Station/Boat Location~
Sector San Juan, PR
Date there~
2012~2013
Weather~
The weather is absolutely beautiful here. It is high 90s in the summer but there is always a great breeze. The winter months stays around the 80s in the day time and high 70s in the evening.
Military facilities~
There is an Army base close to housing with an exchange and commissary but it is almost always extremely crowded and is really more of an inconvenience than not. All government employees are allowed on the base in PR which is the reason for the excessive crowding. There is also a small exchange on the Coast Guard base in Old San Juan.
Medical~
There is a small clinic on base for active duty. All dependents use a civilian clinic 2minutes up the street from housing called Clinica Los Americas Guaynabo (CLAG). The nice thing about the clinic is that everything is in the same building making it very convenient (Radiology, Dermatology, OB-GYN etc. even dental) We have not had any issues with the clinic but you can expect a long wait most of the time.
Housing~
They do not assign you a house until you household goods are on island which can take quite a while. There is temporary housing you can stay in or there is a list of hotels you can choose from. When we arrived temp housing was full so we had no choice but to stay in a hotel for 6 weeks. After that I was sure I never wanted to stay in a hotel again! The housing office and MWR here is run by civilians and can be difficult to work with at times, there doesn’t appear to be much organization.
Shopping~
There are lots of plazas everywhere you go and the largest mall in the Caribbean (Plaza los Americas). Really there is everything you need with the exception of a Target which was a little disappointing. Also not much for craft stores other than Capri has a small craft section. Shopping on the island can be a bit of a nightmare, very long lines all the time and traffic is bad most the time. There is no such thing as a quick run to the store.
Child Care/Schools~
Housing here has a CDC in it as well as after school care I can’t say much about these programs as my children are older. The Army base has DOD schools called Antilles. My girls are middle school and high school age. I cannot say that I am extremely pleased with the schools but there is no other choice unless you speak Spanish. The children of all government employees are allowed to attend the schools as well therefore the majority of the kids are Spanish. The rules state that everyone must speak English but this is not always the case, my kids had a bit of a hard time with this.
Adult Schools~
There are lots of colleges here but as far as I know they all speak Spanish. I attempted to further my education online but because of a lack of campuses it did not workout.
Fun Activities~
There is a ton of things to do for adults and older kids but not much for little ones. A great website to visit is Puertoricodaytrips.com. We created a bucket list when we got here and I’m not sure if we will be able to finish it before we leave.
Additional Info~
I love living in Puerto Rico, the weather is beautiful and so are the beaches! Things are quite different in a lot of ways here and take some getting used to. The driving is crazy; people make up their own rules. If you come to PR be willing to go with the flow, and be adventurous, if not you will hate it here. There is a language barrier at times so it would to learn Spanish before you come. They do offer classes on the base but it is expensive.
Homeport PR
Sector San Juan, PR
Date there~
2012~2013
Weather~
The weather is absolutely beautiful here. It is high 90s in the summer but there is always a great breeze. The winter months stays around the 80s in the day time and high 70s in the evening.
Military facilities~
There is an Army base close to housing with an exchange and commissary but it is almost always extremely crowded and is really more of an inconvenience than not. All government employees are allowed on the base in PR which is the reason for the excessive crowding. There is also a small exchange on the Coast Guard base in Old San Juan.
Medical~
There is a small clinic on base for active duty. All dependents use a civilian clinic 2minutes up the street from housing called Clinica Los Americas Guaynabo (CLAG). The nice thing about the clinic is that everything is in the same building making it very convenient (Radiology, Dermatology, OB-GYN etc. even dental) We have not had any issues with the clinic but you can expect a long wait most of the time.
Housing~
They do not assign you a house until you household goods are on island which can take quite a while. There is temporary housing you can stay in or there is a list of hotels you can choose from. When we arrived temp housing was full so we had no choice but to stay in a hotel for 6 weeks. After that I was sure I never wanted to stay in a hotel again! The housing office and MWR here is run by civilians and can be difficult to work with at times, there doesn’t appear to be much organization.
Shopping~
There are lots of plazas everywhere you go and the largest mall in the Caribbean (Plaza los Americas). Really there is everything you need with the exception of a Target which was a little disappointing. Also not much for craft stores other than Capri has a small craft section. Shopping on the island can be a bit of a nightmare, very long lines all the time and traffic is bad most the time. There is no such thing as a quick run to the store.
Child Care/Schools~
Housing here has a CDC in it as well as after school care I can’t say much about these programs as my children are older. The Army base has DOD schools called Antilles. My girls are middle school and high school age. I cannot say that I am extremely pleased with the schools but there is no other choice unless you speak Spanish. The children of all government employees are allowed to attend the schools as well therefore the majority of the kids are Spanish. The rules state that everyone must speak English but this is not always the case, my kids had a bit of a hard time with this.
Adult Schools~
There are lots of colleges here but as far as I know they all speak Spanish. I attempted to further my education online but because of a lack of campuses it did not workout.
Fun Activities~
There is a ton of things to do for adults and older kids but not much for little ones. A great website to visit is Puertoricodaytrips.com. We created a bucket list when we got here and I’m not sure if we will be able to finish it before we leave.
Additional Info~
I love living in Puerto Rico, the weather is beautiful and so are the beaches! Things are quite different in a lot of ways here and take some getting used to. The driving is crazy; people make up their own rules. If you come to PR be willing to go with the flow, and be adventurous, if not you will hate it here. There is a language barrier at times so it would to learn Spanish before you come. They do offer classes on the base but it is expensive.
Homeport PR
