Plymouth, Minnesota: I am interested in taking a spring break trip with my young (age 4 & 6) children to Puerto Rico. Where would you suggest we stay?

Suzanne Van Atten: You might consider La Parguera on the southwest coast. It's a quaint little town right on the water where you can catch boat rides through the mangrove canals and take a nighttime glass-bottom boat ride through Bahia Fosforescente, another of Puerto Rico's bioluminescent bays.

Slightly eastward in the town of Guanica is Copa Cabana Beach Resort, a lovely but low-key and out of the way resort with lots of great activities onsite for kids and an excellent fine dining restaurant called Alexandra's that adults will appreciate.

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Simsbury, CT: I would like to take a quick 4 or 5 day trip to Puerto Rico while my college freshman daughter is home for spring break. I specifically want us to travel to Puerto Rico because: my daughter is studying Spanish, I am a Spanish teacher, most of my students are from Puerto Rico or of PR heritage, and I have never visited PR! I am not on vacation at that time but do have 3 personal days available. I would like to use 2 or 3 of them for this trip over the weekend of March 15-18, 2007. We definitely want to spend some time on a beach, but we would like to get a real feel for PR as well. We are fearless travellers, we speak Spanish, and we are seasoned budget and third-world travellers who prefer to stay off the beaten path and out of luxury hotels. What would you recommend we do and where would you recommend we stay in order to get the most out of our visit? We would also like to keep expenses to a minimum! Another possibility would be wrapping travel around the previous weekend, as my daughter will be home from 3/9 to 3/18. Beginning and ending our travel out of Bradley airport (BDL) would also be ideal. Thank you so much for whatever advice you can provide!

Suzanne Van Atten: If you want a truly authentic experience where you're unlikely to encounter any American influence, I suggest you head to Jayuya in the interior mountains, called Cordillera Central. The flora is staggeringly beautiful -- we're talking National Georgraphic quality here -- and the people couldn't be friendlier. And there are lots of interesting Taino indian sites in Jayuya, such as the Cemi Museum and La Piedra Escrita, a rock covered in Taino petroglyphs located in a river, easily accessible by ramp and located by a natural pool ideal for dip!

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Suzanne Van Atten: Thanks for your questions. If you'd like more information, pick up a copy of my book, Moon Puerto Rico, published by Avalon Travel Publishing.

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