How Much Does a Trip to Puerto Rico Cost? Ultimate Puerto Rico Budget For 2024

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Planning a trip to Puerto Rico and wondering how much does a trip to Puerto Rico cost? You’ve come to the right place!

Puerto Rico is an incredible destination to visit, and for those located in the continental US, fairly easy and inexpensive to get to. So while you can snag a cheap flight deal, you may also be asking yourself is Puerto Rico expensive while you’re there?

Don’t worry- I’ll answer all of these questions and more in this in-depth guide on how much to budget for Puerto Rico.

As someone who was formerly an accountant and loves some budgeting and spreadsheets, I got you when it comes to figuring out how much would a trip to Puerto Rico cost.

So let’s talk about it.

Trip to Puerto Rico Cost

I’ll be breaking this guide down into parts including the cost of flights to Puerto Rico, hotels, activities, food and drinks, getting around, and more!

And, as always and to keep things transparent, I’ll share how much I actually spent during my time in Puerto Rico!

For ease of creating this budget, let’s stick with a 7-day Puerto Rico itinerary. I’ll mention how much something like food and drinks, hotels, etc. costs each day so if your trip to Puerto Rico is shorter or longer, you can roughly calculate how much to budget.

Puerto Rico Trip Cost Factors

Prices in Puerto Rico aren’t exactly static, which means things can change and fluctuate throughout the year. So let’s talk about a few little trip factors that will determine whether you’re paying more or less to visit Puerto Rico.

Time of year: While flight prices kind of drop in the main tourist season of winter, note that there are some flights that only operate seasonally, meaning outside of the main time to go to Puerto Rico, it is a little bit more expensive. However, hotel prices do increase during the busy tourist season.
Puerto Rico is on the US dollar. This may sound obvious, but for those who don’t know, Puerto Rico is part of the US. So it uses the US dollar. No need to worry about currency fluctuations and converting anything here unless you’re coming from outside the US!

How Much to Go to Puerto Rico

For once, this Puerto Rico budget factor may be in your favor. So many airlines fly into the main airport in Puerto Rico, Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan.

Of course, the bigger airlines like Delta, American, and United all fly here. However, discount airlines like Spirit, Southwest, Frontier, and even WestJet (for our Canadian readers!) all fly to Puerto Rico as well.

This means that flight prices are competitive and pretty inexpensive to get here for a nice and quick Caribbean getaway.

You can snag cheap round-trip flights for under $250 from smaller cities in the US like my hometown airport of Cleveland. Even off-season flights from smaller cities to Puerto Rico can be found for $400 or less.

I like checking Skyscanner for the best deals!

And from larger cities like NYC, you can even get a flight for less than $200 round-trip!

Even from further away in the US like LA, you can snag flights to Puerto Rico for less than $350.

And if you prefer not to fly on discount airlines and want to fly a more established route, you can grab flights with United, Delta, or American for around $300-400 round-trip.

For those looking to splurge on their flights to Puerto Rico and upgrade to first class, you’re looking at prices between $750-1,200+ per person.

How Much Does It Cost to Go to Puerto Rico?

For budget travelers, plan to spend around $250 per person round trip. This would be around $500 per couple.

For mid-range travelers, the cost to get to Puerto Rico is closer to $350 per person round trip. This is $700 per couple.

And for those luxury travelers, plan to spend at least $750 per person or $1,500+ per couple.

Puerto Rico Prices: Hotels

Next up, and likely the most expensive part of your trip to Puerto Rico is the price of hotels.

There is a range, of course, so let’s break down some hotel prices based on location.

For San Juan, you can find some hotels like Fortaleza Suites in Old San Juan for around $100 per night. San Juan also has hotels for around $160 per night like Casablanca Hotel in Old San Juan or even more beachfront resorts like Caribe Hilton for around $300 per night.

And for luxury, there is the beachside Condado Vanderbilt Hotel for around $500 per night or the Hotel El Convento in Old San Juan for around $350 per night.

Then, for places like the island of Vieques, you can find hotels for around $100 per night like Lazy Guesthouse. For more mid-range travelers, there is the Vieques Guesthouse for around $170 per night. And for luxury travelers, you can stay at the Blue Horizon Boutique Resort for around $310 per night.

And for another popular place like Rincon, you can find budget hotels at around $100 per night like Coconut Palms Inn. For mid-range travelers, there is the Tamboo Hotel for $165 per night, and for luxury travelers, you can stay at the Aqua Marina Beach Club for around $260 per night.

