monserrate beach

We visited this beach one late morning/early afternoon after rain caused us to scrap our plan to hike El Yunque trail to the peak (trail head was closed due to so much overnight rain). We paid a modest parking fee (about $5) to enter. There was a very large parking lot, no worry that we wouldn't have a spot. There is also a small fee ($1) to use the bathroom facilities. There were lifeguards on duty. There were people renting beach chairs and kayaks. The beach had several pavilions and shower areas, all of which looked worse for wear as though it was once a very nice place and had been neglected over the years. The beach was not overly crowded when we visited and a short walk east along the shoreline had us a portion of beach just to ourselves. The water was extremely calm and clear. We could see fish, jellyfish, and crabs in the water. A short walk or drive brings you to the Luqillo Kiosks where we stopped for lunch at the Ceviche Hut (highly recommend, reviewed separately).

Great beach with mild waves, clear warm water and not crowded. Even on the weekend, the beach is quite large, so there is plenty of room for all.

Visited here on the way back from El Yunque rain forest.Beach barely had any other visitors towards the end of the day. Just some locals playing music and having some beverages while floating in the water. Water was nice and warm and perfectly calm. Much better than the beach at our hotel in San Juan. Bathroom facilities are available for a small charge - my friend used them (no charge cause they were closing up) and said they were fairly clean. Unfortunately, the pina colada stand was closed but during regular hours there are lunch places and drinks. Parking/entrance fee of around $4. Well worth the visit.

This wonderful family beach was a dream come true b/c I was able to swim endlessly in a huge roped off area with calm waters! It was as if I had my own open salt water pool since the water was warm and there weren't any other swimmers around...I loved it!

We spent two days on this beautiful Blue Flag public beach Christmas week 2014. The beach was lovely -- not crowded, but active. Our first visit was on the weekend, and there was a lot of jet ski actively in the waters beyond the roped swimming area. It appeared instead of racing cars, the locals race jet skis -- interesting to watch, but at times noisy. Our second visit was on a weekday -- no racing jet skis! The beach was quiet and so enjoyable. Instead of jet skis we were treated to dolphins swimming beyond the roped off area! The beach is a family beach, it does not have a rough surf like other beaches in Puerto Rico. You can rent lounge chairs ($5.00 each) and umbrella's ($10.00) on the beach. There are also a lot of palm trees for natural shade. Parking is $4.00 plus 28 cents tax. There's a food hut where you can get a great Pina Colada (Barcardi 151) for $5.35! The kisoks are also walkable from this beach for lunch. We loved our time here!

We stopped by this beach after touring El Yunque national rainforest. It was very quiet and not filled with as many tourist as San Juan. There's a nice strip of resturants 3 minutes away if you get hungry. Enjoy.

when the surf gets too rough on the Atlantic, this is the place to go...bring a picnic lunch but there's a great snack(Local food) shop that has drinks too; you can rent a chair and umbrella for the day too. It's just a great place to go and actually swim in the ocean.

We tried to go to El Yunque one morning after it had rained and it was closed for the morning, so we hit up Monserrate Balneario which is very close by. We paid $4 plus tax to park and $1 per person to use the bathrooms and changing areas for the day. Since it had rained all day the day before, the beach was a little dirtier than normal I think, but they were working on cleaning it up. The water was very calm, which was great for my 18 month old son. This was the only beach where he wasn't afraid to go in the water. The beach is lined with palm trees, so you can set your stuff up in the shade which is great. Unfortunately, we didn't visit any of the kioskos, but I really wish we had.

Clear waters, beautiful sight, quiet, it wasn't over crowded when we went. And you can rent kayaks and paddle your way around the beach, or you can just walk the beach, and meet new people. the only problem is that you have to pay $1.00 to use the bathroom, oh and that dogs are allowed, so be careful where you walk. other than that its just a beautiful place to escape from the busy city of San Juan.

A lovely place to swim and hangout on the beach. Beautiful blue waters, very clean. Just be prepared, restrooms are $1 to use

This is a government beach that is very well maintained. There is a nominal parking/entrance fee and it is totally worth it. A wide beach peppered with Palm trees and a beautiful beach scape as far as the eye can see! If you like walking on the beach, lounging in your chair, playing in the water or any combination, this is a great place to do it. There are clean restrooms, food stands and even a nice souvenir shop! Available on the beach there is an umbrella and lounge chair rental which is worth getting. Bring your cooler, beach toys, sunscreen and camera.....I guarantee you will have a great day! After an afternoon at Balneario we went and parked over by the food kiosks (right around the corner) for dinner. It was yet another great day spent in Puerto Rico!!

We spent the afternoon at Luquillo Beach after visiting El Yunque earlier in the day. We absolutely loved the kiosks. We ate bacalaoitos (flattened fries cod fish), pinchos (shiskebobs), and pastelillos (Puerto Rican empanadas), and my dad had a freshly cut cold coconut milk. It was delicious! Then we headed behind the kiosks to the beach. We went swimming in the cool water and my brother and I rented a kayak for a cheap price ($5/person per hour). Also there is a food truck with a lady who sells smoothies. Do yourself a favor and get one. They are delicious! We parked in front of the kiosks so we didn't have to pay. But if you enter into the actually luquillo beach facility, it costs about $5. It is a ten minute walk from the area of the beach where we were at to access the part that has the bathrooms.

Highly recommended and not disappointed! $4.28 entrance to beach, $10 some down home cooking, view... Priceless...

White sand. Turquoise water. Crabs. Awesome. Right price. Right time of year so not crowded. At all. Woulda thought we were alone on an island. So nice they have a few prices right food stands. Beach chairs to rent for $5/ day. Well worth it and recommended! It was a vacation saver for us and even better than our resort beach.

This is a very nice beach with ample parking. It cost $4.28 to enter but the beach was very clean and a bathhouse, lockers and snack bar were available. This beach has a nice guarded swimming area with some medium sized waves but if you walk further along the beach to the East there is a beautiful little area with no waves where we sat in the water and chatted with friends. It was peaceful and really beautiful.Lots of families were there with picnic meals and grills. There was no loud music, jet skis or parasailing like at the big hotel beaches. If you like that type of thing, you probably won't like Balinario Monseratte.