San Juan's Fiesta de San Juan Bautista (Festival of St John the Baptist) in late June wonderfully fuses pagan and Catholic iconography and Indian, African and Spanish traditions. There are solemn religious aspects and plenty of feasting, music, dancing and colourful costumed processions. The highlight of the parade is a communal luck-enhancing midnight walk backwards into the sea. The three weeks of Las Navidades , beginning on 15 December, are the peak period of socializing and religious observation, though many of the celebrations take place at family homes. The climax comes on 6 January, when hordes of children advance on La Fortaleza to receive presents from the governor.

San Juan is a spirited modern city with high-rise beach strips and a justly famous colonial core. Founded in the 16th century, it's the second-oldest city in the Americas; today it's the engine of the island's economic and political life and the cultural beachhead for US influence in the Caribbean.

Many Caribbean adventurers never make it past Puerto Rico's seductive capital: there's a lot to be said for being able to lay a towel down on a pristine white Caribbean beach while having the culture and quaintness of a historic city and the convenience of a modern metropolis just minutes away.