TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands SJU Layover

Jet Blue canceled our mid-day flight out of SJU on our way back home. We're now on the 5:05pm flight. The result is an 8 hour layover in SJU on Sunday, June 2. Soooo, why not make it a Sunday Funday?! We were hoping to find a spot in or near Old San Juan to enjoy a leisurely brunch and wander around a little. Any ideas on a good spot? Places to check out? We have 12 in our group.

Also, it's been 5 years since our last BVI trip. As I recall, on arrival from EIS we need to retrieve our luggage and go through customs. I assume we can recheck luggage for our Jet Blue flight right away and then head into San Juan. Any hiccups with that?

Any guidance is appreciated.

Luggage storage might still be available.

Plan sounds reasonable - check luggage in and wander over to the Christopher Columbus statue in old san Juan- lots of restaurants in that area that can take say two tables of 6.

Not that it matters in the scheme of things, but to my knowledge Jet Blue only code-shares out of SJU now. They are not true Jet Blue flights. Usually Seabourne or similar.

I'm not sure that I would ASSUME that you could recheck your luggage immediately. Maybe you could, but I wouldn't count on checking it that early. Some places you can only check luggage 4 hours before your flight. I don't know if you could call Jet Blue and they would be able to tell you or not.

Are all 12 people going to want to do the same thing?? What I might have a tendency to do is to get a day room or two, at someplace in El Condado area or at the El San Juan. You could store your luggage and carry-on's there, and then hang out by the pool, etc. for those inclined and the others could go downtown for the more actively inclined. For those that haven't seen it, El Morro is magnificent, as well as the other fort downtown, which I can't think of the name of at the moment. CRS setting in..

We did a foodie walking tour that was great. Plenty to eat and culture, too. Not sure if it fits your time table, but it was a good adventure. https://sanjuanfoodtours.com/

ohstate,

Thanks for that tip
I see they also have walking tours out
of Charlotte Amalie, St Martin, and Atlanta

Mike

We always have the best time just taking an uber or taxi to Old San Juan and wandering around. Love going to the forts and a lot of times people are there flying kites and spending time with their families on the grass. It's a really neat atmosphere. The cathedral is really pretty as well.

We stayed in the Condado area in January and enjoyed many great restaurants on Ashford Avenue and the Condado Beach is right there if people want to spend time there. Enjoy! I love Puerto Rico.

Good Info. Thanks. I hadn't thought about the hotel room idea. Might be nice to freshen up before heading to the airport. I'll call Jet Blue about how early we can re-check luggage and see what they say. However, I find that you guys are usually more accurate than the "authorities".

Does anyone know if you are allowed to sleep in SJU overnight? I arrive at 2am and depart at 7am

I see people taking naps all the time, don’t forget to set your alarm

And take a sweat shirt. It's cold !!!!!

And ear plugs for sleeping at the airport. When I was commuting to BVI I often had to take strange routes. I used www.sleepinginairports.net for the best scoop on sleeping, no clue if the info is still current. Some terminals have better furniture than others.

Cold is good in the Caribbean, you won’t turn into carrion

DesertWinds--If it were ME, I would sure appreciate a place to freshen up before the rigors of travel.

We had this happen a few years ago. We both had carry on bags so at the recommendation of a local flight attendant, grabbed a cab to El San Juan Hotel, Curio Collection by Hilton for a great lunch on the beach. The bellhop was more than happy to check our bags for a few hours. It was a great way to end the trip. We got super lucky too as the cab driver who too us there just gave cab rides for fun...aka tips. Super nice guy who swung back and got us back to the airport too.

We just did the arrive at SJU with a long wait until next flight thingy ( we had 6 hours ) and thought we would check in and hang out at Margaritasville but our flight only opened for check in 3 hours prior ..we were with west jet to Toronto so not sure about jet blue .

Re the sleeping in the airport. Did this a few years ago. Found a section that had chairs we could move so pulled two benches together fencing each other like a bed ...not ideal but did the trick for a few hours of shut eye vs a crappy hotel room. Yes it is cold . I have this neat compact pillow blanket combo thing I always travel with which came in handy.. And I use a white noise app on my phone with headphones for the airport noise .

We had an awesome two weeks and really encourage all of you to return and spend your money ashore. Although the boat tourism is back very strong ( Walker said a few weeks ago there were 90 boats in the Anegada anchorage ) Many people still suffering and need your business. Give your business to the off the beaten path places and hire taxis.

We've spent a couple of day layovers at the Ritz, less than 5 minutes from the airport. We asked if we could have lunch and they offered to check our bags and told us to enjoy the resort. We had a leisurely lunch, walk on the beach and lounged at the pool.