San Juan Port

The San Juan Port (or Los Muelles de Barcos in Spanish) is a seaport facility located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is Puerto Rico's largest shipping facility, handling 90 percent of Puerto Rico's ship tourists and cargo.

Information

The "San Juan Port" is the general name used to call various cruise and cargo facilities located in lands around the San Juan Harbor (Bahia de San Juan). The San Juan Port is composed of a total of sixteen piers, of which eight are used for cruise ships, and eight for cargo ships. The dock, just like Luis Munoz Marin International Airport and the "Lancha de Cataño" services, is a property of the Puerto Rico Port Authority.

The bay and its docks are located south of Old San Juan and the San Juan island, west of Miramar, the Puerto Rico Convention Center District and the Isla Grande Airport. The municipalities of Cataño, Guaynabo and San Juan compose the south side of the port and harbor. There are multiple daily ferry services to Cataño and back, named La lancha de Cataño. During the late 1980s, there was a cruise service that covered the San Juan area, lasting about one hour. The service departed and arrived at the San Juan dock, but its popularity was short lived and thus this service was stopped during the early 1990s.

Cargo Piers

All docks connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the San Juan Bay. Cargo ships arrive daily to the bay's south side, which offers inmediate connectivity to the island's freeways, commonly called "Autopistas" (toll expressways) or "Expresos" (freeways). Specifically, the Kennedy Expressway (PR-2 and unmarked Interstate PR-1) gives rapid access from the port to the island's vast expressway system. Being an island, most of Puerto Rico's imports arrive on these docks. As of 2005, the docks had eight cargo terminals, (Five in the Municipality of San Juan and three in the Municipality of Guaynabo). Combined, this allows for more than 500,000 square feet (46,000 m²) of space for loading and unloading cargo.

Cruise Ship Piers

While the cargo ships dock on the south side of the bay, cruise ships arrive on one of the eight piers located on the northern and eastern side of the bay, allowing for tourists to walk to major attractions such as Old San Juan and the Puerto Rico Convention Center District. The short distance between the busy Luis Munoz Marin International Airport and the cruise ship docks (7 miles) makes the docks a prime location for cruise companies. Cruise ship companies, such as Carnival Cruises and Royal Caribbean prefer this setting, and have made the San Juan Port one of their ports of call.

Some of the most recognized ships to have used the San Juan Docks during the late 1970s and early 1980s, were the Carla C, and Cunard's Countess and Princess ships.

Tourist destinations

Usually, destinations to and from a dock or seaport depend largely on the different cruise operators. Unlike airlines, cruise operators mostly include more than one destination for a trip. Typical destinations from the San Juan Port include, but are not limited to:

Aruba
the Bahamas
Barbados
Bonaire
the British Virgin Islands
Cataño
Curaçao
The Dominican Republic
Florida
Jamaica
Mexico
St. Lucia
St. Maarten
Trinidad and Tobago
Venezuela
Other tourist destinations are covered as well.

Operators

Here is a partial list of operators at the San Juan dock:

Carnival
Cunard
Holland America
Royal Caribbean
Lanchas de Catano

San Juan Port. (2006, September 14). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 20:15, September 27, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=San_Juan_Port&oldid=75627735

Address:

Pier 1, 4, 6
Navy Frontier Pier in Old San Juan, PR
Pan American dock in Isla Grande, PR

Telephone:

1-787-725-2532

Parking Fees:

Public parking is available adjacent to the pier. The charge is $7.00 per day.

Driving Directions:

From Luis Munoz Marin International Airport: Exit airport and take Baldorioty de Castro Avenue, also Route 26, to connect with Munoz Rivera Avenue, exit onto Fernandez Juncos Avenue, which will connect with Marina Street (Port 1 is the last port on this street).

Terminal Information:

• Pier 1 A modern two-tiered terminal 770 feet in length. Equipped with pier-side passenger and baggage gangways, elevators, parking and shopping concessions. Located within walking distance to the Old Town.
• Pier 4 Modern terminal at the north shore of the harbor with a total length of 1,196 feet.
• Pier 6 Marginal wharf with a total length of 1,196 feet.
• Frontier Pier Single berth used for cruise vessels and conventional ocean carriers handling open storage cargo.
• Pan American Pier Modern, two-tiered passenger terminal with a marginal wharf 2,000 feet in length.

While Travel to Puerto Rico makes all efforts to maintain accuracy the information provided, it is subject to change at any time. Thanks!