So How Much Do Hotels Cost in Puerto Rico?

It looks like for budget travelers, you can get hotels for around $100 per night, or $700 for a weeklong stay around the island.

For mid-range travelers, you can expect to pay around $200 per night on average. This equates to $1,400 for a week-long trip.

And for luxury travelers, you’re looking at around $350+ per night, or around $2,450+ for a 7-day trip to Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico Activities and Prices

Okay, now that you’re here, you probably want to do some fun activities, right? I mean, yes, you could just stick to San Juan if you’re on a budget and wander around Old San Juan for free. You could even spend $10 to visit both Castillo San Cristobal and Castillo San Felipe del Morro.

There is also the option to maybe go on a fun snorkeling tour for about $60. Snorkel tours cost about the same in Vieques too.

For those who want to check out the food and have more money to splurge, you can take an Old San Juan walking tour with tastings for around $157 per person. I did this during my time in San Juan and it was absolutely delicious finding local spots for great food and fun cocktails.

I also highly recommend spending a day exploring El Yunque National Rainforest on this hidden gem tour for around $85. I also went on this day trip from San Juan and had a blast jumping off a cliff into a watering hole, discovering the flora and fauna of the rainforest, and even sliding down a natural waterslide.

Outside of San Juan, I highly recommend taking a kayak tour of Mosquito Bay on the island of Vieques. This is the brightest bioluminescent bay in the world and well worth it to see in person! This tour costs around $60 per person.

Another fun activity in Puerto Rico is the sunset sail and bio bay snorkel tour in La Parguera for around $65 per person.

These are all great activities to enjoy during a trip to Puerto Rico. But how much you do depends on your time and budget.

Activities Cost of Trip to Puerto Rico:

For budget travelers who prefer to just chill by the beach, wander through Old San Juan, and perhaps take a snorkeling tour, you’re looking at around $100-150 per person for the week. This is around $200-300 for a couple.

Mid-range and luxury travelers can enjoy most of these activities for around $450 per person for the week, or around $900 for a couple.

How Much Does Food Cost in Puerto Rico? Let’s Talk Eating and Drinking

Okay, sometimes eating local food here can be pretty inexpensive. But when you’re trying to get a meal where ingredients have to be shipped in, then it definitely affects the price. It is an island after all. So local fruits, drinks, etc. are fairly cheap. However, other things may not be.

For breakfast with something as simple as a cafe con leche and a local breakfast pastry or two, you can get by with about $10 or less.

Street food and quick spots are pretty cheap at around $15 for a lunch meal. Even sit-down spots can be around $15-20 for a full meal at lunch.

Even seafood dinners at restaurants in San Juan can be around $20-25 for lunchtime.

Dinner can definitely be more expensive depending on where you’re dining at. If you just want to keep it budget and grab a sandwich and fries like lunch, it is closer to $15-20 again.

But if you want a sit-down dinner with perhaps some seafood, then you’re looking at something closer to $25-35 for a meal.

And drinks are fairly cheap. You can get mojitos and margaritas for under $10 in many places, and beers go for around $5-7. But some more upscale places can charge up to $14-18 for a cocktail depending on where you go.

So How Much is Food in Puerto Rico?

This depends entirely on you and whether you plan to sit down at restaurants for every meal, grab a takeaway, make your own sandwiches and meals at a rental house or something, etc.

For budget travelers, I’d plan to budget around $35 per day for eating and drinking just depending on if you ate a quick store-bought granola bar for breakfast and had quite a few lunches and dinners out. This is about $245 for the week. This is about $490 for the week for a couple.

For mid-range travelers, expect to budget around $70 per day on eating and drinking. This is about $490 for the week per person or $980 for a couple. This is if you plan to dine out most of the time.

Lastly, luxury travelers can easily spend $100 per day on eating and drinking if they go to nicer places for seafood and/or steak dinners. This is about $700 per person for the week or $1,400 for a couple.

Prices in Puerto Rico to Get Around

Now you may just be completely content to park it on the beach the entire week and perhaps walk around San Juan a bit. That’s totally fine!

But what about if you want to see something across town, or perhaps head to the other side of the island or even fly to Vieques?

It is time to talk about the Puerto Rico trip cost of getting around the island.

