46 miles (74km) SE of San Juan
Halfway down the east coast, south from Fajardo, lies the resort and luxury residential community of Palmas del Mar in the municipality of Humacao. Here you'll find one of the most action-packed sports programs in the Caribbean, offering golf, tennis, scuba diving, sailing, deep-sea fishing, and horseback riding. Palmas del Mar's location is one of its greatest assets. The pleasing Caribbean trade winds steadily blow across this section of the island, stabilizing the weather and making Palmas del Mar ideal for many outdoor sports.
If you travel south from Fajardo, you can drive through the picturesque coastal fishing town of Naguabo, whose small harbor is fronted by numerous casual, open-air seafood restaurants, serving tasty, economically priced seafood and other local specialties. The 1917 revival mansion Castillo Villa del Mar, now a National Historic Monument, is at the harbor's southern end.
But the quickest way to get here from San Juan is to head south to along Highway 52 and then east Highway 30 to Humacao.
Palmas del Mar sprawls across 2,700 acres (1,092 hectares) of beautifully landscaped coast, a self-contained resort and residential community with several different luxury neighborhoods, ranging from Mediterranean-style villas to modern marina town houses.
It's a town unto itself: with a school, hospital and post office, several restaurants, shops, and other facilities that any town center would have. There's one existing hotel and two luxury properties under construction, and several of the residences are available for rent through a vacation club or real estate office.
There are negotiations ongoing for two new resorts (reportedly a $312-million Mandarin Oriental and a $300-million Regent) that should improve the luxury enclave's hotel offerings, which is just what Palmas needs. We find the existing Four Points hotel resort level, but pretty ordinary beyond that; a few more hotels will improve all the offerings. Until a few more hotels come on line, most guests will probably prefer staying at El Conquistador or one of the Río Grande resorts, the Río Mar or Gran Melía, despite the charms of Palmas del Mar, which appear to be ever on the rise. If you are after a short-term rental of a condo or town house, then Palmas is more likely your place. A beach club, marina, and tennis club add to its resort appeal.
