The year in one grid
Puerto Rico sits in the trade winds, so the coast stays between the mid 70s and mid 80s all year. What changes is rain, price, and crowds. High season runs mid-December to mid-April, with Christmas week and February the hardest to book. July is a second high season outside San Juan because islanders take their own vacations then, and some guesthouses in Rincón and Vieques never drop their rates at all. Frommer's: when to go
The cheap window is May and June. In 2024 the average hotel ran about $275 a night against $330 in winter, and airfare over Christmas and school breaks runs 20 to 30 percent higher. The Points Guy, 2025
Hurricane season, plainly
The Atlantic season runs June 1 to November 30. June is historically quiet. The two storms that reshaped the island, Maria in 2017 and Fiona in 2022, both made landfall in September. If you travel in August or September, book refundable rooms, buy insurance that covers named storms, and keep an eye on the National Hurricane Center from about a week out. Most years nothing happens. The year it does, you want the refund. National Hurricane Center
Turtle nesting season
Leatherbacks (tinglares) nest from late March into July, occasionally as early as February, on beaches from Luquillo and Fajardo around to Maunabo and the south coast. By law there are no lights, bonfires or vehicles on nesting beaches, and you do not approach a nest. Hatchlings run for the sea at night in summer. If you want to see one, go with a volunteer group rather than a flashlight. CienciaPR: turtle season
The festival calendar
Dates below are the last confirmed edition plus the announced 2027 dates where they exist. Puerto Rican festivals announce late, so for anything past January check the organizer a month out.
| When | What | Where and what to know |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 6 | Día de Reyes | Three Kings Day. Most businesses close. Kids leave grass in a shoebox under the bed for the camels. Juana Díaz has run a Kings parade for 135 years. The Octavitas follow through Jan 14. |
| Jan 21 to 24, 2027 | Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián | Old San Juan. The end of Christmas and the biggest party of the year: 1,083,881 people over four days in 2026. Cabezudos parade about 5 pm to Plaza del Quinto Centenario. Do not drive in; take the Cataño ferry, the Tren Urbano or an AMA bus. Discover Puerto Rico: SanSe |
| Mid January | Fiesta del Acabe del Café, Adjuntas | End of the coffee harvest at Hacienda Tres Ángeles; free. 2026 ran Jan 17 to 18. Maricao holds its own coffee festival in February. |
| Week before Ash Wednesday | Carnaval de Ponce | Documented since 1858. Masked vejigantes, the Entrada del Rey Momo, a Sunday parade to Plaza Las Delicias, and the Burial of the Sardine on Fat Tuesday. 2026 ran Feb 12 to 17; Ash Wednesday 2027 is Feb 10, so expect the week ending Feb 9. |
| Holy Week | Semana Santa | Good Friday is a holiday and the beaches are packed with local families. In 2027 it falls on March 26. |
| Mid May | Fiesta Nacional de la Danza, Ponce | A week of danza, the island's 19th-century ballroom music, around Plaza Las Delicias. |
| June 23 | Noche de San Juan | At midnight everyone walks backward into the sea, three times for luck, some say seven or twelve. Condado, Isla Verde, Luquillo and the Carolina balneario fill up; hotels throw parties from early evening. Discover Puerto Rico: Noche de San Juan |
| Late June to early July | Festival de las Flores, Aibonito | Flower growers' fair in the mountains since 1969. 2026 ran June 26 to July 5 at Barrio Rabanal. Parking is free and fills early. |
| First weekend of July | Festival Nacional de la Hamaca, San Sebastián | Hammock makers and mountain music. 2025 ran July 4 to 6. |
| Mid to late July | Feria Nacional de Artesanías, Barranquitas | The island's biggest craft fair, three days in the plaza. 2025 ran July 18 to 20. |
| Late July | Fiestas de Santiago Apóstol, Loíza | The Afro-Puerto Rican heart of the island: vejigantes in coconut masks, bomba, three processions carrying the saint to Medianía on the 26th, 27th and 28th. The official start is July 24. 20 minutes east of San Juan. |
| July 25 | Constitution Day | Public holiday. Barbosa Day follows on the 27th. |
| Nov 19 | Discovery Day | Public holiday. |
| Day after Thanksgiving | Christmas begins | Lights go on in Old San Juan, parrandas start knocking on doors after midnight, and lechón, pasteles and coquito appear everywhere. Nochebuena, Dec 24, outranks Christmas Day. Discover Puerto Rico: holiday traditions |
| Early December | La Feria en Cataño | Artisans, food and concerts on the Cataño waterfront, the successor to the old Bacardí fair. 2025 ran Dec 6 to 7. |
| Dec 28 | Festival de las Máscaras, Hatillo | Día de los Inocentes. A masked parade of 200-plus groups with floats, shaving cream and water. Family fun with a rowdy edge. |
Cruise days
Cruise season is October through April. For 2026 to 2027 the port projects 541 ship calls and about 1.29 million passengers. On a day when all four Old San Juan berths are full the old city is wall to wall by 10 am; the forts, the cathedral and Calle Fortaleza are the choke points. Check the ship schedule and visit Old San Juan on an empty day, or go before 9 am. San Juan Cruise Port schedule
Free fort days
San Juan National Historic Site waives its $10 pass on the National Park Service fee-free days. For 2026 those were Feb 16, May 25, June 14, July 3 to 5, Aug 25, Sept 17, Oct 27 and Nov 11; 2027 follows the same holidays. NPS: fees and passes The forts themselves are on the Old San Juan page.