Rent Casa Coral Waterfront House in Playa Santa Puerto Rico
Casa Coral is located in a very private setting right next to a wildlife refuge (Punta Jorobado).
It is right on the water, with a pebble beach and a cove to get into the Carribean to swim or snorkel.
Island Scuba is a 3 minute walk, and the Playa Santa sand beach is less than a 10 minute walk.
There are some smaller sand beaches even closer by (Manglillo, Tranquilo).
Fun fact: Casa Coral is the southern most house in PR.
The space
The house is not very big, but has everything you need.
The central spot is not the living room, but the large terrace that wraps around the house.
You will watch the ocean, birds (pelicans, even 2 falcons), boats, kayakers, anglers, and whatever else is going on.
The pelicans are regulars, and sometimes there are dolphins a few 100 ft away playing in the ocean.
According to the neighbors whales also come by occasionally.
We currently have only one bedroom available with a queen size bed.
The second bedroom will soon get a bed too, so we can accommodate 4 guests.
There is almost always a breeze which keeps you cool and the bugs away.
The roof extends over the terrace, so even during the occasional rain shower one can sit outside.
It's an ideal place for people who love the water.
As you get in at the cove you'll immediately see some fish and the corals are right there.
100-200 ft off shore corals and fish are plentiful.
And when you come back you can hop right under the outdoor shower.
There is nothing between the house and the ocean but a few palm trees.
Note that all pictures are taken from the property, unless many other listings that show beaches 10 miles away.
Guest access
Guests have access to the entire house, except: (a) part of the garage, which is locked and where we keep tools, etc.
, and (b) the second bedroom.
It's not locked, and there is a table inside that may be used for computer work, but otherwise it should be left untouched.
In spring 2019 we'll add a bed and open up this space for guests.
Interaction with guests
We live in NH and stay at Casa Coral a few weeks every year.
While we are away Garie and Lisa take care of the property and our guests.
They live nearby.
They speak English and Spanish.
You'll get their phone number and e-mail upon confirmation.
Internet
We have a T-mobile hotspot in the house.
Hot spots work well, as far as we know, with all carriers.
There is a big antenna tower right in Playa Santa, and another one on a hill in Parguera, which has a free line of sight connection.
When you arrive, plug in and turn on the hotspot.
All 4 blue light must come on, and wait a couple minutes until it configures itself.
The hotspot has 22G of data available at 4G speed every month (a new billing cycle starts around the 20th of every month),
and then drops to lower speed.
Printer
Printer: There is a B/W laser printer that you can use. It hooks up with a USB cable.
Works right away with MACs.
With Windows it may require the installation of the right driver.
TV monitors
There are two TV monitors in the house.
The one in the bedroom is not connected, but you could hook up a laptop with HDMI.
The living room has a larger TV with a Roku box attached.
You can stream movies and TV shows from the Roku box.
However, some of the apps installed on the box use a lot of data, and worse, there is no way to control that.
For that reason, please only use Netflix. It's our account, so please use the 'Casa Coral' user.
It is set for 0.3 Mb/s, that means ever hour of watching is about 0.2 GB. Some of the other services use
2-3 GB/h. The best thing to do is to preload movies to your own devices (cellphone, tablet, laptop)
at home before you leave.
If you need some special cable to hook up the monitor (whatever - to - HDMI) please buy it, leave it there,
let us know, and we will reimburse you.
In the near future (May 2019) we'll bring an OTA tuner/TIVO and a DVD/BR PS3 player and console.
Outside grill
Grill: There is a gas grill on the terrace that you can use.
Please clean it after use.
Also, if you run out of gas, let Garie/Lisa know, there is a full propane tank in the garage.
Alternatively, refill at the hardware store in Ensenada (opposite to the Catholic church).
Waterfront area
The last 8 meters (24 ft) to the water is public land.
Occasionally local people come to fish in the evening.
Landscaping
Every other week Philippe comes by to do some landscaping. He only speaks Spanish.
Location
Location of the house, water access, and the access gate. This image seems to be taken before
hurricane Maria. Some of the trees are no longer there, and the roof has been replaced.
Shopping
For local food there is a cart on the 116 in Guanica. They have fruits, roots, and veggies. You spot them by
the colorful hammocks they also sell. The avocados ($1) are huge
and tasty. Also, the pineapples taste much better than at home.
Fresh baked bread is available at the bakery in Ensenada on PR-3116 (coming from the house, make a left after the sugar mill).
The closest grocery store (ECO) is in Guanica right off the PR 116, 10-15 minute drive.
You see it when you drive to the house.
There is also a bakery in Ensenada (10 min drive), a pharmacy (farmacia), and a hardware store (ferreteria), see map.
Yauco (20 minutes) has a lot more shops and restaurants,
and Ponce (45 minutes) has several huge malls with all the familiar names.
Dining
- There is a Burger King and a Mc Donald in Guanica right on PR-116, useful if you arrive very early in the morning and need to stop before arriving at our place.
- Forever Flavor Chinese fast food, on 116, near exit from PR-2.
- Mojito Beach Bar Playa Santa
- El Baden Playa Santa, good
- Umami Playa Santa, very good food
- Parador Guanica 1929 hotel in Ensenada (on 325) has a good restaurant.
- Trasiego Sea Food on the Guanica Malecon. Very good. There are more rerstaurants on the Malecon.
- Copamarina resort 333 from Guanica. 2 restaurants, both very good and great atmpshere.
- Yauco even more, see Tripadvisor
- Parguera has also a number of good restaurants. It's more touristy than the other places.
Beaches
Puerto Rico Day Trips has tons of suggestions for day trips.
- Playa Manglillo (walking distance) Bird watching.
- San Juan Divers (3 min walk): snorkeling, diving cool web site
You can see their boat come by the house every morning around 8:30.
If you like the water, the "discover diving" tour is highly recommended.
Diving is much easier and not as scary as one may think. Only 15 min instruction and practise and then they take
you out a few miles. You'll dive to about 40-50 ft, always with an instructor
(Pedro or Nadya) near you. The coral "forrest" is absolutely amazing and pristine (no bleaching).
We saw tons of fish, a barracuda, muranes, a nursing shark and a reef shark. Turtles and rays are also common.
- Playa Santa (10 min walk) Swimming, jetski, fun-boat.
- Jungle Beach (10 min by car, watch out for huge holes in the road) Snorkeling, swimming. Very lonely during the week, can get a bit crowded on weekends.
- Bosque Estatal de Guanica
- La Parguera (PR-116, 35 minutes) Boat renting, snorkeling, restaurants, diving.
- Bahia Fosforente Luminous bay
is right off Parguera and there are many tour
operators in Parguera who will take you there at night. Absolutely amazing.
- Gilligan's Island: (PR-116 to PR-333, 30 min drive) Great for snorkeling or just observing
fish in the mangroves. Skippers take you from the boat ramp to the island
for a few bucks and pick you up again later.
- Tamarindo Beach: (PR-116 to PR-333 all the way to the end, 40 minutes)
You pretty much have it all for yourself during the week.
- Cabo Rojo Lighthouse (50-60 min drive) Faro Los Morrillos, Cabo Rojo and Bahia Sucia (not on the weekends, too crowded).
- Combate Beach: (near lighthouse) Swimming and hiking/biking alongside the beach and the
Las Salinas - salt flats to Punta Aguila.
- Downtown Ponce: (50 minutes by car) Old architecture, shopping, restaurants, public concerts at night on the plaza.
Movies
underwater camera:
Apeman A80, $70 and absolutely worth it. The uploaded movies are downsized, HD is even better (but big files).
Inquiries: email to: Jimmy
or email to: Renate