Puerto Rico is one of the world’s best-kept secrets when it comes to winter holiday celebrations. The season starts in late November and continues into mid-January, offering travelers a long window of time to enjoy the celebrations.
But with so many activities throughout the Island, where should you start when planning the ultimate Puerto Rico holiday getaway? How do you choose when there are so many exciting options?
Let this comprehensive guide help you. You’ll find some of the most fascinating and memorable festivities across the Island, each paired with hotel recommendations and insider tips to make planning easy. And if you can’t fit them all into one trip, don’t worry—that means you get to come back.
See The Nutcracker and symphony performances in San Juan
The capital of San Juan’s Centro de Bellas Artes (Fine Arts Center) offers a full calendar of holiday-themed events throughout December, including El Cascanueces (The Nutcracker), performed by the San Juan Ballet, with live music by the Puerto Rico Children’s Symphony Orchestra. You can also see Navidad Sinfónica, a symphony orchestra concert featuring Christmas classics. (Pro tip: Dress for a performance—show up at Centro de Bellas Artes in shorts, you won’t be admitted, and your ticket won’t be refunded.)
Enjoy traditional holiday foods in Puerto Rico.
Courtesy of Discover Puerto Rico
If you love shopping—especially for locally made goods—then plan to take the ferry from San Juan across the bay to Cataño, where the Bacardí factory hosts La Feria. In 2024, this annual extravaganza takes place on December 7 and 8. More than 200 Puerto Rican artisans will sell their wares (look for carved santos and masks made from coconut husks and locally sourced items). Food vendors dish up holiday favorites and Puerto Rican classics (try coquito, Puerto Rico’s answer to eggnog), and musicians play live sets. The event is free, and you won’t need a ticket.
Just beyond Cataño, the Parque de las Ciencias is home to a spectacular holiday light show. The event features 42,000 LED lights and colorful illuminated sculptures that depict Christmas scenes from around the world, along with Puerto Rican culture and heritage.
The elegant Condado Vanderbilt in San Juan offers ocean views and a Michelin-starred chef.
Courtesy of Discover Puerto Rico
For easy access to Cataño and the light show, stay at the elegant Condado Vanderbilt. (Be sure to book a table at their award-winning 1919 restaurant with oceanfront views and a Michelin-starred chef.) Or try O:lv Fifty Five, an adults-only boutique hotel with an array of unusual amenities—reserve one of their floating deck experiences in advance.
Attend festivals of light in Yauco and Playa Combate
The holidays are among the most beautiful times of the year in Yauco and its annual tree-lighting ceremony draws practically the whole town to Arturo Lluberas Park in early December. If you miss it, there’s plenty more to enjoy.
Yauco is one of Puerto Rico’s primary coffee-producing regions. You can add a coffee tour onto your itinerary or, if time is short, have a coffee at Carajillo Coffee House, which serves holiday-themed drinks. If you’re traveling with children, they’ll enjoy the festive area set up just for them, where they can write letters to Santa while sipping hot chocolate. For lodging, Fox Hotel, a pop art–themed four-star hotel, is a 16-mile drive from Yauco.
Cabo Rojo
Courtesy of Discover Puerto Rico
Also, in early December, more than 200 boats strung with colorful Christmas lights float in the water just off Combate Beach, part of the Boquerón National State Forest in Cabo Rojo on the west coast of Puerto Rico. The Festival Navideño (Christmas Festival) is just one part of the appeal here—during the day, you can experience one of Puerto Rico’ most-loved beaches.
Luichy’s Seaside Hotel sits right on Combate Beach, so it’s perfectly positioned for the festival. Two on-site restaurants make sure you won’t go to bed hungry.
Support local artists and craftspeople in Vieques
The Vieques Holiday Stroll/Paseo de Navidad, on December 19, 2024, is a one-evening-only event organized by local artists. Businesses stay open late for gift shoppers searching for some of the most distinctive fine arts and crafts to take home.
