trucks and older vehicles kept a slow pace, some vehicles cruised at just above the 55 mile per hour speed limit, and a few zipped by everyone. This remained true in a steady downpour. 

The last piece of driving the Rogue in Puerto Rico consisted of dangerous water pockets and flooded interchanges. As we neared San Juan, the edge lanes of the highway became more and more likely to hold water pockets that would jerk the steering wheel. The streets of San Juan were flooded, but Taylor and I returned the car safely to Enterprise. ​

It seemed to rain every afternoon but the last day was the worst.

All things considered, driving in Puerto Rico was a great experience, but a little bit more  Spanish and familiarity with certain routes would have helped tremendously.

It is not a task for the faint of heart, and constant diligence is required, but the exhilaration while speeding around a mountainous curve kept me in a state of bliss while driving in Puerto Rico’s mountains, and the suspense of never knowing when an oncoming vehicle would appear, made those mountains one of my favorite places to drive.

See what it was really like in our YouTube video below, and see more on our entire channel HERE!

More from our road trip in Puerto Rico:

Where We  Stayed on the Island - Hot Tubs and Jungle Views!
Touring Cafe Gran Batey - Fresh Puerto Rican Coffee
Finding The Best Food On The Island - Where We Ate in San Juan, Arecibo, and Utuado