So you’re fresh off the plane, and you step into the sunshine of our beautiful tropical island. Immediately, you notice a few things in San Juan — seemingly all the comforts of home: Walgreens, Home Depot, American highway signs, fast food chains, car dealerships, and more. Your brain naturally goes to a place of comfort and control, saying to yourself, “This will be easy.”

As you travel out of San Juan and get closer to one of our Boquerón or Salinas locations, a different picture emerges. While it’s easy to assume Puerto Rico will be just like home, the purpose of this blog post is to prepare you for some of the realities and remind you that we are indeed a tropical island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, a thousand miles from the U.S. mainland.

Now, don’t get me wrong — this place is pure magic. However, there are certain truths about traveling to a far-off island with an aging infrastructure, a family- and fun-based culture, an allegedly corrupt government, and susceptibility to hurricanes and earthquakes. For one, the infrastructure is old and not exactly what we are used to in the States. Roads have potholes, there is no pay-at-the-pump at gas stations, and there are many crumbling and abandoned buildings — all of which adds to the charm. Just like any other island in the Caribbean, Puerto Rico has its scars, and they are what make it the place it is.

As I’m sure you’ve heard on national news, the electrical grid is, well, not great. An outdated island-wide grid and years of hurricane damage have left the island’s electricity situation with a lot of work to do. We occasionally lose power, but the bars stay open and the party rolls on. As natives are quick to point out, there are far worse things than the power going out. Nothing a cooler full of beer, some candles, and flashlights can’t solve. At No Name Lodge, we have contingency plans in place for extended outages.

Speaking of hurricanes — they are real, a normal part of life in this region of the world, and accepted by the culture. You do your best to prepare and have a plan in place just in case that September forecast puts you in the “Cone of Uncertainty.” If you or your group are affected by one of these storms, our team will be in communication with you to let you know our level of concern (measured in the velocity of flying coconuts).

And now for the best part: the culture. Puerto Rico is a great place to unwind, have a few drinks, eat some amazing food, and slow down the pace of life. If slow pace isn’t your style — too bad — that’s how this island works. The drivers are slow, service can be slow, and dinners and sunsets can drag on into the night. It serves as a reminder that you did, in fact, board a plane and fly to a country far from your own and are experiencing a whole different culture. Our suggestion is to embrace it; we could all do with a few more moments to enjoy.

We don’t aim to scare you off — quite the opposite, in fact. Aside from helping you stay away from being “that guy” while traveling, this should also serve to inform you of all the possibilities of traveling to Puerto Rico. Fly fishing trips shouldn’t always be easy; they should be an adventure! While we at No Name always take care of unexpected circumstances and have plenty of experience in doing so, we also encourage you to roll with the punches and enjoy the experience of traveling to the Caribbean. Many times, it’s those quirky moments during a trip that make memories that last forever.

We’ll leave out all the possibilities that make this a premier fly fishing destination — we’ll let you discover those on your own, and we look forward to having you here at No Name Lodge.

– MP