Explora Journeys in San Juan

San Juan's old quarter is a walled Spanish colonial town on a headland, founded in the early 1500s, with two stone forts run by the U.S. National Park Service guarding the harbor mouth. Explora ships tie up at the Old San Juan piers themselves, so the cobbled grid of pastel houses, plazas, and sea walls starts a few steps from the gangway. It earns the day because almost everything worth seeing is reachable on foot, no transfer required.

What to do on a day in San Juan

• Castillo San Felipe del Morro (El Morro): the six-level fortress on the point, with the long green esplanade and harbor-mouth views
• Castillo San Cristobal: the larger of the two forts, a short walk inland, with tunnels and sentry boxes over the Atlantic side
• Paseo de la Princesa: a flat 19th-century waterside promenade running from near the piers along the city walls to the Raices Fountain, the easiest warm-up walk in the old town
• Catedral de San Juan Bautista: the cathedral first built in 1521, holding Ponce de Leon's tomb
• Calle Fortaleza and La Fortaleza: the street famous for its canopy of suspended umbrellas, leading to the oldest governor's mansion still in use in the Americas
• Plaza de Armas and Calle del Cristo: the main square and the shop-and-cafe spine of the old town

Getting ashore

Explora docks at the Old San Juan piers on Marina Street (Piers 1 to 4), in the historic district itself, so plazas, the cathedral, and the Paseo are a 5 to 15 minute walk and the two forts a bit further uphill. One day is comfortably enough to walk the old town end to end and tour one or both forts; the streets are cobbled, so wear real shoes.

When to book the ship's excursion vs your own →

Weather and when to visit

• December to April (dry season, when most Caribbean and Grand Journeys calls fall). Typically warm and bright, highs around the low-to-mid 80s F, lower humidity than summer and only brief light showers; the most reliable stretch for a walking day ashore.
• May to November (wet season). Hot and humid with afternoon thunderstorms, heaviest from August into October; November is statistically the wettest month. This overlaps Atlantic hurricane season (June 1 to November 30).