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				“Isla Del Encanto” Oldest City Under US Flag Coastal Outdoors By Phil H. Shook Watching iguanas lumbering in the mangroves while casting to baby tarpon on tropical canals that wind through downtown San Juan are among the unique experiences offered visitors to Puerto Rico's capital city. The Caribbean's Isla Del Encanto affords the traveler old world charm and new world luxury only a short taxi ride from the international airport. A major West Indies port and tourist destination, San Juan was founded in 1521 and is the oldest city under the U.S. flag. Overlooking a spectacular natural harbor are the fortifications of Old San Juan where the Spanish defended the city against the English explorer Sir Francis Drake in 1595. Today the city encompasses the old walled city, a sprawling beach and resort area and other outlying communities. In San Juan, the visitor is never far from an attractive beach or scenic view of the water. All beaches in Puerto Rico are open to the public. Among the favorites with everyone from families to the surfer set are the ones along Ocean Park, the resorts at Isla Verde and Playa Carolina near the airport. Twenty miles east of town is the popular Playa Luquillo with its coral reefs and colorful street stalls. A must for any visitor is an exploration of Old San Juan where the streets of the hilly 465-year-old neighborhood are paved with cobbles of adoquine, a blue stone cast from furnace slag originally used as ballast on Spanish ships. In addition to the spectacular grounds and fortifications of El Morro with its signature sentry boxes, the old city offers visitors a delicious mix of old world architecture, restored colonial buildings, galleries, boutiques, casinos and restaurants. San Juan offers a wide variety of lodging choices in all price ranges. The Tu Casa Botique Hotel at Calle Cacique No. 2071 (www.tucasaguest.com) in Ocean Park is a cozy, stylish retreat with tropical plants and colorful mosaics a short walk from the beach. Nearby, the Hosteria del Mar at No. 1 Tapia Street offers ocean-front rooms and tropical drinks at its beach side gazebo restaurant. Along the north wall of Old San Juan, The Gallery Inn offers visitors 22 guest rooms, lush garden courts and balconies, and engaging conversations with Michelangelo, Picasso and Campeche, its longtime resident parrots. Its artist/owners Jan D'Esopo and Manuco Gandia have furnished the restored Captain's quarters with many of their paintings and sculptures. The location at 204-206 Norzagaray is ideal for setting out to explore the grounds and ocean walkways around El Morro as well as the shops, restaurants and cathedrals in the old city. For information on The Gallery Inn, call (787) 722-1808 or visit the web site at www.thegalleryinn.com. Diners in Old San Juan can find everything from cheeseburgers in paradise to Puerto Rican specialties like plantain fritters and whole fried red snapper. The popular Parrot Club at 363 Calle Fortaleza , (787) 725-7370 offers Cuban and Puerto Rican classics including crab cakes and churrasco (barbecued steak) amidst colorful tropical dÈcor. For a quick meal or dessert in an old fashioned diner setting, try La Bombonera Restaurant at 259 San Francisco. In the evening, Amadeus at 106 Calle San Sabastian, (787) 722-8635 offers a stylish setting for cocktails and Caribbean appetizers overlooking an interior courtyard. The traveling angler can stalk giant tarpon, jack crevalle and barracuda out on San Juan Bay, only minutes from San Juan's modern marinas. And while out on the bay, boaters get a dramatic view of El Morro Castle and Isla de Cabra where the Spaniards repelled foreign invaders and pirates more than five centuries ago. A short run from the sprawling bay to the Rio Piedras river delta opens up into waterways that run along San Juan's Central Park where baby tarpon and snook actively feed on moving tides. For the light tackle angler and flyfisher there are a number of experienced guides offering trips on San Juan Bay and to the flats of neighboring Culebra and Vieques Islands. Capt. Rafael "Rafa" Apellaniz, (787) 251-1960 offers charters on his 21-foot Carolina Skiff The Sabalera II. Trips start at dawn and end around 10 a.m. for tarpon, snook and jacks. With marinas only a short distance from the fishing grounds, the half day rate of $225 for two anglers is a genuine bargain. Capt. Franco Gonzalez with the Caribbean Fly Fishing Co. offers bonefish charters on the flats of Vieques Island as well as fishing for baby tarpon near San Juan's Luis Munoz Marin International Airport. He can be reached at (787) 643-6070. Capt. Till Brauer, a light tackle record holder and owner of a tackle store in San Juan, also offers trips through his Quick Silver Fishing Charters at 105 Doncella Street. For more information call (787) 643-6070 or visit his website at tillfish@caribe.net. July 2003