Attending a Cockfight: Although a brutal sport that many find distasteful, cockfighting is legal in Puerto Rico and has its devotees. The most authentic cockfights are in the town of Salinas in the southeast. But it's not necessary to go that far to witness one of these bouts. Three fights a week are held at the Coliseo Gallistico, Route 37 (tel. 787/791-6005), in San Juan. Betting is heavy when these roosters take to the ring.
Diving off Mona Island (Mayagüez): Surrounded by some of the most beautiful coral reefs in the Caribbean, Mona Island has the most pristine, extensive, and well-developed reefs in Puerto Rican waters. In fact, they have been nominated as a U.S. National Marine Sanctuary. The tropical marine ecosystem around Mona includes patch reefs, black coral, spore and groove systems, underwater caverns, deep-water sponges, fringing reefs, and algal reefs. The lush environment attracts octopuses, lobster, queen conch, rays, barracuda, snapper, jack, grunt, angelfish, trunkfish, filefish, butterfly fish, dolphin, parrotfish, tuna, flying fish, and more. The crystal waters afford exceptional horizontal vision from 150 feet to 200 feet (45m-60m), as well as good views down to the shipwrecks that mark the site-including some Hispanic galleons. Five species of whales visit the island's offshore waters.
Visiting Vieques & Culebra: Puerto Rico's offshore islands-still relatively undiscovered by the modern world-remain an offbeat adventure, and they've got great beaches, too. The most developed is Vieques, which attracts visitors with its gorgeous stretches of sand with picnic facilities and shade trees. It is an ideal retreat for snorkelers and tranquillity seekers. The beaches are nearly always deserted, even though they are among the Caribbean's loveliest. Nearly three-quarters of the island is owned by the Fish & Wildlife Service. The even less developed Culebra has a wildlife refuge, coral reefs, and Playa Flamenco, another of the Caribbean's finest beaches. And is it ever sleepy here!
Spending the Evening at Mosquito (Phosphorescent) Bay (Vieques Island): At any time except when there's a full moon, you can swim in glowing waters lit by dinoflagellates called pyrodiniums (whirling fire). These creatures light up the waters like fireflies, and swimming among them is one of the most unusual things to do anywhere-truly a magical, almost psychedelic experience. It's estimated that a gallon of bay water might contain about three-quarters of a million of these little glowing creatures.
Sampling the Island's Nosh Pits: Think of Puerto Rico as one gigantic fast-food joint, for no other island in the Caribbean offers such a delectable array of roadside eats. Snack food lies around virtually every turn in the road. As you drive throughout the island, stop and take your pick of the roadside dives. They may look junky, even trashy, but the food is often a delight-and cheap, too.
You'll find succulent barbecued pig, pastelillos (pastry turnovers filled with meat, cheese, or seafood), surullitos (deep-fried cornmeal sticks), alcapurrias (a filling of fish or meat in a deep-fried casing of finely grated green plantains and taro root), bacalaitos (deep-fried codfish fritters), papas relleñas (stuffed potatoes), and arañitas ("little spiders"-actually, deep-fried clusters of shredded green plantains).
You don't have to go far for barbecued pig-just head to the roadside food stands in Luquillo Beach, to the east of San Juan. It makes for a great picnic at the beach.
A truck stop, Café Restaurant La Nueva Union, 35 miles (56km) west of San Juan at the junction of Carretera 2 and Highway 22 between Arecibo and Hatillo, serves the most succulent traditional fare. Sample its fresh octopus salad, its meaty goat stew, and definitely its guisados (beef stew). Don't leave without an order of coconut flan.
If you make it all the way around the island to La Parguera, stop at El Quenepo, a lunch wagon parked under a towering quenepa (a tropical fruit tree) on Route 116 between routes 304 and 324. You can usually spot it by a line of cars letting passengers out to sample the delights from its crowded postage-stamp kitchen. El Quenepo offers a vast array of Puerto Rican specialties, many of which you may never have sampled before: cold codfish soup, even a green-bean omelet, and piononos (a "mountain" composed of fried eggs, plantain strips, and seasoned meat filling).