For budget travelers who want to stick to San Juan and take a few day trips, you may only spend around $100 or so to take Ubers and such to/from the airport and to a few spots around the city.

For mid-range to luxury travelers, in addition to the Ubers around San Juan, if you want to fly to a place like Vieques, which I recommend, it is about $87 per way or $174 round trip from San Juan.

And to get around Puerto Rico, you’ll likely want to rent a car. I don’t recommend having a car necessarily in San Juan, but if you plan to get around Vieques as well as visit the remainder of the main island, you’ll want a car.

In Vieques, you could also do a golf cart for $90 a day. So, basically, if you plan to do my perfect 7-day Puerto Rico itinerary, you’ll need a golf cart for 1 day at $90 plus a car to get around the main island for 3 days (but likely returning the car on day 4).

I like checking Skyscanner for the best rental car prices, and you can find a rental car for about $35 a day, or about $140 for the time you need it in a week.

Transportation on Puerto Rico Trip Cost:

For budget travelers who are sticking to San Juan and only taking day trips, about $100 is good.

For mid-range and more luxury travelers, you’re looking at around $500 for the week. This includes Ubers around San Juan, the flight to Vieques and back, a golf cart for a day in Vieques, and the car for the remainder of the trip.

For couples, don’t forget to add an extra $174 if you plan to fly round-trip to Vieques!

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance On Your Cost of Trip to Puerto Rico Budget!

I always get travel insurance before big trips. And even though Puerto Rico is in the US, travel insurance can help with lost luggage, delayed flights, illness, etc.

I go with World Nomads for my travel insurance. And for a standard plan, it is about $70 per person. This depends on where you’re coming from, age, etc.

Other Things to Add to Your Puerto Rico Budget Travel List

There are also some little extra things to budget for when it comes to your Puerto Rico trip cost. For instance, if you’re renting a car, you’re going to need to budget for gas.

And what about purchasing some souvenirs to remember your time on the island? Or for all other things, I would also add about $100-200 in your trip budget.

So….How Much Does a Trip to Puerto Rico Cost?

Okay, now that I’ve given you examples and prices for a trip to Puerto Rico above, let’s put it all together.

How much is a trip to Puerto Rico, and how expensive is Puerto Rico? Let’s add it up!

For those doing Puerto Rico on a budget, sticking to San Juan and doing some day trips, and flying in on a discount airline, you can plan for about $1,600 for a 7-day trip as a solo traveler or $2,400 as a couple.

So yeah, I would say that you can definitely do a budget trip to Puerto Rico! And if you have miles and points, you could even get this under $1,000 if your flights and some hotels are covered!

For mid-range travelers who fly larger airlines, do a lot of activities, and rent a car/golf cart, plan for your cost of a trip to Puerto Rico to be closer to $3,400 for a solo traveler, or $5,000 for a couple.

And lastly, for luxury travelers, aim for around $5,000+ for a solo traveler or $7,300+ for a couple.

How Much Was My Puerto Rico Cost?

Okay, now it is time to tell you if I had a cheap trip to Puerto Rico!

I wouldn’t say my solo trip to Puerto Rico cost was expensive…but I wouldn’t say it was cheap either. I ended up spending 10 days in Puerto Rico where I visited San Juan, Vieques, La Parguera, and Rincon.

However, during my trip, I had 3 days mostly covered due to a press trip with Discover Puerto Rico. As such, I didn’t spend money on activities, food, and hotels on those 3 days.

However, for the remaining 7 days I did pay for all my expenses, and I spent right around $3,100 for my trip.

I did get a discount on my hotel stay at the Caribe Hilton due to attending the Women in Travel Summit there, but I kept a pretty mid-range budget when it came to flights, hotels (including in Old San Juan, San Juan, and Vieques), tours outside of my sponsored trip, flights/golf cart/Ubers, food and drinks, etc.

As such, $3,400 for a mid-range traveler going solo to Puerto Rico is pretty accurate.

I hope this helps you figure out the cost of traveling to Puerto Rico.

So…is Puerto Rico expensive? No, not compared to places within the mainland US or even places in Europe. Things are cheaper in Puerto Rico for the most part.

However, if you’re comparing Puerto Rico to places like Vietnam or Thailand price-wise, then it definitely is pricier than that.

But I would say that you can have a great quality vacation for not too much on the lovely island of Puerto Rico!

Want more Caribbean/Central American travel inspiration? Check out these posts!