Departing from San Juan you can combine a visit to the Rain Forest with an afternoon at one of the world's most beautiful beaches. On the Northeast coast of Puerto Rico, Luquillo Beach is the island's best and most popular public stretch of tranquil waters and golden sand. The beach is a huge crescent of white sand lined with coconut palms with the mountains and El Yunque as the backdrop. Offshore are coral formations and spectacular sea life and tropical fish. The water is calm and comfortable - the perfect place for families!

From here, you will easily explore cool, mountainous and semi tropical El Yunque Rain Forest. The abundant rainfall is shed through rocky rivers creating many cascades of waterfalls and pools. El Yunque hosts a number of unique plant and animal species such as the endangered Puerto Rican Parrot and the tiny coquis, indigenous tree frogs.

According to ancient Indian Legend, the good spirit 'Yuquiyu' reigned on his mighty mountain-top throne, protecting Puerto Rico and its people. The name Luquillo is derived from this god spirit's Indian name.

Stops on the tour include:

• La Coca Waterfall (no swimming, just taking photos)
• Observation Tower
• Bano Grande (no swimming)
• 20 minute walk on Caimitillo Trail (easy walk)
• 2.5 hours on Luquillo Beach

Departing from your San Juan hotel, you'll first enjoy a fascinating guided tour of Bacardi, the world's largest rum distillery, where you can sample the goods or buy some liquid souvenirs.

Then you'll visit one of the best preserved Spanish colonial cities in the world, Old San Juan. Old San Juan is the second oldest city built in the new world (1513). Excellent examples of Spanish Colonial architecture. Blue cobblestone streets, museums, churches and forts make Old San Juan a definite stop on any visit to Puerto Rico.

The entire city is a National Historic Preservation site! Also on this tour is a 30 minute stop at 500-year old fort.

This tour takes you from San Juan, to Northwestern Puerto Rico, part of the third largest underground river cavern system in the world. You'll enjoy a safe, guided tour of the marvels. From sinkholes and cathedral-like caverns to views of the mysterious river and its eons-old stalactites and stalagmites. Be sure to wear comfortable, non-slippery shoes! This tour also takes you to where you will see the largest radar/radio telescope. Operated by Cornell University, the telescope probes the ionosphere, examines planets and monitors natural radio emissions from distant galaxies, pulsars and quasars.

The caves at Camuy are actually 45 million years old, but it took a few million years for nature to adorn their towering ceilings with crystalline stalactites, their walls with flowing stone tapestries and their floors with mushroom mounds of stalactites. Few cave systems in the world are as massive or dramatic as the Rio Camuy Cave Park; none has a thundering tropical river transversing countless miles of uncharted channels. Three crater-like sinkholes and one cave of the huge system in the park are open to the public and they are truly memorable experiences.

The Arecibo Observatory is nestled in the mountains of northern Puerto Rico, about 30 minutes from Arecibo and is the world's largest radar/radio telescope. Here scientists from all over the world use a giant 305 meter diameter dish to listen to the universe. You may view the huge telescope from an observation platform, where its austere metallic symmetry shimmers in dramatic contrast with the dense, green, tropical landscape.