Just Landed in Puerto Rico? Your First 7 Days

Mobile coverage is strong across the San Juan metro and main coastal towns but noticeably patchy in the central mountains and some rural stretches. Prepaid SIMs are cheap and sold at airport kiosks, malls and pharmacies, and because US mainland carriers count Puerto Rico as domestic, many arrivals simply keep their existing plan. Home internet from Liberty or Claro is reliable in the metro but drops during blackouts unless you have a battery backup.

Typical cost: Prepaid unlimited data plans run about $30-45 per month; a starter SIM is roughly $10-25. Home fibre or cable internet from Liberty or Claro runs about $50-80 per month.

Puerto Rico uses the US dollar and the full US banking system, so cards, Apple Pay and Zelle are widely accepted across cities and chains. Outside the metro and in small shops, cash still rules, so most residents carry a mix. Zelle in particular is the default for rent, deposits and paying people directly.

Opening an account: Banco Popular (its app is Mi Popular) is by far the largest and most newcomer-friendly local bank, with Oriental and FirstBank as the main alternatives. A US Social Security number or ITIN plus proof of local address opens most accounts, and you can often start online then finish in a branch. US mainland banks like Chase have little or no physical presence here, though their accounts still work normally.

Cash: Card is standard in supermarkets, restaurants and chains, but colmados, food trucks, público drivers, beach vendors and many rural businesses take only cash. Carry small bills, especially when heading outside the San Juan metro, and expect the occasional card-machine outage during blackouts.

Tipping: US-style tipping applies: 15-20% in sit-down restaurants, a dollar or two per drink at bars, and rounding up for taxis and delivery. Check the bill first, as some places already add an 18% service charge for larger groups, and you need not tip twice.

As a US territory, Puerto Rico has no address-registration or residency-permit requirement, so there is no town-hall check-in of the kind common in Europe. To become a bona fide resident for US and Puerto Rico tax purposes you establish your home and physical presence here, meet the day-count and closer-connection tests, and file accordingly, but that is a tax matter rather than an arrival formality. If you drive, you will eventually need a Puerto Rico driving licence and vehicle registration (marbete), handled through CESCO (the local DMV), and you may want to register to vote locally.

Where: Not applicable for address registration; CESCO offices handle driving licences and vehicle registration.

Puerto Rico is heavily car-dependent and public transport is concentrated almost entirely in San Juan. The Tren Urbano light-rail metro (16 stations, roughly $1.50 a ride or $60 monthly) and AMA buses (a flat $0.75, with free transfers to the train within two hours) serve the capital, and shared vans called públicos link towns cheaply but on loose, informal schedules. For anywhere beyond the metro, a car is close to essential, and even within it many residents drive because bus and train coverage is thin.

From the airport: From Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU) in Carolina, Old San Juan and Condado are 15-30 minutes away depending on traffic. Official white taxi turístico stands charge fixed zone fares, roughly $21 to Old San Juan and $17 to Condado or Ocean Park, plus a $3 airport surcharge, $1 per bag and a $1 late-night surcharge between 22:00 and 06:00. Uber is usually cheaper but must collect you from a designated pickup point rather than the kerb.

Rentals cluster in San Juan (Condado, Santurce, Miramar, Ocean Park) and are marketed heavily to relocating professionals and remote workers, which pushes metro prices well above the island average. Furnished short-term flats are common and easy to find; longer leases usually run one year. Beware short-term-rental saturation, which has squeezed long-term stock and inflated coastal rents, and expect to move faster than you might elsewhere when a good unit appears.

Typical rent: A one-bedroom in the San Juan metro runs roughly $1,600-2,400 per month in central areas; outside the centre and away from the coast you can find $800-1,200, and inland towns are cheaper still.

Deposit norm: Expect first month's rent plus a security deposit of one month, sometimes more for furnished or short-term lets; landlords increasingly ask for proof of income, references and a credit check, and Zelle is the usual way to pay.

Puerto Rico has US-standard private hospitals and clinics concentrated in San Juan, and care quality is generally good, but a long exodus of doctors and specialists to the mainland means waits for some services and specialists can be long. Costs follow the US private model, so having insurance genuinely matters and out-of-pocket care is expensive. Major hospitals include Auxilio Mutuo, Ashford Presbyterian and the Centro Médico complex.

How to access it: Walk-in urgent-care centres and hospital emergency rooms handle acute needs, while for ongoing care you register with a primary-care doctor, usually through your insurer's network. Pharmacies are plentiful, with Walgreens and CVS on many corners alongside local farmacias, and most carry both US-brand and generic medicines. Keep copies of prescriptions from the mainland to smooth transfers.

Insurance: There is no free universal system; residents rely on employer plans, ACA marketplace plans, or Medicare and Medicaid (locally the Mi Salud / Vital programme) if eligible. New arrivals without existing US coverage should secure private or expat health insurance before or immediately on arrival, since an uninsured hospital visit can be very costly.

• Greet with a warm buenos días or buenas tardes and expect a bit of friendly small talk before getting to business; brusqueness reads as rude.
• Make a genuine effort with Spanish even if your grasp is basic, as it is warmly appreciated and defaulting to English everywhere comes across as entitled.
• Accept that island time is real: appointments, deliveries and repairs frequently run late, so build in patience rather than pushing hard.
• Say hello and goodbye to everyone in a room or small shop, and use por favor and gracias generously, as courtesy is highly valued.
• Embrace family and community: accepting invitations to eat, showing up to gatherings and being generous with your time builds real trust.
• Dress reasonably neatly for offices, banks and restaurants, even in the heat, since presentation still counts.
• When invited to someone's home, bring a small gift such as pastries, wine or something for the table, and never arrive empty-handed.

• Avoid calling locals or the food 'foreign' or comparing everything unfavourably to the US mainland; it lands as dismissive and condescending.
• Do not assume everyone speaks fluent English or wants to; lead with Spanish whenever you can and ask before switching.
• Be sensitive about the wave of mainland investors and crypto arrivals many residents blame for rising rents; flaunting Act 60 tax breaks sours relationships fast.
• Do not treat Puerto Rico as merely a tax haven or a beach with no history; engaging with its culture, politics and struggles earns genuine respect.
• Steer clear of confidently lecturing on the island's political status (statehood, independence, commonwealth) as an outsider, as it is a deeply personal and contested subject.