Booking El Yunque Rainforest Tour
We chose to book our El Yunque Rainforest Tour* through Get Your Guide. We opted for the longer tour (7-hours), since we knew we wanted to maximize our time there! The cost is usually ~$58 per person and we love booking through Get Your Guide since they offer free cancelation up until 24-hours before (which is great if the weather isn’t looking too good). It’s important to note that this activity is not suitable for children under 5, women who are pregnant or anyone with mobility concerns, as it’s quite active!
Getting There
One of the nicest parts of this tour is that it includes transportation from San Jaun, since the roads that wind into El Yunque could be daunting for a driver who is not familiar with the route. (You know you’re in for a winding ride when you driver has to tuck in his mirrors & honk around corners!)
We met at Norte Shopping Center, which is about ~15 minutes from Old San Juan or ~8 minutes from the Condado beach area. If you have a rental car, there is a parking lot where you can leave your car for the duration of the tour. If you don’t have a rental car, we recommend taking an Uber or Taxi to get there, as public transportation isn’t consistently reliable and you need to arrive ~15 minutes prior to your departure. We were in a small passenger van with 12 people in our group, with our local guide as the driver. The drive took a little over an hour to get into El Yunque. There are no facilities where the guides park, so we recommend wearing your swim suit to the tour!
Hike Portion
When you arrive to El Yunque, you begin your journey on a ~30 minute hike and your guide shares information about local flora & fauna. While the majority of the hike is not challenging, it is incredibly muddy (especially if it recently rained). We recommend wearing water shoes* or hiking boots*, that you are comfortable getting wet & dirty. (One girl in our group was wearing white sneakers, and let’s just say they were no longer white sneakers when we left El Yunque!)
When you are approaching the swim spot, the hike gets more difficult for a few minutes while you navigate some downhill slopes & rocks (pictured above). Our guide was incredibly helpful directing everyone where to step and ensuring everyone remained safe!
Natural Waterslides
By far the best part of El Yunque Rainforest tour* is the natural waterslides! When you arrive to the swimming hole, you have the option to hang out & swim or continue the hike up to the waterfall slides. Our group was fairly mobile so our guide took us to the highest waterfall slide so we were able to go down both of them!
In order to get to this area, you need to climb over large rocks and uneven terrain (pictured above). This was certainly the most challenging aspect of the hike, but if you are not comfortable – we recommend cooling off in the swimming hole & watching others go down the waterslides.
The ride down both natural waterslides is quick and it launches you out into the water (so be prepared to get completely wet)! The water was refreshing but not too cold so it was welcomed after the hike.
After the waterslides, you have the option to cliff jump and/or go on a rope swing (we did both). There is a taller cliff (which Mark jumped from) and a smaller one (which I jumped from) so you have options based on your comfortability level. This tour is truly the perfect day adventuring in the rainforest!
What to Pack
The most important information we can share about El Yunque Rainforest Tour is what to pack, as it wasn’t super clear when booking! We recommend bringing a bag or backpack with a change of clothes, towel, sunscreen, water & snacks. When you depart for the hike, the guide recommended we leave everything in the locked van if we planned to go down the natural waterslides. The only other option is to leave your bags (unattended) at the shore, which is always a risk. Unless someone in your group plans to sit out the waterslides, we recommend traveling incredibly light for this excursion!
We wore our swim suits, hiking boots* & had our phones in waterproof phone cases* so we could take photos. If you don’t have a waterproof phone case (it’s a worthwhile investment, we’ve since used it on multiple trips), then we recommend leaving your phone behind in the van. I can’t speak for all guides, but our guide did take photos & film video clips and offered to share the album with everyone for $20. Even though we had our phones, he got a lot of great content so we ended up purchasing the album as well as we couldn’t pass up on all the awesome memories of this fun day!
Lunch Stop
After waterslide, rope swing & swimming fun, we hiked 30 minutes back to the van. We had time to dry off & change clothes (if we wanted). As a reminder, there are not facilities in this area, so we changed under a towel behind the van! If you’re not comfortable with that, we recommend bringing a cover up or some clothes to throw over your swim suit after you dry off.
Once back in the van, we drove ~45 minutes to the Luquillo Kiosks for lunch. Lunch is not included in the price of the tour, but the guide gave us 1-hour of free time to shop & get food. There is a variety of options available but we chose Rellena’o (Kisok #33) after our guide recommended it. They do bowls with your choice of mofongo, meat, sauce & toppings. It was incredibly filling & reasonably priced.
If you have time, you can go for a walk on the beach behind the kiosks. (Please note that we would not recommend a beach day behind the kiosks, as it’s not the cleanest spot – further down the road is the paid parking for Luquillo Beach & that’s a much more relaxing area!)
Review of El Yunque Rainforest Tour
This day trip was one of the highlights of our time in Puerto Rico and we would recommend it to any first time visitors! It’s the perfect way to spend time in nature, swim in crystal clear springs & get a rush going down some of the most incredible natural waterslides we’ve ever seen.
The price is reasonable for the experience you get and definitely a good value. We would have never been able to find this spot without our guide. He also was incredibly supportive of the group on the hike, guiding us where to go. We always felt safe and well taken care of. Don’t miss out on this El Yunque Rainforest Tour* while in Puerto Rico – you won’t regret it!
