Puerto Rico Adventures by Day and Night

Puerto Rico, the United States territory perched jewel-like between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, has some of the best gay clubs in the tropics. From Temptation, where tourists get a free drink with a hotel key and locals go to cruise, to Circo Bar in the gay-friendly Santurce neighborhood.

But despite the myriad enticements, you might just want to plan on heading home a bit early at least a few nights next time you hit up this island paradise. Because Puerto Rico is chock-full of non-nocturnal adventures so epic and singular that you're not only going to want to rest up for them, you won't even mind putting that Latin lothario on ice for a couple evenings.

Take Me to the River

Tucked away on Puerto Rico's less traveled northwest side is the island's karst region. The Atlantic Ocean's seabed eons ago, now laced with spectacular limestone caves, it's largely unspoiled wilderness. Haystack hills -- more like mountains when you're trekking them -- rise sharply, creating canyons so verdant they feel primordial.

Through this land curves the pristine Tanama River, which intrepid adventurers can experience in a way totally unique to Puerto Rico, thanks to renowned local guide service Explora, inventors of a sport called body rafting.

Body rafting is easy, but no less exhilarating for its simplicity. You just lay down in the Tanama, letting its rapids sweep you away through some of the most gorgeous landscape on the planet. Expect a couple bumps along the way, but no real risk; the expert Explora crew knows the river's every curve and current. Just as thrilling are the hikes down to the canyon, and back up -- and the caving and climbing you get to do along the way. Some of Explora's trips feature rappelling or more intense rock climbing.

City Pretty

Think city sightseeing can't be exciting? You clearly haven't wandered exotic, erotic San Juan. Rico Sun Tours gives great tour, with guides who are so well-versed in the long, tangled history of this island capital you'd swear they lived it.

Hot spots to stop and gawk at include Castillo de San Crist�bal, the largest fort built in the Americas by the Spanish, who ruled Puerto Rico until 1898, when the U.S. won it in the Spanish-American War. Imposing Castillo de San Felipe del Morro, older than Crist�bal by a couple centuries, was built in 1539 to protect the harbor from pirates.

Be sure to ask your guide to leave plenty of time to meander the blue cobblestone (so colored due to their high iron content) streets of Old San Juan. Filled with Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architecture and funky, pastel-hued facades, it's the most charming section of the city. Discover everything from hand-rolled Puerto Rican cigars to traditional folk masks abounds around Plaza de Armas, the heart of the Old San Juan. For a peek at old world craftsmanship, stop in Ole Curiosidades, famed makers and purveyors of Panama hats since 1977.

Puerto Rico's got plenty of other diverting escapades, including opportunities to kayak on one of the world's only bioluminescent bays and ATV through El Yunque National Rainforest. But man cannot live by outdoor adventure alone, even in a place as filled with natural beauty as Puerto Rico -- especially when there is just as much natural beauty to be found indoors at clubs like Temptation. To get your fill of it all, you're probably going to need another visit.