Travel guide - Puerto Rico

Geographically, Puerto Rico is a Caribbean hub, presiding squarely over the waters between Hispaniola and the Virgin Islands. As a commonwealth of the US, however, it remains a world apart from its island neighbours, over a distance that can be measured not just in kilometres, but in dollars.

It's island life with infrastructure, the likes of which the Tropic of Cancer seldom sees: excellent interstate highways, for example, allow travellers to zip from coral reef to five-star restaurant, and hikers can traipse through the spectacular El Yunque rainforest on well-paved trails maintained by the US National Forest Service. American influence is strongest in San Juan , where even the ramparts of El Morro - which staved off European aggressors for 500 years - haven't managed to prevent the influx of big-name American fast-food and retail chains. But the capital retains a distinctly Latin character at its core, with Old San Juan hosting a treasure-trove of pastel Spanish colonial architecture on exquisitely restored cobblestoned streets.

Despite the threat of overdevelopment from US dollars, most of the 35-by-100-mile island has managed to elude despoilment. Even in the crowded capital, it's hard to find a sullied beach, and outside the major cities nature is largely untouched - especially in the jungly, mountainous interior; on the relatively hidden beaches along the southwest coast; and on the offshore islands. In fact, the rich natural resources and wide range of hiking, birding, diving and caving opportunities make Puerto Rico as much a magnet for eco-tourists as for sun-worshippers.

Puerto Rico uses US currency , which generally comes in bills of US$1, $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100; the dollar (sometimes referred to as a peso) is made up of 100 cents in coins of 1¢ (penny), 5¢ (nickel), 10¢ (dime), 25¢ (quarter) and 50¢ (half-dollar). Major credit cards are widely accepted at hotels and restaurants.

Although Puerto Rico's GNP is lower than that of any of the fifty states, prices are not drastically cheaper than on the mainland. In San Juan, the least you can expect to pay for accommodation, without sharing a bath, is US$65 for a double room; an average lunch at a modest establishment runs US$5 to $12, with comparable dinners from US$10 to $20.

Expect to pay eleven percent tax on rooms with casinos, nine percent on hotels without, and nine percent on country inns. There is no tax on food and merchandise.

In recent years, Puerto Rico - and San Juan in particular - has commanded a growing reputation as the culinary hot spot of the Caribbean. World-renowned chefs at vanguard restaurants prepare dynamic Nuevo Latino cuisine - a twist on traditional criollo cooking, with an emphasis on fish, fruits, tubers and dark rum sauces or marinades with tropical ingredients. You'll also find every manner of ethnic food in the capital, including Indian, Thai, French and even Romanian.

Criollo fare , however, is still the staple of the Puerto Rican diet. Meats are mostly served with rice and red beans (habichuelas) or tostones - medallions of mashed, fried plantains. Sofrito - a sauce made from cilantro, onions, garlic and peppers - is used to season many dishes, as is adobo , a mixture of garlic, oregano, paprika, vinegar and oil. The food is typically tasty but much of it is starchy and fried in animal fat, and pork is far more popular than fish outside of the major cities.

Puerto Rico's pleasant tropical climate is virtually seasonless, though temperatures are slightly higher from June to September; note it may be considerably cooler in the mountains. Rainfall varies around the island - heaviest in El Yunque, which receives up to 200 inches a year, and lightest in the southwest desert region, getting only 37 inches a year.

Hurricanes are so common in Puerto Rico that they got their name here; the English word for these storms with winds of over 75mph comes from the name of the Taíno god of malevolence, Jurakán (pronounced hu-ra-kan). Hurricane season runs June through November, when the weather is hottest and wettest, with the risk highest in September.