Vieques also has some of Puerto Rico’s most exceptional beaches (which is saying a lot for a place with an abundance of them), including Caracas and La Chiva. Plus, the island is renowned for its bioluminescent bay, and the waning moon on the night of the event creates perfect conditions for the nighttime kayak tour.
El Blok and Casa Solaris at Hix Island House Hotel are both design-forward hotels in Vieques, each influenced by Brutalist architecture. The latter is the island’s first solar-powered hotel, entirely off the national power grid.
Attend a festival of masks in Moca
The Festival de Máscaras y Parrandas (Mask and Parties Festival) celebrates Puerto Rico’s long, storied tradition of mask-making on December 27–30, 2024 in Moca. Expect music, dancing, and colorful costumes in a raucous, happy parade.
Moca is known for its lace making and is the world capital of mundillo, a type of lace that looks like ultra-fine crochet. Learn about this craft’s long history at the Museo de Mundillo, or Lace Museum. Its on-site shop sells locally made mundillo.
Stay at the luxurious Royal Isabela for accommodations in individual casitas, which ensure privacy and relaxation. Some casitas have ocean views.
Ring in the new year in Puerto Rico
Put on your dancing shoes and say goodbye to 2024 and hello to 2025 as you salsa at Gran Bailable Fin de Año, a glittery end-of-year fiesta on December 31, 2024, in Guayanilla. Dress is formal, and tickets are required. A VIP ticket grants you dinner, unlimited drinks, table service, and midnight asopao, a classic Puerto Rican stew that will help you gather your strength for a couple more hours of dancing.
Costa Bahía hosts the Gran Bailable Fin del Año, so it makes sense to stay where the action is (plus, you can stumble to your room when the music stops at 2 a.m.). A casino, billiards salon, and two swimming pools are on-site. If you wake up on January 1 and need to stretch your dance-weary legs, Guayanilla offers many hikes with photogenic views. Nearby Bosque Estatal de Guánica is a dry, desert-like forest that looks out over the Caribbean Sea, while Finca del Girasol features fields of sunflowers, perfect for sunny selfies.
New Year’s Eve Celebrations at Distrito T-Mobile feature performances.
Courtesy of Discover Puerto Rico
If you’re in the San Juan area, welcome 2025 with a celebration featuring family-friendly entertainment, renowned gastronomy, and more at the 476,000-square-foot entertainment center, Distrito T-Mobile. Ring in the new year in style with performances that are part of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2025, showcasing extraordinary Boricua talent.
Celebrate Three Kings Day in Ponce
Live music, bingo, and raffles are just some of the activities at the Hilton Ponce Golf & Casino Resort’s annual Día de los Reyes Magos celebration in Ponce on January 6, 2025. This day honors the three kings and their journey to see the infant Jesus in Bethlehem.
Most events occur in the town’s plaza and at Casa Museo de los Santos Reyes (Museum of the Holy Kings), and naturally, you should stay at the Hilton. Take in spectacular views of the Caribbean at this beachfront hotel, offering two outdoor pools, a 27-hole golf course, mini-golf, tennis courts, and more. If you arrive before January 6, make a side trip to the nearby town of Juana Díaz, which is renowned for its holiday celebrations of the three kings.
Attend a San Juan street festival and go on a food tour
The lively San Sebastián Street Festival features traditional masks, dancing, and live music on Old San Juan’s blue cobblestone streets.
Courtesy of Discover Puerto Rico
The holiday season officially ends with the lively three-day celebration known as the San Sebastián Street Festival, which takes place on the blue cobblestone streets of Old San Juan from January 16-19, 2025. It all starts at 5 p.m. on the first day of the festival, with a parade of life-sized papier-mâché interpretations of some of the Island’s best-known and most-loved cultural and political figures. Music, food, art, and—of course, dancing—all await.
Book a food tour with Spoon so you can take a break from the party and try some of the Island’s iconic dishes associated with the holidays, such as arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas), pasteles (kin to empanadas), pernil (roast pork), and coquito.
El Convento or Gallery Inn, both in Old San Juan, will position you steps from the festivities. El Convento, found in a former convent, is full of history, while Gallery Inn, founded by an artist, is unforgettable.
