With our year-round warm weather and hundreds of miles of coastline along the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, most outdoor activities take place in, on, or around the water. You can bring your own equipment or rent it from the many dive, golf and tennis shops. You can adventure on your own, or arrange to join a group of like-minded visitors through tour operators. Whatever you choose, bring plenty of suntan lotion and be ready for great summer fun, regardless of the season it may be at home!

Boating & Sailing
Local Vieques company, Aqua Frenzy Kayaks (At dock area below Calle Flamboyán, Esperanza, Vieques, Puerto Rico. PHONE: 787/741-0913) rents kayaks and arranges kayak tours of Bahía Mosquito and other areas. Reservations for the bio bay excursions, which cost $25, must be made at least 24 hours in advance. There's also a daily two-hour mangrove kayak tour. The most fun trip is the $85 barbecue, which runs from around 2 to 8 and includes snorkeling, a beach bonfire barbecue with music and drinks, and a bay tour. Former schoolteacher Sharon Grasso's Island Adventures (Rte. 996, Esperanza, Vieques, Puerto Rico. PHONE: 787/741-0720, www.biobay.com) will take you to the glowing Bahía Mosquito aboard nonpolluting, electrically powered pontoon boats. The cost is about $20 per person. Before getting on the boat, the friendly staff gives you a lot of valuable scientific information, but the trip on a boat full of people takes away the sublime part of the experience. For a more intimate experience with the beauty of bioluminescence, you might consider kayaking with few people instead. Las Tortugas Adventures (Cond. La Puntilla, 4 Calle La Puntilla, Apt. D1-12, Old San Juan, San Juan, Puerto Rico. PHONE: 787/725-5169, www.kayak-pr.com) organizes group kayaking trips to the Reserva Natural Las Cabezas de San Juan and the Bahía Mosquito in eastern Puerto Rico. For the bold and experienced, Kayak Safaris (PMB 433, 1353 Rd. 19, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. PHONE: 787/792-5794) specializes in three- to four-day island-to-island group ocean treks between Fajardo and St. Thomas with overnight stays in Culebra. Prices start at $1,005 per person.

Diving & Snorkeling
The diving is excellent off Puerto Rico's south, east, and west coasts, as well as its offshore islands. Particularly striking are dramatic walls created by a continental shelf off the south coast between La Parguera and Guánica and Desecheo island, where visibility goes to at least 1,000 feet. Diving near Desecheo's clear waters, you may even hear whales singing. It's best to choose specific locations with the help of a guide or outfitter. Escorted half-day dives range from $45 to $95 for one or two tanks, including all equipment; in general, double those prices for night dives. Packages that include lunch and other extras start at $100; those that include accommodations are also available.
Snorkeling excursions, which include transportation, equipment rental, and sometimes lunch, start at $50. Equipment rents at beaches for about $5 to $7. (Caution: coral-reef waters and mangrove areas can be dangerous. Unless you're an expert or have an experienced guide, stay near the water-sports centers of hotels and avoid unsupervised areas.)

Fishing
Puerto Rico's waters are home to large game fish such as marlin, wahoo, dorado, tuna, and barracuda; as many as 30 world records for catches have been set off the island's shores. Half-day, full-day, split-charter, and big- and small-game fishing can be arranged through Benítez Deep-Sea Fishing (Club Náutico de San Juan, Miramar, San Juan, Puerto Rico. PHONE: 787/723-2292, www.mikebenitezfishing.com). Moondog Charters (Black Eagle Marina, off Rte. 413, Rincón, Puerto Rico. PHONE: 787/823-7168, www.moondogcharters.com) organizes fishing charters and whale-watching trips. Shiraz Charters (Rte. 906, Candelero Resort at Palmas del Mar, Site 6, Puerto Rico. PHONE: 787/285-5718, www.charternet.com/fishers/shiraz) specializes in deep-sea fishing charters in search of tuna. Eight-hour trips start about $150 per person, including equipment and snacks. Tour Marine (Rte. 101, Km 14.1, Joyuda Sector, Puerto Real, Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. PHONE: 787/851-9259) takes anglers out to waters off Cabo Rojo's coast.

Surfing
The very best surfing beaches are along the northwestern coast from Isabela south to Rincón, which gained notoriety by hosting the World Surfing Championship in 1968. Today the town draws surfers from around the globe, especially in winter when the waves are at their best.

Although the west-coast beaches are considered the places to surf, San Juan was actually where the sport got its start on the island, back in 1958 thanks to legendary surfers Gary Hoyt and José Rodríguez Reyes. In San Juan many surfers head to La Punta, a reef break behind the Ashford Presbyterian Hospital with either surf or boogie boards. In Isla Verde, white water on the horizon means that the waves are good at the beach break near Pine Grove.

East of the city, in Piñones, the Caballo has deep-to-shallow-water shelf waves that require a big-wave board known as a "gun." Playa La Pared, near Balneario de Luquillo is a surfer haunt with medium-range waves. Numerous local competitions are held here throughout the year.

La Selva Surf (250 Calle Fernández Garcia, Luquillo, Puerto Rico. PHONE: 787/889-6205, www.rainforestsafari.com/selva.html), near Playa La Pared, has anything a surfer could need, including news about current conditions. It also sells sunglasses, T-shirts, skateboards, sandals, watches, bathing suits, and other beach necessities. Pick up new and used surfboards, body boards, kayaks, and snorkeling gear, or rent equipment at West Coast Surf Shop (2E Calle Muñoz Rivera, Rincón, Puerto Rico. PHONE: 787/823-3935). Jacob of Buena Vida Surf School (Next to Casa Isleña Inn, Rincón, Puerto Rico. PHONE: 787/485-2353) can teach you how to live the good life on the waves.

Windsurfing
You can get the best windsurfing advice and equipment from Jaime Torres at Velauno (2430 Calle Loíza, Punta Las Marías, San Juan, Puerto Rico. PHONE: 787/728-8716, www.velauno.com), the second-largest, full-service windsurfing center in the United States. It has rentals, repair services, and classes. It also sells new and used gear and serves as a clearinghouse for information on windsurfing events throughout the island. Lisa Penfield, a former windsurfing competitor, gives beginner lessons at the Lisa Penfield Windsurfing School and Watersports Center (Hyatt Dorado Beach Resort & Country Club, Rte. 693, Km 10.8, Puerto Rico. PHONE: 787/796-2188).

Kayaking
Canoeing and kayaking are relatively new sports to Puerto Rico, although the island’s first Indian settlers probably arrived in dugout canoes a few thousand years ago. In the past decade, kayaking has taken off. Olympic smooth-water kayaking and kayak polo are now practiced on Puerto Rico’s lakes under the watchful eye of the Canoe and Kayak Federation of Puerto Rico. You don’t have to be an Olympic champion to have an exciting experience running the island’s only real rapids on the Tanamá River or gliding silently along the island’s only navigable river, the Espíritu Santo. A kayak or canoe is a marvelous way to sightsee or bird watch on the island’s many man-made lakes, or on its countless coastal inlets, coves and bays.

Some of the most popular sites for ocean kayaking are along the coasts of the island municipalities of Vieques and Culebra, Ballenas Bay bordering the Guánica Tropical Dry Forest in the southwest, and the small east coast islets and cays off Fajardo.