Like all Caribbean Islands, the shores of Puerto Rico are lined with one great beach after another. Surfers, families, divers, snorkelers - the island's great size provides opportunities for all kinds of tourists to have fun in the sun on the best Puerto Rican beaches. San Juan beaches are many of the most popular on the island are home to many of the classiest Puerto Rico beach hotels you'll find. The west coast is a haven for surfers, and is home to some of the sport's hottest stars, not to mention the location for surfing championships throughout the year. The southern coast is better for swimming and snorkeling, the crystal blue waters near Ponce and Cabo Rojo are great for seeing schools of colorful fish. They are also good places to head out and try to catch a few marlin, tuna or billfish.

Though there are not as many Puerto Rico beach resorts on Vieques and Culebra, you'll find the secluded stretches of sand that make the Caribbean famous on these tiny islands. Take a short trip down a bumpy, teeth rattling road, and you'll find Playa Zoni on Culebra Island. Of all Puerto Rico beaches, this is the one return visitors always praise the highest. Vieques has Blue Beach, which has only recently allowed public visitors, as it was formerly part of a U.S. Navy base.

San Juan beaches are where you'll find some of the other most talked about beaches - there's a reason you'll find more Puerto Rico beach hotels and resorts here than anywhere else on the island. Save your energy for the nightclubs and spend your afternoons at Playa del Condado, the best place on the island to see and be seen. Lined with Puerto Rico beach hotels, the area is jam-packed with everything Puerto Rico is famous for - unstoppable nightclubs, beautiful tourists and the trendiest hotels and restaurants on the island.

Puerto Rico Map

Go east from Playa del Condado and you'll find another of the great San Juan beaches in Playa de Ocean Park. Windsurfers rule the shore here, and the beach is huge with families looking to avoid the crowds of young people at the neighboring beach of Condado. Go a little further and you'll find Playa de Isla Verde. This is another of the Puerto Rico beaches catering specifically to hotel and resort guests, since there are more resorts and hotels lining Isla Verde than anywhere else in Puerto Rico. If you don't enjoy crowds, this isn't the place for you, but it's great if you want to hang out, meet other visitors and get ready for a big night out in San Juan.